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Can I trust him?

Behavioral Issues
  • I hope Paris Hilton never gives up her little doggies that fit in a purse and gets a basenji. Can you imagine stuffing a squirmy basenji in a dress into a purse? Abbey has a yellow raincoat with a hood and a plaid coat for winter but that's the extent of her wardrobe. Seriously though, don't you love it when people on the street ask about your basenji? If they don't know basenjis they make all kinds of guesses. A man the other day asked me if Abbey was a Jack Russell terrier!

  • They thought your dog was a Jack Russell!!! Hahahah! You have to post a picture of Abbey in a rain coat when you have a chance. I would love to see how she looks. I went to the pet store one time and saw doggie shoes. Oah my gosh! Thats a little extreme. When I lived in upstate New York we had a dog ( lab/sheppard mix )who would get frost bitten paws. They would crack and bleed all the time. We would put neosporin all over his paws and put socks on him. It worked. I only wish I took pictures of him. Man that was a sight to see.

  • Hi Everyone
    While out walking with our Basenji "Bandit". A guy stopped me to ask us where I bought our "Dingo"…. Amazing they look nothing alike....LOL Ang

  • oh no mine is so much worse…

    When I was living in Germany, I went on the bus with Kiya and I remember seeing this lady put her hand to her mouth, wide eyed and say scared "PIT BULL!"

    UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I said, "Kein Pit Bull...Basenji, von Afrika!"

    GOD as if they look ANYTHING alike!!!!!!

    :mad:

  • Vanessa I would love to post a picture of Abbey in her raincoat but she won't cooperate. She knows it ain't raining and she ain't wearing it! She loves her little coat in cold weather though.

  • @Lenora:

    Vanessa I would love to post a picture of Abbey in her raincoat but she won't cooperate. She knows it ain't raining and she ain't wearing it! She loves her little coat in cold weather though.

    Hahahaha! I undestand. I guess we will just have to wait :)

  • my first Basenji was VERY nasty, bit a lot!!!! And my fault for not properly training her, she ran me. My latest and most wonderful Basenji has been trained exactly as others have told you, and he is the most wonderful boy. Try it and stick to it, and you will never be fearful of your dog.

  • @Vanessa626:

    If you introduce your Basenji to water early on in pup hood is it possible for them to not have a problem with rain or even be able to enjoy swimming??

    I have heard that. My Basenji pup is 10 months old, and ran into a lake after some deer the other day. No fear!!! i guess this may train him to like the water. My other Basenji HATED it.

  • Joey tolerates the rain. He is actually not so picky about his feet getting wet either although he avoids puddles.
    As for the dog IDing…someone at the pet store thought Joey was a Jack Russell too! They should just ask! :D

  • Originally Posted by Vanessa626
    If you introduce your Basenji to water early on in pup hood is it possible >>for them to not have a problem with rain or even be able to enjoy >>swimming??

    We brought Jazzy home in March, in Washington. Believe me, she was introduced to rain and plenty of it! LOL She HATES rain, HATES her bath, and I don't see her ever jumping into a lake to go for a swim.

    I still have to go outside with her when it's rainy and MAKE her leave the covered porch to go potty. When she was younger, we'd both get soaked just with me chasing her back off the porch a million times before she'd finally give up and go potty! LOL She'd pretend to start out to the yard, then loop around and make a dash for the porch.
    Now, She'll go out to poo, and zip right back. For peeing, she uses my husband's covered boat shed, which is just off the covered porch. I thought that'd bug him, but since it's just pee he tolerates it. She never did try to poo there. That goes back to that pooing far from home thing. She simply won't do that too near the house.

