There's a book called 'the intelligence of dogs' that's pretty good, since it measures problem solving ability, and not obedience.
Having said all that, it's a common misconception. How often are our kids in schools (human kids, not four legged ones) called 'stupid' because they're not obedient!
Spray bottle has been a godsend for us! Bassit stops dead, horrified, gives me a FILTHY look and stalks away. (But it does stop her from chewing on the other dog!)
We met a red for the first time this weekend (up until now, our Bassit, a tri, was the only real-live B we knew). What I found hilarious, was that I could pretty much see what the red was thinking. His behavior was fairly predictable. With Bassit, we never EVER know what she's thinking until she's wreaked some sort of havoc!
Edited to Add - I'm sure that the humans owned by the red would beg to differ on his being 'predictable' but that was my opinion. His behavior made sense, whereas Bassit's…sometimes I have to think really hard to trace where her thought pattern started out!
Hooray! That's the answer I was hoping for. I have made some pretty significant changes in my lifestyle to accomodate little miss. (I don't think I've gone out on an evening for more than a couple of hours since we brought her home.) I'm pleased to hear that the efforts we've made to spend time with her and bond are going to pay off long-term.
Hi All;
Our girl, Bassit, is 10 months old, and, as much as I'm afraid to say this too loudly, she's simply a joy! Not very distructive, very, very sweet and loving, friendly to people and other dogs, exceptionally cuddly. We were at Woofstock this weekend and met someone with a 7 year old Basenji who said that theirs had gotten progressively more 'ornery' as she got older. Is this common? Are we in a honeymoon period and my sweet little girl will grow more distant and cranky? Would love to hear from others with more experience than me.
Thanks!
Bassitt is pretty sure that she's agile like a cat. Except she outweighs cats by at least 10 pounds. She's forever falling off of the back of the couch because she thinks her butt's smaller than it is. (Then she gets scared because she fell off. Then she runs away and doesn't look where she's going and runs into stuff and gets scared.) In short…She's a total klutz, but in such a delightful way!
Our Bassitt really doesn't love her crate either. When we first brought her home, she'd scream for hours (when I left her to go to work). In desperation, we did a combination of 'really really tire her out' (i.e. I get up at 5 in order to walk her long enough to make her sleepy) and 'fool her into thinking she's not crated'. We bought a very tall metal gate with vertical bars (nothing for her to climb) The gate's adjustable, so an area of the hallway has become 'baby jail'. She's pretty happy to go in there, because it's not so restrictive. We still crate her sometimes (for example, we start the night out with her in the crate, but within a few hours she's lonesome and needs to come into bed with me…spoiled!) and when she's in the car, but because she doesn't associate it with 'mom leaving' she doesn't hate it as much.
The secret for us was to do a bit at a time. (put her in baby jail, as soon as she stopped making noise, let her out. After a little while, put her in again, same thing) Exposing her a bit at a time seemed to help.
Good luck! I know your frustration.
(Can't help at all with the chewing. Bassitt hates toys, all she wants to chew are ipod chargers)
The B-500s are getting out of hand as well! Yesterday, she was doing circuits of the house and leapt into a bedside table, causing everything to go flying. Now I understand what they mean when everyone says 'You need a sense of humour to be owned by a Basenji'
OH MY, I just noticed that there was a thread just two below asking the same thing! Sorry for the unintentional repost!
So Bassit has just turned 7 months. And I swear, it's like a little 'evil' switch has been turned on in her brain! My sweet, docile little puppy is suddenly pure darn badness from the end of her nose to the tip of her tail.
I suppose that's what I get for being smug, thinking that I got the one 'perfectly behaved' basenji!
Tell me though, in your experience, do puppies go through a toddlerhood? Where all of a sudden, they're into everything? And do they ever grow out of it?
I have to admit, the pure GLEE she gets from grabbing something she knows isn't hers makes me laugh.
High shelves and hooks on the wall (to hold your purse and other things you need)are part of living with a basenji. Even in the bathroom, few people can keep TP on the roller, most on high shelves there as well !
Thanks everyone! Now I'm wracking my brain trying to remember where exactly her vaccines were. She got two in one day, and I preoccupied with holding her and giving her cookies! I keep rubbing it, and if anything, it seems a bit smaller, but I will absolutely let everyone know what happens next.
