My Rosa wrote the "How To Be a Basenji DIVA" manuscript - as many rules there were, it was so worthy of a 'script' at the end! She, and all her offspring, had spring and fall heats, but I only bred her once in the spring. That produced one puppy, my Captain. She always ruled over her pups, except when Captain came along - she did what HE said when he was about 2 weeks old!
"Catching" food.
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Tucker is the same way. Anything thrown his way just bounces off his face and then he'll eat it off the floor. He'll also take larger treats to the carpet to eat it. For some reason he won't just EAT the dang thing. He HAS to take it to another place to eat it unless it's just a 'bit' (small treat). Even if I put something special in his bowl.
Never seen a Basenji who would catch or fetch. Tucker will 'fetch' his plush toy a couple times (He'll bring it to me and fight with me over it for a bit, then I'll steal it and throw it across the room, he'll get it and come back for more) but he loses interest pretty quickly (maybe 4-5 tosses). Then he just goes back to destroying the toy…
Tucker has a pup pal and we let them run on a tennis court in the 'hood'. The other dog(s) (sometimes there are a couple dogs - this socialization is a work in progress for those of you who 'know' me and Tuck) chase the balls and toys, Tucker chases the other dogs. If he gets the ball first, he just sniffs it and then thinks 'why the hell are these dogs chasing this? It's not edible, nor can I kill it...'
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Dash is the same way. Nor will he eat something handed to him with out a thorough inspection. He will take it in between his front teeth, drop it and play with it for a minute until he decides whether or not it is edible.
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Cooper will only catch occasionally, and generally only at my parents' house, where he is mentored by their dog. He's very good at mimicking other dogs.
In fact, that's the only way we got him to fetch! He saw other dogs fetching drift wood from the lake and asked us to teach him, too.
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Cooper will only catch occasionally, and generally only at my parents' house, where he is mentored by their dog. He's very good at mimicking other dogs.
In fact, that's the only way we got him to fetch! He saw other dogs fetching drift wood from the lake and asked us to teach him, too.
Mine haven't learned a thing from watching Gypsy catch food.
And actually, now that her eyesight is going, Keoki sits near her. When she
misses the tossed food, he grabs it up before she can. He's such a turd – bright, but a turd. We have to be careful of where he is when we toss a treat to Gypsy, so we can be sure she gets it! -
When She-Ra gets a treat (rawhide, bone, etc) she'll usually take it away and hide it for later (which is a lot of fun when you end up finding it yourself). She seldom eats it where you give it to her…she's got to carry it somewhere else.
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Scarlett has gotten better about catching toys and food. she still take her food from the bowl to the kitchen or living room and then plays with it. She takes it and throws it around and tries to catch it. After about five minutes of it she finally eats the few pieces she has.
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Nala will look at you (as the food drops to the floor) as if to say, "Humph, what do you think I am, a Lab?" Then she proceeds to go over to it sniff it and then maybe lick it and then finally….eat it (if she feels like it). If she doesn't, I say things like, "No respectable dog would leave that on the floor!" Of course, I am talking to her behind as she walks away…
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Dash is the same way. Nor will he eat something handed to him with out a thorough inspection. He will take it in between his front teeth, drop it and play with it for a minute until he decides whether or not it is edible.
That's Ruby's MO…and sometimes she'll nibble it and then spit it out...not good enough for her. :rolleyes:
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I've had many different kinds of dogs - mostly mixed - before my basenjis. All of them would catch food. None of my basenjis catch food. They do the same thing - let the food hit them, then check it out and then pick it up to eat it. (Except for Rosie - she doesn't catch, but she's much less discerning about checking her food out before she eats it than Willie is - his manners are much better than hers!)
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Not only does Wyatt not catch, he will be in such a hurry to take his treat and run, that he will bite the treat but not actually take it. He then will turn around and run and go to drop the treat to inspect and eat it, only then realize it is still sitting in my hand:p
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Thats funny… we were JUST talking about this last night! Booger NEVER even attempts to even think about catching food. It always hits him on the face and bounces on the floor. Then he turns around to find it & eat it.
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None of my Basenjis will catch food…but I have seen at least one that will. But I think his handler said he had to be taught!?!
Ivy will catch what we call her "squeaky ball"..and both she and Bella, and Ariel will retrieve *only when they feel like it, and *until they feel like quitting
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Lexi learned a lot while we had our doberman. Ayda of course was very willing to please and VERY obedient. That's how we taught Lexi how to "wait" for her food. And also how to swim out in the lake and fetch the tennis ball. WOAH!
