Can an abused Basenji ever be completely rehabilitated?


  • Not all martigales are big. I have several that are the same size as a regular buckle collar. For lure trials and race meets, I find it better to have the dogs on the wider martingales because loose leash walking goes completely out the door when the lure moves and I would rather spread out the force they are putting on their necks when they pull.

  • Houston

    You can get them in thinner styles, the one Otis has from Lupine is not that wide..

    and they have a lifetime guarantee. If the dog chews it even if to pieces they will replace it..We have replaced Otis' once…


  • BIg is better with pulling b's…this makes the pressure on their necks less...the wider the band. Myself, I don't like "thin" collars for our breed.

  • Houston

    I agree, I like the wider bands on their necks too.
    Otis' new collar is 2.5 inches in the front and narrows down to 1" at the buckle..so the tapered style, but if you want thinner, the option is out there..


  • AJ only pulls when he sees another dog. He might reconsider this, though. I let him play with a 1-yr-old Terrier earlier who kept humping him. AJ told him to stop a few times, but never nipped him. He looked so miserable! :o

    The owner wants to get him neutered, but says the vet wanted over $100 to do it. I told him take the dog to SPCA. It won't be as much.


  • @AJs:

    AJ only pulls when he sees another dog. He might reconsider this, though. I let him play with a 1-yr-old Terrier earlier who kept humping him. AJ told him to stop a few times, but never nipped him. He looked so miserable! :o

    The owner wants to get him neutered, but says the vet wanted over $100 to do it. I told him take the dog to SPCA. It won't be as much.

    And in California a neuter would be way more then that… and if using a SPCA clinic, hate to say it.. you usually will have more problems after then the going to a regular Vet that doesn't do them on a assembly line process

    As they say, you get what you pay for


  • @tanza:

    and if using a SPCA clinic, hate to say it.. you usually will have more problems after then the going to a regular Vet that doesn't do them on a assembly line process

    We live in an area with a very high stray concentration so we have neutered two males who we found, then found them new homes. (we take them in, put up flyers and take out classifieds looking for their owners, then if no one shows up, we neuter them and find them new homes.)

    The free neuter at animal care & control cost us over $200 to fix, but the $40 neuter at Anti Cruelty went very well. (Yes, we spent over $200 on a stray we had no intention of keeping. Yes, we are crazy. the second stray cost more than that even, because we had to save his life when we found him.)

    A regular vet runs $250-$300 for a neuter in our area.

    -Nicole


  • [QUOTE=AJs Human;100027
    The owner wants to get him neutered, but says the vet wanted over $100 to do it. I told him take the dog to SPCA. It won't be as much.

    OH, I ONLY WISH!! Up here in my area we pay anywhere from $350 to $500.:eek: It's ridiculous. I only wonder if they know they are not anestizing an elephant!:)


  • @nomrbddgs:

    OH, I ONLY WISH!! Up here in my area we pay anywhere from $350 to $500.:eek: It's ridiculous. I only wonder if they know they are not anestizing an elephant!:)

    I don't think it's that much for a human vasectomy! It's not like they have to dig around inside the animal's abdomen! I had my cat spayed for $17 and she hasn't had any problems at all. I took her to Lincoln County Spay/Neuter Clinic in Newport, OR.


  • When Ruby was spayed it was around $350 - 2yrs ago. One thing I heard when investigating low cost spay was that it often doesn't include the price of meds. I chose not to do low-cost because of anasthesia issues with sighthounds. I contacted a local breeder and they gave me a recommendation of a vet locally that was knowlegable (and had done surgery on basenjis) so I had Ru's spay done there. I also had heard of problems with low cost spay and pee leakage issues following. It was worth the cost for me for some peace of mind.


  • Around here neuters are around $350-$500 and spays around $500-600. The estimate is itemized and there are some things that the may be "optional" though I would not skip them. Mainly pre-op bloodwork, $85, and IV fluids which is usally around $100.

    Nicky's most recent dental appointment was $400 and that was just to anesthestize and x-ray.

