Two questions..

[QuizBasenji]

When is a B fully grown? Butu still seems a bit small, but he is only 7 months, so I was wondering what age can be considered 'full maturity' - if that ever happens in a B?
What age did your B become fully house trained? Butu is doing pretty well…but should he be fully house trained by now?

Thanks for all feedback!

[tanza]

Usually by 7 months they have reached their adult height, but they continue to mature in body frame. Have you talked to his breeder about his size?

And most all of mine were 95% housetrained by 7 months…. but I never considered them totally 100% until at least a year old.

[LindaH]

Blaze is just past 5 months old and has been housetrained for quite a while.

We do put him in his crate when we're going to be gone (we're retired, so the time he spends in his crate during the day isn't very much) and at night, so he doesn't have free reign in the house when he can't be supervised, but he does let us know when he has to go out. He hasn't had an accident in the house for months now.

[DebraDownSouth]

Cara came at 11 wks, has had 2 accidents in the house the entire time. Persistence, taking out all the time, watching others helps do it faster. In fact, I have never had a dog (that I got as a puppy, not adult rescues) not pretty much housebroken as far as pottying issues goes by 4 months, 5 at latest. House destruction… that's a whole other ball game. But housebreaking, truly it depends on how diligent the owner is and how understanding of their needs. I take pups out a LOT til they are at least 6 mos old so they never get in habit of going in the house.

[Shaye's Mom]

Shaye was fully trained at 5 months. We leave both girls uncrated all night and when we are not here - no accidents, but on saying that, they are never alone more than 5-6 hours during the day since we are retired. She really was gaining height and length up to about 10-11 months. She is on the thin side, and is now 2 1/2. But she is not food motivated, and the vet says she's fine - some fill out quicker than others, and some remain thin.

[QuizBasenji]

Interesting all, and thanks. Butu is very good, but sometimes he will go to the loo directly after a walk. He is quite small and slim, but the vet says he is very healthy with lovely muscle tone, so not much to worry about I hope…

[tanza]

@QuizBasenji:

Interesting all, and thanks. Butu is very good, but sometimes he will go to the loo directly after a walk. He is quite small and slim, but the vet says he is very healthy with lovely muscle tone, so not much to worry about I hope…

Depends on his breeding…again you should be talking to the breeder about his size/type.

And if going in the house after a walk, you have not been on the walk enough to make sure that he has gone potty before going in the house... IMO that would be "operater error"

[sinbaje]

Technically growth plates do not close until 14 months or so in intact animals. Spayed/neutered animals can have their growth plates close later due to the lack of hormones. Unless and until 14 months has come and gone, there is always a chance he could continue to grow in height and even that is not infallible, to mean even after 14 months they can continue to grow which is one reason why the AKC does not do final height measurements on dogs in agility until after their 2nd birthday.

[tanza]

@sinbaje:

Technically growth plates do not close until 14 months or so in intact animals. Spayed/neutered animals can have their growth plates close later due to the lack of hormones. Unless and until 14 months has come and gone, there is always a chance he could continue to grow in height and even that is not infallible, to mean even after 14 months they can continue to grow which is one reason why the AKC does not do final height measurements on dogs in agility until after their 2nd birthday.

Maybe "technically" the grow plates may not close until 12 months in intact animals, but with total knowledge, my Maggii's growth plate was closed at 5 months….

[QuizBasenji]

Thank you - both for the technical info and personal experience. Both are useful. He was not the runt of the litter, and his parents were both taller, so we shall see. He picked up another three rosettes today {/shameless boasting}

[tanza]

@QuizBasenji:

Thank you - both for the technical info and personal experience. Both are useful. He was not the runt of the litter, and his parents were both taller, so we shall see. He picked up another three rosettes today {/shameless boasting}

In Basenjis, we rarely have "runts" in a litter, in my experience. That is because usually are litters are not that bit… runts that I have seen come from dogs that usually whelp a number of puppies, not like a Basenji that usually has 4 to 6

[sinbaje]

Actually Pat the technicallis was 14 months, not 12. And while Maggii might have stopped growing at 5 months, that does not mean her growth plates were closed at 5 months, certainly not all of them. Here is an interesting link showing the age ranges of growth plate closures: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze826tz/id18.html

Congrats Quizbasenii on your recent show successes - seems he is maturing as well as he
should. I would not be unduly worried at this stage of the game.

[tanza]

@sinbaje:

Actually Pat the technicallis was 14 months, not 12. And while Maggii might have stopped growing at 5 months, that does not mean her growth plates were closed at 5 months, certainly not all of them. Here is an interesting link showing the age ranges of growth plate closures: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze826tz/id18.html

Congrats Quizbasenii on your recent show successes - seems he is maturing as well as he
should. I would not be unduly worried at this stage of the game.

I didn't say that she stopped growing, I said her growth plates closed, I have the xrays to prove it. So just saying that while maybe "not till 14 months" per your comments they can and do close as early as 5 months.

[DebraDownSouth]

Runts have little to do with litter size. They may not be a common issue with basenjis, but runts have to do typically with both genetic problems and failure to thrive in the uterus. (Although I did a search for basenji runts and find a lot of people saying they got the runt… sadly people call the smallest a runt when really it should be reserved for a puppy significantly smaller, not just the smallest one)

Runts occur sometimes due to position in uterus, problems with placenta implant, etc causing failure to thrive in the uterus. Many of these puppies will simply be smaller but often catch up. But it can also be genetic issues and those puppies do not catch up, some are fading pups that die in first several days, etc.

[sinbaje]

@tanza:

I didn't say that she stopped growing, I said her growth plates closed, I have the xrays to prove it. So just saying that while maybe "not till 14 months" per your comments they can and do close as early as 5 months.

If the growth plates are closed at 5 months as shown by your xrays the only growing she should be doing is in width, not height. Sorry if I seem confused but that is my technical understanding of the issue; growth plates closed = no more growth in height, ie no more longitudinal growth.

That said - I would love to see her xrays (or any xrays of a young pup with closed plates if anyone knows where I could find some) as I have never seen one that young with closed plates.

At work we, sadly, have more than enough opportunity to x-ray baby dogs (obviously not reccommended) due to injuries or indescriminate eating, etc.

I always get a kick out of doing VD abdomens on the puppies cuz their hips and pelvis look all funny with the spacing you see with open growth plates - the bones look like they are floating around and you wonder how anyone could walk around with such flaccid looking structure, which is of course why the OFA will only do prelims on younger dogs.

With the AKC final jump height card and the OFA final xrays both being at age 2 or older, seems to be the general consensus that 2 years of age is the average age most dogs are considered "mature" and at their full height. As with all averages though - there will be some that are on the low end (think dwarfism) or the high end (think giganticism) - I just have not experienced it myself personally, either with my own dogs or the many, many dogs and cats I see at work within any given year. Which is why I am more apt to tell someone - never say never - to mean don't write off a dog until they are at minimum 14 months and at most 2 years as we just don't know - even in famial lines.

[QuizBasenji]

Butu has shot up at least an inch since he was 5 months…