Posts made by Aileen

Hello, I’ve been leading a basenji-Mom life with Arlo for 3 years and our new love since January, little 5 year old Tully. I’ve always had dogs in my life but basenjis were new to me. I have the advantage of being retired so I do have the extra time a working person doesn’t. But I started reading about them quite a while before adopting one which I think helped me so much. Read everything you can get your hands on. (If you haven’t. ) The more I read the more fascinated I became. So I had the advantage of never expecting Arlo to be like any other breed. I loved the whole idea of the basenji. However, even given all I just said, I happened to read an entry in a journal written when we had probably had Arlo a couple of months. I was shocked to read how frustrated I was and actually angry with myself for starting over with a puppy. Arlo was driving me nuts. Peeing and pooping as soon as we came in the house from a long walk. Stealing my daughter’s underwear and destroying it. Stealing anything he could get his teeth into and running away at 90 miles an hour. Flip-flops were his specialty. I’m not sure how many, but we lost quite a few to his razor sharp teeth. He even bit my husband! And here 3years later I had forgotten all that bad stuff until I read it. My own little testimony to basenji puppy craziness. Here’s the thing. They are a lot of work. All puppies are, but it’s exponential with basenjis. They are just too damn smart. Basenjis are a bigger challenge.So, I reached out to the breeder, I read and read, I worked with our trainer and loved and loved that dog. My husband and I love how basenjis are different. We probably bore people to death with our stories and photos. What happens, I think, is that the basenji changes you. You become part of the crazy and exotic basenji world until you'd never settle for any other breed. Ever. So: my advice is to give little Pippa all the love you can. hold her. cuddle her. Find out what she likes. And yes, be firm. She needs to know you’re the boss. (Well Arlo is so full of himself he probably still thinks he’s the boss, just like my cats do). Pippa needs to be the biggest thing in your life right now. She is your little baby. Yeah, she’s going to make you crazy and you will wonder what in the world you were thinking when you adopted her. BUT: Like me, all this stuff passes in time if you just give it time and do the work and do the research and get support. And like everyone says, the rewards will be beyond your expectations. And remember, she is a Basenji. A dog like no other. You did right to reach out to this forum. Please ignore the people who say mean things. There are way more people here who will befriend you and support you. As long as you do what you need to do to love and raise your Pippa. Also, I’d give that crate another try, and put up with the screaming. It’s awful, but each night it got a little bit less horrible until the screaming stopped. The crate will keep her safe and keep your home from being destroyed. I would not leave my guys unsupervised with the run of the house. If they’re crated I know they’re safe. Best of luck to you and keep us up-dated.

Dear friends, I so enjoyed reading this conversation and I learned so much. I’m a beginner, (adopted my first at 12 weeks after he was rejected by his first owner and sent back to the breeder on an airplane. He was said to be too aggressive). He has had some issues with aggression but certainly not too bad. Now we have adopted a 5 year old female who had had puppies twice. She is more fearful and nervous. My heart goes out to you for giving your boy a new start in a forever home, and I love you for all the care and attention you are giving him to help him through these early fearful times. Those of you who gave advice are helping me me as well with new ideas for my little girl. They certainly are a breed of their own and I appreciate hearing from people who understand that and know what they’re doing. Thanks to you all.

Oh I can certainly identify with the toddler thing. How true! My son is a grown man now but as a little boy he shared many personality traits with my boy basenji. Sounds terrible but too true. Defiant, independent, bored by any of my attempts to teach him anything, fast as hell and agile, absolutely show stopping cute, too smart for his own good, escape artist, afraid of nothing, small but thought he was pretty big stuff, I’m sure you get the picture. There have been quite a few times of utter exasperation when my basenji boy is just driving me nuts and I have unthinkingly yelled out, “MATT STOP IT”. Matt is my son, not my dog.

