Basenji and Larger Dogs

Basenji Talk

  • Our B is best friends with our 55-lb mix breed rescue, Hemi. He has actually allowed Hemi to remain pack leader, although Cyrus believes himself to be intellectually superior to Hemi. Cyrus seeks Hemi out when he is upset, and they sleep together every night. Bs and big dogs are a great match!


  • Magnum pretty much ignores dogs smaller than him after a good sniffing. Dogs bigger than him, though, sheesh, he annoys them to no end…sniff, sniff, sniffing them endlessly...chasing them endlessly. He just won't settle down, even if the bigger dog is sending out calming signals left and right, so I have to leash him when I see that the bigger dog has had justabout enough of him.


  • Mirtillo LOVES the bigger dogs! The bigger, the better. And untill now.. they have all loved him back. (accept for the hyena ;))


  • @CyrusVirus:

    Our B is best friends with our 55-lb mix breed rescue, Hemi. He has actually allowed Hemi to remain pack leader, although Cyrus believes himself to be intellectually superior to Hemi. Cyrus seeks Hemi out when he is upset, and they sleep together every night. Bs and big dogs are a great match!

    Ha, ha…love that! So true about Basenjis!


  • I have 3 basenjis and a malinois. It makes for a nice pack. The malinois loves to be chased; basenjis love to chase.


  • We had 2 dogs in our family before we brought Bitty home, Sami, our Jindo female, 45lbs, and Sable, our Shiba female, 23lbs. When we walked in the door with Bitty the 2 of them sniffed her all over and she just stood there and let them. After the initial introduction they all ignored each other for about a day and a half until Bitty couldnt stand it any longer and began to attempt to get Sable to play. It took her almost a month to get Sami to accept the fact that she was here to stay and begin to play with her. Now they are just one big happy pack.


  • @Vanessa:

    I don't think the size of the dog matters as long as they are properly introduced :)
    I've seen large dogs with Basenji's and even small dogs.

    I agree Vanessa. It is really about how the other dog interprets Basenji body language and then reacts to it…Bs are very subtle, and get peeved when other dogs ignore their subtleties ;)


  • We have a german shepard and a golden retriever and our basenji loves them both. They are one happy pack!


  • I have a Basenji mix, not a full blood, but she's still pretty small- she gets along AWESOME with my Greyhound/Husky mix. She's also done well with a Mastiff, a Great Dane and an Akita. She HATES small dogs. She sees them as prey, and tries to hunt them down and eat them.


  • We have an 83 pound mix that Trixie has grown up with since we brought her home. They love each other! At the dog park Trixie has to go with the big dogs! She does not seem to do as well with the little dogs. We went again last Sat. and she ran with 4 German Sheperds and 1 Great Dane. Everyone was commenting on what an awesome dog Trixie was and they could not believe how fast she could run! It was GREAT!!!!


  • My girl has gotten along with a lot of big dogs. The only dogs she has issues with are dogs that bark at her. She doesn't like dogs who are constantly barking at her whether big or small. Her favorite dogs are a german shepard and a greyhound, both who rarely bark.


  • Haven't put our B's with small dogs but they seem to love bigger dogs. We have a old elkhound that the tri girl loves to boss around. Perhaps because she is a tri, or a girl or just the plain fact that she can. . Our neighbors have a mix breed puppy about 45 lb s that when they let him out our male basenji will run the fence line playing with the dog. He will actually look for the puppy when he goes out. So our kids put 8 paws up for bigger dogs. Our elkie has CDS (doggie alzheimers) so they will help him out when they realize he is having trouble . Most of the time as long as they are the boss everything is great


  • Oh yeah - the barking dog thing really irritates EL D regardless of the size.


  • I haven't had a chance to get Zaire with many of the big dogs at the park. Charlie is VERY particular about what dogs he will tolerate. When it comes to big dogs with flatter snouts (Ie. Bulldogs and boxers) he does not really get along well. So Zaire has been in the small dog area at the park with him. I am hoping to take them soon to see Charlie's friend Sugar (a 75 lb. Golden Retriever) so Zaire can meet her and play around as Sugar LOVES smaller dogs.


  • i dont have more than 1 dog but on the park kip has always been fine with other larger dogs, though this could be different if its another dog in there territry


  • @Knipper:

    Blaze hates small furry dogs. He catches them, pins them down and rips out their fur… if I'm not quick enough.
    He loves big dogs! Rotties, Dobbies, german shepards, great danes, golden retrievers, and one 1/4 wolf. He tires them out, then pees on them triumphantly... You might have to watch out for that...

    Tucker is the same way. Smaller dogs are 'prey', larger dogs are his choice with regard to playmates, it seems. We've only recently begun his dog socialization regime but all of his bestest dog pals are labs, a boxer, a rottie and some larger mixes. Whenever he sees a small terrier or the like, he just wants to eat them.


  • You know- I hadn't thought about it, but there is a new standard poodle in our complex that everytime Jack sees him he goes crazy- hackles raised, growling, baring teeth. That is the only big dog he has ever had an issue with.

    I think it might be because the owner doesn't pick up the poop like she is supposed to, so maybe he catches on to the fact that I'm not really their biggest fan.

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