I always wanted a dog, but my stepfather was allergic. My husband grew up with basenjis in the 50's in New Bedford MA. They never showed, just had them as pets. They did everything wrongโ let them run loose, bred them without planning, but he had great stories about them, particularly one girl named Congo.
His family had a rescue B named Rusty, who was a great character (also loose, but luckily a homebody) when I met him in the 70's. I liked Rusty's aloof confidence, and got my first B in 85-- Kenji. He was backyard bred-charming but turned very dominant and difficult at adolescence, but we worked with and had him until he was 13.
We got our second dog from Matahari B's, and Caddie was a tricolor sweetheart for 15 years.
Now I've got the gentlest, most outgoing B I've ever met. Sol was raised by someone else, and they did a great job-- thanks Eldorado!
I adopted him at 5, and after a few weeks of thinking about it, he decided to stay (he jumped the fence twice, but came when I called the second time). He's my best friend, and even goes to work with me in the winter. And sometimes I wonder if he's really a basenji, because he wags his tail so much-- but only for me.
Hide and Seek Basenji
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Does anybody else have a basenji that plays hide & seek? Booger plays hide & seek with me. I throw a squeaky toy down the stairs. He goes and retrieves it (sometimes he plays fetch!) while I go hide. He drops the toy where I threw it from, and then runs around the house looking for me. He won't stop until he finds it, and he's gotten VERY GOOD at it! I'm running out of hiding places. He won't play with anybody else. My boyfriend tried one day, but whenever he threw the toy, Booger brought it right back to me & looked at me like "Well you didn't hide very well. Sitting on the couch is a dumb hiding place!"
Any other bs do this? -
Ok, I thought I was the only crazy one. Squiggy and I play hide a seek. I have a circular style house and we chase each other and stop and hide and then jump out at each other. We had behind stuff and jump out when the other gets close. Yeah, I just admitted that :p
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OK - I have fun hiding behind walls, and when Duke tippy toes around looking for me and just before he sees me - I ROAR like a monster to scare him. Sounds kind of mean, but he really likes it. It almost always gets him to run a B500. I can't do it all the time - I try to make it an unpredictable event.
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My dogs play hide 'n' seek the EXACT same way- throw the toy in the other room, they go fetch while I go hideโฆ and like you said- they have gotten very good. We make it harder by turning the lights off and hiding in the dark. My favorite is to hide in the closet with the clothes so they have to look down to see if there's any feet... lol... And of course in the shower behind the curtain. And when they find me, of course I have to jump out and give them a victorious AHHHH! and they do the B500 and go get the toy again. So cute! We've even gotten to the point where when we come home, we open the door to the crate but tell them to "wait". So they sit in their crate while we go hide. When we call out "OKAY!" they come flying out and have to find us. But instead of roaring at them, we give them the smushies and lots of rubs! This is one of my favorite things about them. So cute, so interactive.
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I do this with EL D but without the fetch part. He really likes it and often it does cause the start of the B-500. I'll have to try it with one of his favorite toys.
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My husband does that with Nala - it is so funny!!
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Ok, I thought I was the only crazy one. Squiggy and I play hide a seek. I have a circular style house and we chase each other and stop and hide and then jump out at each other. We had behind stuff and jump out when the other gets close. Yeah, I just admitted that :p
Hollie and I do this exact same thing, only usually at work!! Shhh don't tell the boss.
Hollie's gotten smart at chasing after me, she'll stop, turn around to head me off in the next room!!!
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we give them the smushies
Okay I thought I was crazy but I guess I'm notโฆ I like to smush Booger's face to bring out all the cutesy wrinkles and I say "Shmoosh your fashe" (smoosh your face). I don't think he loves it, but at least he tolerates it.
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BDawg-that's a GREAT game to play when you come home Altho I don't think mine would stay in the crate & wait for me to hide LOL LOL LOL