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    @Nancy-Berry said I'm glad that it's getting so that their dew claws don't have to be removed! Yes. Having, or not having, dew claws is definitely not indicative of a good or bad breeder, or of the quality of the dog. I have had 2 different rescue Basenjis without dew claws who originated from "show" breeders; and I currently have a Basenji that I am showing who HAS dew claws. I would certainly hope that any judge would not base any decisions on whether or not a dog has dew claws. The only problem with leaving dew claws on a Basenji is that it increases the odds of their ability to use power tools! -Joanne
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    Agreed. Sometimes I think the grosser it is they more they enjoy seeing our faces when they do it.
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    @Mango: I can't wait to have a little B ripping around the house… guess I'm a masochist, but it does sound like a lot of fun. Yes, exactly Mango. I too await the day where the Basenji 500 takes place in my home. It should be fun - we have hardwood floors! :D
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    I'm late to this thread, but I figured I'd chime in about the shy/abused rescue Basenji. Our Tana has been with us for just over 2 years. She was a puppymill breeding female. At the beginning, she was very very skittish, timid & anxious. She went from her foster home- a big place where she could hide from anything….to our semi truck. Small space, no hidey-holes. No choice but to learn to accept us. I left her alone for the first couple of weeks- no unnecessary advances, just feeding & walks, calm voices....no coddling, no babying. Just being in each other's presence. I let HER get used to me, see the routine, so she'd learn what we were all about. Despite her shyness, from day 1 she did always sleep tucked under my arm. She'd lay there half-crouched, licking the sheets (is that like a thumb-sucking behavior?) until she fell asleep. Her progress was gradual. By two months she seemed to be relaxed around me. By four months, she figured out she could engage me in PLAY...which was clearly a great revelation for her....I could just see the joy in her, for the first time, when she play-bowed and slapped at me and I responded playfully. Before that, she'd only engaged Jibini in play. That may have been the first time she ever initiated play with a human. By 6-8 months, she began to tolerate Fred, began to show curiosity with strangers & new situations. By one year, she was almost entirely a different dog. I don't know if her progress was normal or unusually fast- but I think being a trucker dog, getting SO MUCH constant socialization, really helped her figure things out quickly. Over the last year, she has truly come full circle, finally. She still refused to do more than "tolerate" Fred for the longest time....He felt kind of bad, thinking Tana hated him. She did kind of act like he was contagious....she wanted to be as far from him as physically possible. But when we adopted Chloe, suddenly Tana had COMPETITION for attention! And since Chloe absolutely adores the very earth Fred walks on, suddenly Tana became Fred's best friend too!! It is so funny to see this little dog who used to regard Fred like a fart in a car....suddenly scramble to be the first one to cuddle up in his arms so he won't be able to pet Chloe. She is almost FAWNING over him. It's great. That, and she has FINALLY accepted crating. Until this past October, really, she's been the type to shred, whine and poop in her crate- she became a basket case. I know it's not widely reccomended, but after 2 years together in a semi truck, I was fairly sure Jibini & Tana could be crated in an extra-large crate without trouble. So I started crating them together....for no more than 2-3 hours at a time. So far, so good...and it has helped Tana's anxiety immensely. I notice now, when it's time for me to go to work, Tana will actually let me come pick her up so I can bring her to the crate. Used to be, I'd have to spend 10 minutes trying to catch her, if she knew she was going in the crate. I've also tried crating her alone a few times, and as if by miracle, nothing is shredded or soiled. I am amazed by how far she's come....and now that she has fully realized her potential, I am delighted by what a wonderful, sweet dog she is. She is absolutely perfect. I think, given enough time, most Basenjis will make a good deal of progress. Tana was young when she was sold from the puppymill- only 1.5 years old (and already a mother). Maybe her youth helped her resiliency a little bit. But either way, adopting Tana and helping her overcome her fears has been a very rewarding experience :)
  • Can this girl TRI any harder?

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    @Vanessa: Update So last night I decided to try another tactic. The ever famous squirt bottle. Just the pure sight of it stops both our B's and it worked! I only had to use it 3 times and she got the clue. It was great. :) At 7am when it was time to get up I let her know it was ok to sit on the bed and cuddle with us for a few minutes. We have always allowed Chance to do that in the mornings as a reward for sleeping on his bed the whole night. Kiya was really pleased when I told her it was ok to join us (for a few minutes only) before it was time to get up. I just have to sleep with the squirt bottle now. Fun Fun! Glad to hear that that worked for you. Be sure to find a way to wean her off the presence of the squirt bottle, or you really will have to sleep with it forever!! I just want to point out, that it sounds kind of confusing from Kiya's point of view, that Chance is allowed up on the bed in the morning and she may not be. Keep in mind that dogs CANNOT understand consequences that don't immediately follow a behavior. So, if she is not allowed on the bed because she didn't stay on her bed all night, there is NO way she can put all that together. Keep it really simple for her…good behavior equals reward immediately...if you are going to use consequences they have to happen immediately. Good luck, and good sleep :)
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    @luvsmy2bs: Have things gotten any better? Just curios,,,,,,I was reading your post and felt really sorry for you. Currently I have turned my dd's bedroom – thankfully she's away at college -- into a kennel. There is a 6 x 4' ex-pen w/top taking up the entire floor space of her room. Both Jazzy's and Keoki's crates are in there. At night he sleeps okay in that ONLY as long as BOTH crates remain open into the pen. If I close either crate, he flips out. During the day when we have to go out, as yesterday and today, I have to remove all "real" bedding and leave just paper toweling. Yesterday I made the mistake of leaving a small piece of carpet UNDER Jazzy's crate, and when we got home it had been pulled out and torn to shreds. It is obvious that he still wigs out, even in the large pen w/Jazz as today I noticed that the front of his crate {above the door, which was open} has been all chewed up, even though he was not shut in. Still working with the behaviorist; she and the vet are thinking long-term meds may be in order. That is still being discussed. He's going to hurt himself one day if we don't get a handle on this...and eventually dd is going to be home from college; then what? We can't travel with him like this either.