I was just reading an article from BRAT that was published in a dog magazine, I don’t remember the name. The article tells the story of the basenjis roots in Africa, the early struggles of the European and American breeders and so on. It gives all the warnings one should take very seriously before choosing a basenji because so many of them are relinquished or abused and neglected.
Then the article describes the beauty, speed, agility and grace of the basenji. It’s charm, the bizarre noises they make, their intelligence and their wild dog intuition and their independence, and best of all what wonderful friends they become.
I read things like this and rejoice in how lucky I am. Having basenjis is like a dream come true. My pups, age 5 and 3, are more precious to me than any diamond or to own a Ferrari or live on the sea coast. They are my everyday treasure. I think they are the most beautiful creature on the planet. So, when one of them puts his soft little nose into the palm of my hand looking for his long luxurious back rub, I am filled with joy. Here I am at 66 years old embarking on this wonderful adventure. Anyone else feel this way and just want to share the joy, excitement, warmth, hilarity of being a lucky basenji mom or dad? “Every walk is a safari. “

Thank you all. I will know how to field questions now (it’s not like it was anyone’s business but it was making me feel uncomfortable. I felt people were looking at my beautiful girl like there was something wrong with her!) I love her so much and she truly is beautiful as are all basenjis. Now I know what to say. “Her nipples are proud nipples as yours would be if you had nursed 10 babies twice in your life. “ lol! Thank you all.

Thank you, all of you for your great suggestions. You’ve given me some things to think about.

@tanza said in Learning not to pull:

Take him to a training class......

Everyone reading this is probably bored to tears hearing the same old same old question. But perhaps some kind soul will be patient and give some advice. My 3 year old neutered boy pulls and pulls on his leash. I have tried just not moving ahead until he stops pulling. I have tried leading him around with a high value treat which will work only with generous treat giving. Maybe I just don’t try hard enough. I would love to walk with him but he’s so nose-brained and criss crosses in front of me the whole time tugging and Bolting right and left. When we get home I’m exhausted and frustrated. I don’t need him to heel. What fun is in that for him? I’d just be so happy if he would be less in a hurry and treat my shoulders better. Anyone?

I have recently adopted the loveliest sweetest little retired breeding female basenji. I am told she was bred this last fall but “missed” making her available for adoption at 5 yrs. old. Her nipples are still very prominent and people have been asking about it including the vet tech. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I see your post was back in Jan. so I hope you have your new basenji settled in. I also adopted a beasenji in Jan. She is my second. I adopted a 5 year old to be with my 3 yr. old, who had had 2 litters in the past and was bred for a 3rd one, but didn’t get pregnant. So the breeder, the same breeder our boy came from, decided to let her go to a forever home. I had to wait quite a while for her to be ready and I felt just like you. I couldn’t wait! I kept texting the breeder questions, request for photos, etc. When we picked her up she seemed comfortable with us right from the start. She has been a wonderful addition to our family, a good match for our 3yr. old boy. He’s a toughie but I think he’s met his match with her. He’s so much happier with his own friend. They love to be together. I hope your new pup is adjusting just as well as mine. Have fun. I think they make us laugh every day. Yes, you have to be on your toes with these guys, you have to make them a big part of your life. They can never just be a fixture. They are work but it’s worth it all. 3 years ago I was a newbie but not anymore, and I’m loving this wild ride.

Thank you for these helpful ideas. I will definitely use this experience you have shared and I won’t give up. Thanks for encouragement.

Hi, we have just adopted a 5 year old female to be a companion for our 3 year old neutered male. She isn’t spayed yet as she was used for breeding. She has only had 2 litters. She is from the same breeder as my boy. A good breeder. I’m introducing them gradually and with Hawkeye surveillance but I made a dumb mistake. I attempted to give each of them a treat and my boy attacked her. There was an ugly fight and my guy got the worst of it. I hope he learned something from that. She will see our vet this week to make arrangements for her spaying. Does anyone have any ideas that would ease their getting used to each other? Or even words of encouragement? I want so much for them to be friends and I know it won’t happen over night, but I’d like some help from you who have done this. Thanks for reading.

