• Your pup is very cute! He's got basenji white socks on all fours - My first thought was he looks mixed with yellow lab and looks a bit like a Basenji with the white blaze on his muzzle. Maybe others will offer thoughts. His growling at strangers might be a guarding behavior. Hopefully, as he is more and more socialized that the behavior will taper off. At 9 months, it would be a perfect time to enroll him in Obedience Training. (I went to Pet Smart for both of my dogs) This weekly activity helps you both to bond, have fun together and learn how to approach negative behavior with positive methods.

    Congrats on having a new family member! Lucky you the potty training is going well. 😉


  • He is very attractive. I will let the others tell you what they think..but he is very lucky to have you as his new family.


  • Welcome to the forum, your Pup is lovely. He looks a little like he may have some Basenji in him, it's difficult to say. Read up on Basenji traits that may tell you more.

  • Houston

    Welcome to the forrum.
    He sure is pretty, does look to have some b traits, like the white socks, and his face remind me a little too of B's. What does his tail look like?


  • Welcome. In some of the pictures, his eyes and the area around them look basenji - slight wrinkling between his years, and the white on all his feet, the white chest, the blaze on his face, all are basenji traits, but it's hard to really say - his tail doesn't curl and doesn't have a white tip, that I could see. Do check out the basenji traits online - you will have a better idea of whether he acts basenji. In any event, he is a nice looking dog and love all your pictures.


  • OOps - that was EARS, not years. Duh.


  • Although you can't see it in the photos, he does indeed have a white tip on his tail. It is slightly curled but not nearly as much as a typical basenji tail.

    He is very intelligent, and he is also sneaky. He does bark some, but he also makes some interesting noises. He will whine quite a bit, but also make different noises. I haven't heard him howl consistently like on some of the youtube videos. He loves to jump in bed and cuddle, and he is affectionate. Those are some of the characteristic traits that stood out to us.

    I'm a little torn on the independence trait.. he seems to have a mind of his own, but he is rather attached to me and my girlfriend already. I guess that doesn't mean he isn't independent, especially at 9 months. Thanks for the replies!! We appreciate the responses!


  • My first thought, from the first pic was bull-terrier…but in a couple of the profile angle pics I see more possiblity of Basenji...the chisling below his eye/cheek is particularly UN-bull terrier like. I think, as you suspect, he might be more than one generation of mix...but I think it is definitely possible that he has a Basenji as an ancestor!

    Either way, he is adorable, and you are welcome to join us and share stories about him 🙂


  • I sometimes think that multi-generational mixes take on very basenji like characteristics, because basenjis and other pariah/primitive types are ideally suited for the ecological niche of living off of/near humans without humans making their breeding decisions. They may have even never been any true "breed" as we think of them.

    Very basenji-like characteristics may be actually the products of generations of natural selection in many environments, not just Africa. Prick ears, pointed muzzles, curled tails, wrinkles, even the strange voices seem to appear in many pariah type dogs.

    -Nicole

  • Houston

    , even the strange voices seem to appear in many pariah type dogs.

    I can so see that, Moses, our almost 9 month old portuguese podengo grande sounds just like a howlling, yodeling basenji at times, then he breaks into this excruciatingly loud bark..

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