Hi Hoot,
Welcome to the forum. I wanted to introduce myself to you because I too adopted a dog for the same reasons. I wanted a companion for my Golden Retriever who is also my service dog. He had gained a lot of weight during a period where I was sick with my MS. I decided to go to our local shelter and found my baby Taz. He had a great personality and got along well with my Golden "Levi" . I too did not know what kind of dog he was until my BF figured it out. All we knew was that he was hound/terrier mixed. Little did I know he was Basenji or even what a Basenji was. I learned quickly. lol.. He too likes to chew a lot and we have to put everything out of his reach, especially cell phones (from experience) He won't mess with the remote control though. He does like to table surf and will take anything from gloves to mail to cellphones off the tables. He is a very loveable dog though. He loves to be in my lap and is a leaner. You will probably find she is very cat like as it is a trait of basenji's. My Taz likes to lean up against me when i am getting ready in the bathroom or when I am standing around. He is very partial to me though he loves my BF (not sure why) but he doesn't sit with him unless I am out of the room. I have to put baby gates up to keep him from going into the kitchen or from going upstairs to table surf in the bathroom or bedrooms or keep the doors shut. You will find baby gates very helpful. Also you will find that keeping lots and lots of chew toys around will be very helpful to keep her attention off of things she shouldn't chew. We use Nylabones for powerful chewers and they love pigs ears and will take them a while to chew them. Kongs are great as well because they can chew them and not destroy them as they tend to do to other softer plastic toys. I have also found he loves tennis balls and won't destroy them as well. He is fully crate trained but will sleep in the bed with me when my BF is not here. They are very playful as well. Females do tend to try to be more dominant but being a dominant person can offset that problem. Here are some pics of my Taz and you can see they look very much alike. Taz's tail is curled but not nearly as much as a full Basenji. His ears also tip more like a terrier as well. He sheds very little though when I brought him home he was shedding very bad and I don't know if it was stress related to him being at the shelter or if it was just his diet. I feed him purina pro plan sensitve stomach and skin formula which consist of salmon, brewers rice and oatmeal which are very healty for them and keeps their fur shiney and their skin healthy as well as their stomachs. You will find though the longer you have her you will fall in love with Basenjis. I hope you enjoy her and have lots of fun.
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Nina - our Basenji/Shepherd mix
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new picture of Nina-
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CUTE! Look at those eyes!!!
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Hi Alm- Basil's just over a year, and weighs about 20kgs. He's got a Basenji build, just a bit bigger.
BTW, I LOVE Nina's eyes! She's got fire in her lol
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Welcome to the forums! Nina is a cutie! Could she possible be mixed with Australian cattle dog or blue healer maybe? I see shepherd, but maybe something else too. Here is some pics of my B/shepherd mix. Her name is Oba (for now) we just adopted her a few weeks ago. She is more shepherd though. She is 11 months old and about 50 pounds!
Here is Oba and Baroo (my other furbaby)
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Hi there..
Great looking dogs. I haven't seen either of the two breeds in Nina, from all the looking I did on-line. Her white blaze is just down from her ears on the back of her neck. She has some Shepherd in her, but everything else from feet, ears, and all the perfect colorations are Basenji, from all I've looked at! -
I too suspect there's more than Shepherd in Nina - why would anyone dock a Shepherd's tail??? Or maybe it was injured and was surgically removed for some other reason….
Terry
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@alm:
Hi there..
Great looking dogs. I haven't seen either of the two breeds in Nina, from all the looking I did on-line. Her white blaze is just down from her ears on the back of her neck. She has some Shepherd in her, but everything else from feet, ears, and all the perfect colorations are Basenji, from all I've looked at!Nina is very cute… and there are many, many breeds that have the same type of colorations as Basenjis... same with ears...
If you read the Basenjis standard they are supposed to be small and hooded. From the breed standard: Ears--Small, erect and slightly hooded, of fine texture and set well forward on top of head.
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Hi Terry-
We've used the Alga Vet Hospital in La Costa for many years. They've had Basenji's as patients, and told us what we know, such as it is! It's hard to prove a negative, much less a suspicion. I did a lot of research, and it's possible something else might have snuck in…but I don't see it or have a guess. What I'm intrigued by is all the second guessing of this dog's lineage! We're just glad we saved her from a needle.
I can tell you this as an aside, having handled and trained some mean, roaring, sentry dogs in the Air Force...fifty years ago...this Nina of ours is the closest thing in terms of an aggressive, protective dog I've seen since! She's not friendly or sociable. Maybe someday...I think she came from some bad people, had never been on a leash, or lived in-doors, and certainly looked abused. She was starved for attention, and needing someone to care for her, and we're delighted she chose us.