I am new to this forum so I offer this advice with respect and humility. When writing a letter or a text or email etc., be careful in the way you express yourself. Read over what you have written. Is this how you would speak to another person face to face? Sometimes our written messages comes off sounding mean or officious without intending to offend anyone. Like this: “ All staff members on the committee report to my office. “ OR
“Good morning. Would everyone who’s on the committee please pop over to my office this morning”. One sounds unfriendly one sounds friendly. Which one would you rather hear? This is just common curtesy. If you’ve ever been told you sounded rude in your written communication, take the criticism like an adult. Look twice at what you wrote. Have someone else proofread your messages. As in everything, kindness begets kindness. And you will accomplish more and be happier.

Hello, I am Aileen, mother of 2 basenjis. We just put up a fence after about a year of discussing the best option because I had read all about their escape tricks. I don’t presume to be an expert, but I can hand down some advice. I love my dogs and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. “B” number one is the first purebred dog I ever purchased, so spending that kind of money instantly made him a big investment. Doesn’t sound nice but it’s true. And I love him and our new girl so much that I know what it would do to me if ever one of them was killed on the busy streets surrounding me.
First of all never let your basenji off leash. They will run and not listen to you at all. They take it as a major victory to get away like that and would never think twice before running in front of a car. Make that a hard and fast rule for yourself and never break it. I’ve been so tempted to let him run in a park or out in the country but I don’t because I couldn’t live with myself if I ever lost him.
Now. About the fence. We built the fence piece by piece so every vertical board goes to the ground. The verticals are 5 1/2 in. Wide, generally 5ft. Tall, some places taller depending on the contour of the ground. We foolishly made the verticals 4 in. Apart and noticed if he really tried, and we caught him trying, he could squeeze through. So we had to put verticals on the outside. My husband split 5 1/2 verticals for the back side. He can’t get through the spaces that remain. By the way, the horizontal pieces have to be on the outside of the fence so he can’t get any foothold.
Last of all I don’t leave him out by himself. He could dig his way out but with me there I could prevent it. I think these pups are too valuable to leave alone. Dogs do get stolen. Just heard about an incident. He’s happy inside, even crated. The fenced in area is where he can run and stretch his legs etc. But don’t leave your pup alone.
If anyone is interested in building their own fence, contact me because my husband has some good tips for you.

Forgot to tell you how beautiful your 2 Basenjis were. Exquisite is the word.

I'm sorry your pups have gone on ahead. I can't imagine how I will get through that loss someday. I've been through it and think I'll never start again because the pain of losing your pet young or old is just so awful. But here I am again with a 3 year old basenji and having the time of my life. Living in the moment.

I have joined Basenji forum before but lost my password. So I've re-joined now and am trying to learn my way around the website. I tried to post a picture of my basenji, Arlo but I couldn't figure out how. I was basically going around in a circle if you get my meaning, and got nowhere. Any suggestions?

We purchase jackets for Basenjis called Weatherbeeta. The company makes horse blankets mainly but they were kind enough to make them for dogs as well. Some have pile linings. I think they're a good warm blanket. They fasten closed with Velcro. Good luck.

@jhewell thanks for replying. I think I need to give him more people play. That's what I was doing initially when winter set in here but I think I got as dull as he got bored. Thanks for the little shake. I used to live east of Lake Ontario in Camden. Burr!

I'm sure I'm not the only Basenji mom concerned about how to get Arlo enough exercise in this cold climate. We have too much snow and temps. too low for walking. Snow boots don't stay on. Our only real exercise is Basenji 500 around the house. Any ideas?
Also has anyone been able to train their Basenji not to chase their cats? (Actually probably great exercise right there, but the outcome is unacceptable: scratched up nose and bites and a mouthful of fur and traumatized kitties.) I know they are prey motivated but he grew up with these cats. I have not had any success so far. no matter how they try to give him a lesson in feline authority, he still has no fear of them. So Arlo and cats lead separate lives. They could enjoy each other's company so much. So any suggestions? By the way these cats have always had dogs in their lives so I always figured they would adjust to this guy, but they are chased anytime Arlo has access to their "domain".