    This is one reason when people tell me that they cannot afford the purchase price of a puppy that I tell them that now is probably not the right time to get a dog. The purchase price is such a small fraction of the cost of dog.


  • Getting your animals vetted with a regular vet who will care for your dog when its sick is very important, IMO. I helps to have one place to have all your animals info…
    course, if you can get a low cost spay/neuter you will be able to bring those forms in to your vet.


  • @lvoss:

    Around here neuters are around $350-$500 and spays around $500-600. The estimate is itemized and there are some things that the may be "optional" though I would not skip them. Mainly pre-op bloodwork, $85, and IV fluids which is usally around $100.

    That's a good point - when Ruby was spayed the bloodwork was an additional $85 - forgot that. So my $350 for a spay was really $435 as I had a full blood panel done. IV Fluids were included in the $350 price. I 100% agree with you, I would never skip either bloodwork or IV fluids on any surgery. Nor would I skip the bloodwork on the annual exam (for the yearly baseline).


  • Blood tests are so very important…and I recommend it for anyone who has a basenji over the age of 5. It can show many medical issues before the dog start to show symptoms.


  • I'm late to this thread, but I figured I'd chime in about the shy/abused rescue Basenji.

    Our Tana has been with us for just over 2 years. She was a puppymill breeding female.

    At the beginning, she was very very skittish, timid & anxious. She went from her foster home- a big place where she could hide from anything….to our semi truck. Small space, no hidey-holes. No choice but to learn to accept us. I left her alone for the first couple of weeks- no unnecessary advances, just feeding & walks, calm voices....no coddling, no babying. Just being in each other's presence. I let HER get used to me, see the routine, so she'd learn what we were all about.

    Despite her shyness, from day 1 she did always sleep tucked under my arm. She'd lay there half-crouched, licking the sheets (is that like a thumb-sucking behavior?) until she fell asleep.

    Her progress was gradual. By two months she seemed to be relaxed around me. By four months, she figured out she could engage me in PLAY...which was clearly a great revelation for her....I could just see the joy in her, for the first time, when she play-bowed and slapped at me and I responded playfully. Before that, she'd only engaged Jibini in play. That may have been the first time she ever initiated play with a human.

    By 6-8 months, she began to tolerate Fred, began to show curiosity with strangers & new situations. By one year, she was almost entirely a different dog. I don't know if her progress was normal or unusually fast- but I think being a trucker dog, getting SO MUCH constant socialization, really helped her figure things out quickly.

    Over the last year, she has truly come full circle, finally. She still refused to do more than "tolerate" Fred for the longest time....He felt kind of bad, thinking Tana hated him. She did kind of act like he was contagious....she wanted to be as far from him as physically possible. But when we adopted Chloe, suddenly Tana had COMPETITION for attention! And since Chloe absolutely adores the very earth Fred walks on, suddenly Tana became Fred's best friend too!! It is so funny to see this little dog who used to regard Fred like a fart in a car....suddenly scramble to be the first one to cuddle up in his arms so he won't be able to pet Chloe. She is almost FAWNING over him. It's great.

    That, and she has FINALLY accepted crating. Until this past October, really, she's been the type to shred, whine and poop in her crate- she became a basket case. I know it's not widely reccomended, but after 2 years together in a semi truck, I was fairly sure Jibini & Tana could be crated in an extra-large crate without trouble. So I started crating them together....for no more than 2-3 hours at a time.

    So far, so good...and it has helped Tana's anxiety immensely. I notice now, when it's time for me to go to work, Tana will actually let me come pick her up so I can bring her to the crate. Used to be, I'd have to spend 10 minutes trying to catch her, if she knew she was going in the crate. I've also tried crating her alone a few times, and as if by miracle, nothing is shredded or soiled.

    I am amazed by how far she's come....and now that she has fully realized her potential, I am delighted by what a wonderful, sweet dog she is. She is absolutely perfect. I think, given enough time, most Basenjis will make a good deal of progress. Tana was young when she was sold from the puppymill- only 1.5 years old (and already a mother). Maybe her youth helped her resiliency a little bit. But either way, adopting Tana and helping her overcome her fears has been a very rewarding experience 🙂

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