Posts made by jpschultz

Hello, we have an eight year old male that does a rarrrrrrrr talking noise when he wants our 5 year old female to play, just about once a day. He will also do it when we get home if we have been gone for over 4/5 hours or more. Our female is very quiet. She rarely is the one that initiates play but when she does, she will make these little noises that I really can't explain but closest thing would be little monkey talking but with a wanting voice, so I call it her little monkey noises. Other than that, she let out 4 real barks in a row once when my brother was playing and raised his arms in the air like a big bear and sort of scared her or exited her, not sure but I was amazed at the loud bark. Raising her arms in the air is actually her trade mark maneuver when playing so maybe its related to that. I say wootwoot and she stands up and wootwoots her arms in the air. So with my experience, each basenji is different in how vocal they are Also, our male is not a tail wagger but our female wags that little tail like crazy when we get home. So maybe some are more physical and some more vocal. Maybe Wendy will show those signs when she becomes more comfortable and social. Poor thing, I can't imagine keeping and animal confined and alone, especially a basenji.

They do much better when they have another dog around. When I say better, I mean like night and day, They don't like to be alone. Find an easy going, mellow but playful rescue Coming from my own personal experience. It may take time before they become pals but end results are a life changer.

I have read that basenjis are great in apartment situations because they choose to hold their pee longer than others. In my case that is very true. I don't live in an apartment and have had yards but both of mine would rather make me walk them instead of going in the yard. It was not until we bought a house with a half acre that they would even consider going in the yard and I had to make/train them to do so. I guess they don't like to dirty their living space fine with me.

Mine have only gone in the house in severe emergency and I felt my female I raised from a baby was very easy to train. I did not train our male (my boyfriend did) but he is just as good at never going in the house, even being alone for 7-8 hours. The breeder had already had our female box trained before I got her at 8 weeks so it was an easy transition. Start with the box always being near them when they play and sleep, You need to watch them and see the signs, you need to place them in the box sometimes.Then after they gain more control of their duties, move it to the door, when they go by the door and have not started to pee/poo yet, take them out. Then after they are used to that, remove the box and watch carefully for when they go by the door. Mine started to scratch the door, the male however used to stand at our feet or stare at us... He will now also go to the door. The one emergency was I away from home for most the day with a friend to walk her in the middle of the day and she got diarrhea. When I got home I could see she chewed at all the door handles, ripped down some window blinds, and tore all the jackets off the door hooks trying to get out. I felt so bad for her, she tried so hard I have not heard of other breeds with this behavior.

Rain and wet ground is an issue with basenjis, I will agree to that 100% - I had to force them onto the grass and tell them to go pee, go pee, go pee, go pee; in their more mature days, its not as hard. They will hold it in for hours and hours and stay in bed all day if you let them when its raining!

My two cents about biting, my boyfriend's male can get really rough and I don't like to excite him too much in fear of feeling the pain. My boyfriend and his two kids had always roughed house with him like that so I blame them for raising him that way... I always warn kids, don't mess with him and DONT RUN AWAY, he will get you. My female is very mellow and I have not had any issues like that with her, I trained her that way I would play with her and let her use her mouth but I would TALK to her and let her know when it was too hard.

And YES, never chase after them. I call their names so they look at me and run the opposite direction or pretend to bend down and be interested in something on the ground, works like a charm. You get them to play YOUR game.

Positive reinforcement and deterring bad behavior is the only way, Worked like a charm for me. Say, "no, that is my shoe, here play with your toy or chew your bone." Hand them the bone/toy.

My biggest warning for hopeful basenji owners is consider they are hunters and like to chase. typically, you cannot have them run free in any situation. They are not car/road smart and might run too far away chasing an animal. I used to have a nice, safe beach I would let my female run on 3-4 times a week and I trained her to come on command with the use of homemade chicken jerky, but typically, I think most basenjis will only come back to you when they are ready based on what I have read. I think I had spent so much time training my girl, she was sort of an exception . They are not like labs where you can have them free and they will safely follow you around.

@vizzy as a basenji mama of two and allergic, I wanted to share. Basenjis may cause a tad bit less reaction than some breeds, but they shed and have dander so don't count on them being hypoallergenic. It depends on how your all around allergy conditions are as well. When I lived on the beach, my allergies where very minimal. When I moved to the country, my allergies increased... so as someone already mentioned, one visit with a dog will not determine how you will always react. I have learned that frequent vacuuming, sweeping, and washing sheets helps a lot.

Also know that basenjis are known for wanting to always be near you; when sitting on couch or in bed or doing something in the yard, they will most likely find a way to convince you to let them have their way (not to say they cannot be crate trained, this is just my experience because the first one was already allowed to sleep on the bed). Its just in their nature to be closely attached to their owners. They are house dogs (or where ever their humans reside) and will not accept being left alone (unless they want to do some sun bathing) in the back yard, if you try, they will escape... unless you have some serious lockdown situation as they are great climbers and VERY smart.

They are also very much like having a two year old when they start getting hungry or want something. They will get into everything and cause trouble to make sure you can see they want something.

All in all, this is the only breed I am really interested in having as part of my family and love at this level but they are truly unique. I just recommend doing LOTS OF RESEARCH before you commit to bringing them into your family. OH and mine jumped on the kitchen counter and busted out of the window screen to try and find me after I left the house once so I recommended keeping your windows shut if you leave the house! hahaha.