New basenji owner to Milo, 6 months old. He is outdoor/indoor dog and we found him going to town on a bird. Is this normal? And what anout chasing rabbits?
Totally normal! I've heard of a B jumping in the air to catch birds as they pass by and succeeding. B's have a very high prey drive anything that catches their interest they chase. Mine chase squirrels here.
Birds? Oh my yes - my female catches them just as they begin their takeoff from the ground!
Rabbits? Mine have all learned to corner these and then …
Chipmunks? Yes indeed.
Muskrats,
Mice,
etc
Absolutely wizard, birds, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, I've even known a few to take on possums and raccoons. Egads! Tough little buggers, aren't they?
Well, the lab I mentioned (chocolate overweight one) almost took me out by slamming into my knee. I commented loudly " he better not insure my knee!" No comment from the owner. Others were keeping an eye on this over exhuberant dog too. Many peeps were standing behind a bench for protection.
What really bugs me is that the park has very visible signs when you enter it that say you must have control of your dog.
Jaycee digs same way but she does somersaults head down over she gos first time neighbor saw it they could not beleive it. I think neighbor came over every day for a week waiting to see it again and Jaycee would do it. Yes I very much second that digging usually will cause the great B-500.
Rita Jean
Owning a basenji requires a good sense of humor and a large dose of patience and a willingness to do some creative thinking to convince the basenjis what you want is really the same thing as what they want.
So true, never a dull moment with these dogs
@Vegas:
We're all committed to the basenji, because the little tools have a way of capturing our hearts… I think basenji owners are a pretty tight-knit group. The ways basenjis affect our lives are so similar, it's hard to not find something in common with other basenji owners.
I think this may be the "same page" Andrea was speaking of!