As for catching things, Miles and Lexi will occasionally catch their tennis ball several times in a row for me. But with food, like most everyone else has said, they just let it hit them in the face and fall to the floor. :p But let's think about this: Would you just catch something in YOUR mouth that someone just threw at you? Why do we expect our kids to do this?? lol…
And my kids NEVER eat a treat where you give it to them... they always have to go to their special place. And as for the life pellets in the Blue Buffalo dog food we give them, they pick them out. You should see their dog bowl- it's like the parting of the red sea- life pellets on the left, the good morsels on the right. But all the life pellets end up in the middle of the living room floor- I guess they've now considered that The Dump! :mad:As for retrieving- Lexi is VERY good at this...when SHE wants to be. Generally speaking though, she will get her "baby" for you- her plush pelt of choice. This is how it usually goes... We get a new toy. Lexi wants to make it her baby. She cleans it and just carries it around. Miles wants to destroy it and remove it's evil squeaker. So it snows in the living room (all the fluff) and we end up with a million different plush pelts with dangling limbs, no eyes, and broken necks. But those are sometimes the best ones to play with- because when they pull another piece off, they feel victorious! They always retrieve when we play hide-n-seek though. Miles really likes to chase tennis balls now too.
When we used to take Lexi to the dog park in Georgia, she'd only run around the ball and come back to say, "I found it! It's over there!! AND I beat all the other kids to it!"
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But let's think about this: Would you just catch something in YOUR mouth that someone just threw at you? Why do we expect our kids to do this?? lol…
When we used to take Lexi to the dog park in Georgia, she'd only run around the ball and come back to say, "I found it! It's over there!! AND I beat all the other kids to it!"
Well, maybe if I were begging and begging for a piece, and I was pretty sure I knew what was being tossed. And human kids love to play the game where they toss popcorn or M&M's or whatever to one another.
But even if I wasn't sure what was being tossed, I would at the very least move my head so whatever is being thrown doesn't hit me in the forehead,LOL. :pYes, Jazz does that w/a soccer ball in the backyard. She will jump around, run out ahead of me and me, waiting waiting, and begging for the ball to be kicked across the yard. Then when it's kicked, she and Gypsy will tear out after it, she'll get there first and then run back to let me know she was first there. Gypsy may bring it back, although now that she's old she's losing her zest for the game, so usually I have to run out there and kick it back the other way. Oh well, I get my exercise too!
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None of my Basenjis will catch food…but I have seen at least one that will. But I think his handler said he had to be taught!?!
Ivy will catch what we call her "squeaky ball"..and both she and Bella, and Ariel will retrieve *only when they feel like it, and *until they feel like quitting
Pat Cembura was almost always able to get hers to catch food… My Mickii would sometimes... and Kristii will retreive her "lama limer" toy.. but she will only bring it back to the doggy cushion in front of the TV or the couch...;)
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This thread is too funny - I love it. Watching the treat hit them in the face . . . LOL!!! Daisy lets it hit her face, but Duke will do his best to catch it mid-air. He's mixed with JR and so jumps for it too. He's successful 75% of the time - so Daisy doesn't get the chance to sweep the floor and eat it first. Both know how good the treat is, of course.
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Catching food is REALLY beneath a Basenji. They have far too much class to play silly DOG games.
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I have been told that some dogs eyes are set too far forward in the heads and they have trouble focusing on the food as it comes towards them. This is what I was told with my dobermanns anyway. One of my Dobes used to catch quite well however so that ruined that theory. However I did find if I threw a ball for them they seemed to lose track of it in the air and only went after it if it bounced to give them a chance to notice where it went. But usually just stared at my hand to say.."wow, how did you make it disappear like that???"
Our kelpie used to balance a biscuit on his nose and then when told it was "OK" he would flip it up into the air and catch it. So clever!
If they have a rope toy or something easy to catch then it might be worth starting with that and give a reward when caught and then progress to catching food when they have the general idea.
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I have been told that some dogs eyes are set too far forward in the heads and they have trouble focusing on the food as it comes towards them. This is what I was told with my dobermanns anyway. One of my Dobes used to catch quite well however so that ruined that theory. However I did find if I threw a ball for them they seemed to lose track of it in the air and only went after it if it bounced to give them a chance to notice where it went. But usually just stared at my hand to say.."wow, how did you make it disappear like that???"
Our kelpie used to balance a biscuit on his nose and then when told it was "OK" he would flip it up into the air and catch it. So clever!
If they have a rope toy or something easy to catch then it might be worth starting with that and give a reward when caught and then progress to catching food when they have the general idea.
Good theory…but it should be the other way around. Forward facing eyes help an animal judge distance and have better ability to track and catch prey. Predators have forward facing eyes....prey species have eyes on the side to give them a better range of vision, but not the accuracy in front. Primates have the most forward facing eyes, presumably to help with depth perception in leaping and climbing; and in the higher primates, tool use.
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Cory doesn't try to catch it….she just waits until it lands. Another thing I've wondered about: Researchers say that dogs are the only animals that know to look where a human is pointing to see what is being indicated. They say almost from birth, a puppy instinctively knows to look where a human is pointing. A Wolf and even a chimp can't do that and can't be trained to do it. It is specific to dogs. Our Lab was an expert at determining where we were pointing. She could just about follow our eyes to where we were looking. Now Cory....Different story. She isn't so adept at it and I sometimes get a "What!! Are you trying to tell me something?" look. Is this a Cory trait? Or do your B's not always seem to know to look where you are pointing? If it is fairly common among B's, I wonder if it is because they are a more primative breed. Just a coffee fueled random thought.......
Or......Cory may just think pointing is rude.
Pat
