Shivering ? Shaking?


  • I've seen some posts around this website regarding this topic but as a first-time puppy owner, sometimes I overthink and get worried something is always wrong. I noticed that sometimes my basenji will shake/shiver.

    When she is falling asleep, being carried to go for a walk. I wonder if it's from being cold but my house is at 70 degrees. Do you think this is a concern for the vet?

    My basenji is just about 4.5 months old.


  • 70 isn't warm for a Basenji. That said, probably not cold. Could be excitement when going for a walk, but that doesn't fit with the falling asleep bit. If it's just occasional I wouldn't worry about it, assuming everything else seems normal. If it happens when she is asleep, as opposed to just starting to nod off, she is likely dreaming.


  • Sanji, now 5.5 months, did shiver like yours, and occasionally he still gets short bouts of hiccups. The shivering seems to have stopped and the hiccups are dwindling. As eeefarm suggested, and Zande (Sally Wallis) also mentioned in PM to me, it appears to be developmental, the exact cause hard to pin down, but associated with excitment or settling down for the night (opposites, I know). I'd not worry about it too much. If it persists at 6 months to the same extent and the incidents are not declining, that might be another story. I'm finding my Basenji to be a quirky breed compared to my past dogs (Bassets, Lab, Pointer, and Cockapoo). And he's constantly changing, but for the better. Increasingly more settled, but always curious/mischievous (stealing away something, and not destroying it, just leaving it.)


  • My home is at 68 in the winter, 70+ in the summer... never had issue with cold/heat. They shiver as puppies as they are developing the shiver reflex.. very normal... just let them be. Been in the breed for 35+ years... this is normal...


  • Thank you ^ all for the answers.

    Makes me feel much better. Overall her Health has been fine. Eats and goes to the bathroom on schedule. There’s no other signs that would concern me but just over think


  • @sanjibasenji said in Shivering ? Shaking?:

    stealing away something, and not destroying it, just leaving it

    Have you taught Sanji the (third most important) word in a B's vocabulary - TRADE ! It means you want them to trade whateveritis for a treat (actually nothing 'extra' - just a piece of kibble from their daily ration.)

    The late, great, Wilma Bauer taught me that one and generations of Zandes have learned it from the whelping box !


  • @zande

    Yes, we've been trading from the start. It's not a problem, more a source of humor. "Where's my ... oh, Sanji took it over there..."

    The trading works if one wants the object back immediately. But when we're not even looking, he'll move something to another room, and leave it there. In the yard, he'll grab a branch I've left in pile from pruning, and drag it way to chew on, or just leave it. Pack instinct, no? Grab and run before another gets it. It's endearing.


  • @sanjibasenji said in Shivering ? Shaking?:

    he'll grab a branch I've left in pile from pruning, and drag it way to chew on, or just leave it.

    What is it about pieces of twig or sticks ? we recently had violent winds which brought down dead twigs and small branches from trees around the garden.

    The kitchen, lounge and beds, to say nothing of the stairwell, are now littered with chewed bits of stick.

    I am not sure that I find this endearing - nor does my lovely cleaner, much as she adores the boys !


  • @zande said in Shivering ? Shaking?:

    I am not sure that I find this endearing - nor does my lovely cleaner, much as she adores the boys !

    :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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