Cheers
6 month old Bassit is in great health. We just got her checked out at the vet and all is well. This week though (about 3 days after we went to the vet…sigh) I noticed a little lump on her back by her tail. It doesn't hurt her at all, and it's not changing in size or anything. I'm going to get her checked out anyways, but I thought I'd ask...Are Basenjis prone to lumps like this? I know that certain breeds just seem to get them and they're nothing serious. If that were the case, at least it would arm me with a bit more information when I went to the vet.
Thanks!
At six months, Bassit has only ever screamed…except for 3 barks I've gotten. Each time, it's been when I've come home and let her out of puppy jail. I get a tiny little 'ruff' and she works really hard to wag her tail, but really, it just wiggles a bit.
Wanted to pass along an absolutely tremendous baby gate that we're using to cordon off Bassit when we're away from home. It's adjustable, tall, and metal…So far we've had no Houdini moments! She also seems to like it because she can still easily see what's happening on the other side of 'puppy jail'
Greetings everyone;
Things are going pretty well us all as we adjust to life with our new girl (she's 6 months now). I am struggling with getting her to housetrain, though. I know that I'm also confusing her, so I was hoping that if I explained the situation, you might have some ideas.
I am out of the house for over 10 hours a day (note - I realize that this is a long time for her to be alone, and it will change in the spring when my boyfriend moves in). At any rate, it's far too long for her to remain crated. I have her crate in a gated off area, along with her water bowl, some toys and papers. She's pretty reliable about using the papers to eliminate, but when we're home, I can't seem to help her understand that I'd prefer she go outside.
I'm not sure whether the answer is that I just have to deal with it for the next couple of months until she's not on her own as much, and then properly crate train her. Am I doing her damage in the meantime though, by allowing her to use the house as her toilet? Will it simply confuse her later on?
We have a 12 year old lab/basenji cross, who has always been the top dog of the pack. When we had other dogs staying with us, Cleo would very quickly grab them by the neck, thump them onto the floor and then, having established that she's the big girl, leave them pretty much alone.
Since 5 month old Bassit has come home, it's a bit of a different story. As you can imagine, Bassit's full of energy, and constantly biting Cleo's tail, getting in her face, chasing her around, etc. We keep waiting for Cleo to 'lay the smack down', but she isn't. There's a lot of indignant barking and gurgling, but, for the most part, Cleo's letting Bassit rule the roost.
Do you think it's an age thing? That Cleo is realizing that there's new, younger blood in the pack, and is stepping aside? I realize that there's nothing I can do about it, and, for the most part, I leave them to sort it out, but it sure is sad to see my old girl passing the torch.
When i was first in touch with Maya's breeder i asked lots of questions about health testing. I knew the temperment of Maya's mum (which is fantastic!!) as i had met her several times, so i asked all about Dad. Having witnessed some horrific temperments around the ring over here, health and temperment were a priority for me…
I also would have been concerned if the breeder hadn't asked LOTS of questions of me. She wanted to know if i'd researched the breed, if i knew they weren't necessarily easy to live with (and explained!) and just lots of questions about me to make sure she knew if i would be a responsible basenji owner. I think with such a unique breed you need a responsible breeder who is looking for a permenant home who has done their research :)
This was totally my experience as well. I was very aware that it wasn't just us interviewing a breeder, but the breeder getting to know us. I was really grateful to see that our amazing breeder took the time to make sure that we knew what we were getting into. It would make me exceptionally leery if a breeder handed over a Basenji, no questions asked.
As far as I'm concerned that's totally a Basenji thing. My lab-basenji cross has done it for years and it so charmed me, but when we got Bassit, the purebred, and she did it too, I was thrilled. It's adorable, and makes it a lot easier when she's making me get up at 2 in the morning to let her out.
Hey Everyone, thought I'd share a quick story about the puppy…
Yesterday, Bassit made me laugh and laugh. We've only had her for about 2 weeks now, and so this is the first really windy day that I've walked her. It was the longest, funniest walk of my life. Every single leaf that blew by caused her to stop, stare intently at it, stare up at me, and watch it again! It completely blew her mind!