As always, I appreciate any thoughts you have. Please stay in touch-
Al -
Hey, Lovemybaroo, do I notice a tatoo on the underside of your B? The reason I ask, is my B Tosca (who we got from a shelter in Iowa) has one almost identical to it, but smaller and darker on her stomach. I am not sure if it is a tatoo or not (or am I looking at a um…male part? The pic was hard to tell ) but if it is I was wondering how he got it. I am asking because even though we got Tosca from a shelter she is originally from California, so I didn't know if it was a common breeder symbol or anything. And if its not a tatoo, just consider me dumb, but like I said the shape (Cross with circle) is almost identical to Tosca's tatoo. I have just always been trying to figure out why she was tatoo'ed, since the vet said a breeder would usually just tatoo a number on her, not a picture. Thanks!
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Hi Jylly18-
Nina is a female who had a litter of ten pups just before we got her seven weeks ago, when she was fifteen months. There is not tattoo as she is chipped on her back. I'm not sure what you thought you were looking at. She is, we're reliably told, a Basenji/Shepherd mix, now about 38 lbs. -
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Well, if it makes you feel any better, it is nothing personal. Lots of people come here to ask if we think their dog might be part Basenji. Those of us that see hundreds of Basenjis per year, and those that have been students of the breed for decades give our best educated guess. There are breed traits that stand out for every breed to give us an indication what is in there in a mix...but it certainly isn't a science. Lots of us, dog-people, just love to speculate on mixes, and lots of us are probably wrong, as much as we are right.
With Basenji-like mixes, it is possible that a dog that is several generations of mixed dogs will eventually go back to looking like what is called a 'pariah dog' shape. Although domesticated, Basenjis are considered a pariah dog in some classificiations.
So if someone says or asks if their dog is a Basenji mix...the usual answer from us is either maybe, or I don't know. Particularly if the traits that we usually use to ID Basenjis (ear shape, eye shape, wrinkle, tail curl, lack of barking) are off or not present, then it is possible that although the dog kinda looks like a Basenji, it isn't really.
Not that that matters AT ALL to you, or me, or the forum. You are welcome here -
Hey, Lovemybaroo, do I notice a tatoo on the underside of your B? The reason I ask, is my B Tosca (who we got from a shelter in Iowa) has one almost identical to it, but smaller and darker on her stomach. I am not sure if it is a tatoo or not (or am I looking at a um…male part? The pic was hard to tell ) but if it is I was wondering how he got it. I am asking because even though we got Tosca from a shelter she is originally from California, so I didn't know if it was a common breeder symbol or anything. And if its not a tatoo, just consider me dumb, but like I said the shape (Cross with circle) is almost identical to Tosca's tatoo. I have just always been trying to figure out why she was tatoo'ed, since the vet said a breeder would usually just tatoo a number on her, not a picture. Thanks!
Breeders/owners that tatoo Basenji typically use their AKC reg #, not typically shapes/pictures. Mine have tatoos, inside hind leg. However now with the Chips for ID, tatoo's are not that common even with breeders any longer. When my person that used to do tatoo's local retired… I went to the chip
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Hi Andrea-
I really appreciate your thoughtful answer. Makes a lot of sense to me. Many thanks for taking the time to share it. I'm sure it will help other owner's as well.
Al -
Hey, Lovemybaroo, do I notice a tatoo on the underside of your B? The reason I ask, is my B Tosca (who we got from a shelter in Iowa) has one almost identical to it, but smaller and darker on her stomach. I am not sure if it is a tatoo or not (or am I looking at a um…male part? The pic was hard to tell ) but if it is I was wondering how he got it. I am asking because even though we got Tosca from a shelter she is originally from California, so I didn't know if it was a common breeder symbol or anything. And if its not a tatoo, just consider me dumb, but like I said the shape (Cross with circle) is almost identical to Tosca's tatoo. I have just always been trying to figure out why she was tatoo'ed, since the vet said a breeder would usually just tatoo a number on her, not a picture. Thanks!
lol! no, he doesn't have a tattoo. Thats his "male parts" you are looking at! And although I don't know much about his breeder, I do know he didn't come from this state. Interesting that your dog has a tattoo though…
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And if its not a tatoo, just consider me dumb, but like I said the shape (Cross with circle) is almost identical to Tosca's tatoo. I have just always been trying to figure out why she was tatoo'ed, since the vet said a breeder would usually just tatoo a number on her, not a picture. Thanks!
My guess is that it is a tattoo to indicate she has been spayed. I've seen it before in other shelter dogs.
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These comments about tattoos have nothing to do with my dog Nina. They relate to another dog's picture sent to a post of mine.
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Here's our mixed boy!
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Hi there-
Great looking dog…we found our Nina is most likely a mix of Aussie Kelpie and Aussie Cattle Dog, maybe! After two inconclusive DNA tests, because they can't yet test Kelpies/Cattledogs, we do know she's not Basenji. We recently had her do a herding test and she drove the sheep all over the pen! I think we now have a clue! Best of luck-
Al -
That's interesting. When we adopted him, the shelter said he was Kelpie and Shepherd, but our vet said Basenji and Shepherd. We gave some thought to the DNA testing, but we weren't curious enough for the cost.