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My dog ate a bird??

Basenji Talk
  • 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.

  • Oh, congrats. today's kill at my house was a rabbit. Our agility lesson went downhill quickly after that.

  • The only thing you have to watch out for is bugs, parasites, etc. I have two girls that are very good at 'catching' critters.

  • 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?

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  • Dog Tales

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    sanjibasenjiS
    I found the transcript from the documentary. If the age part is true, the rest is not (unless there's difference between our European bred Basenjis and those in Africa): NARRATOR: Sharing the same curly-tailed trait [as the Akita] is the venerable African Basenji. DEBBYE TURNER: Basenji is the granddad of ancient dogs. However, they’re not that trainable. They will not do obedience tricks like other breeds. Come back here. And here’s an example! NARRATOR: There is something else very wolf-like about a Basenji… SOUND OF DOGS HOWLING NARRATOR: …its yodel. These breeds reveal much about how dogs may have appeared and acted after they first transitioned from pack hunters to scavengers and provide clues as to why they may have first appealed to humans. DEBBYE TURNER: You won’t see Basenjis doing tricks, but because of their closeness to their wolf ancestors, they are considered very adept hunters. Here's the video link. Basenjis mentioned 25 min. into it. https://www.pbs.org/video/dog-tales-vskr2y/
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    DebraDownSouthD
    In your position, where you really have to take her out a lot, I understand. And I hope her comfort continues. My point was it is situational need, not dog need to be that social. :) I have a slim chance of that having worked with my current 2, but with my incredibly dog aggressive first one, I'd have been out in a basket muzzle and warning everyone to keep their dogs away.
  • What about the birds ??

    Basenji Talk
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    SenjiShowgirlS
    I have three birds, all of them game birds, an indian runner duck and two button quail (pets for me though) and while very cautious when they are around the dogs I have never (yet) had a problem with Zumi (my B) being too rough or killing them. I think he realizes these birds are MINE and are not to be touched unless I let him. he does like to chase the birds outside though, like robins, finches. oh and hte chickadees, they are a favorite as they play back!. he respects their space, my duck gave him a nice peck on the tail and he stays away now. my birds do not fly, per se, I have clipped the flight feathers on my quail and my duck is a ground duck, it cannot fly, its a baby yet anyways. Zumi dislikes the quail as they do a sort of odd "squee!" sound that he hates if he gets too close. I let all the birds out for a few hours everyday, and the dog I am worried about most is my chow chow, who is very prey-driven, Zumi has never touched my birds yet, but i would never let them loose in the house with the dogs without me right there. Zumi also gets along great with my rat for some reason, they slept together even, odd little dogs B's. ~Charlene
  • Smelly Dogs!!

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    GoobyG
    The only sweat glands on a dog are on the feet. They keep their foot pads supple, but also sent mark the trail. I actually like the way goober smells. Probably because I grew up with a dish called Frito and Chili pie. My old dog Missy had the standard stinky dog smell which I wasn't too fond of, but I didn't hate it enough to give her a bath more than once a month. I wonder if th
  • Devil dog/good dog

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    nobarkusN
    Yes I agree Pat, Fort Funston could get very crowded and dangerous for smaller dogs as packs of bigger dogs playing could cause injury. My 2 Basenjis were very good and stayed pretty close to me and got used to the crowds. The only problem I had there was with this lady who had an older Tri color female Basenji. It would bite my blk/wht, Nika who was 1-1/2 on the butt. A few times of that and I stayed way away from her. The problem is Nika was a very playful girl and never did anything like that. A few times of getting nipped on the butt started her doing it to other dogs and Basenjis. A Basenji would want to play and Nika would chase and give a nip and the the other dog would get mad and a fight would occur. Nobody would ever get hurt thankfully. It was rare that it would happen as I took them there for 9 years, mostly on the weekend without problem. We had a lot of fun and people loved the Basenjis! Ringo, the red/wht was a very entertaining clown when we'd go down to the beach.
  • Bad dog!

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    spitfirekrl1S
    That is a great idea, but it should be an adolescent for sure (seems to be the most trying stage). My mom also really liked our dog (the look, the no bark, typical things most people like) and she quickly changed her ideas. We were telling her about the time we had to babysit another dog and the things she did to let us know that she did not like another dog in our house (she did some very naughty things)! My mom said 'wow she is really a manipulating dog'. I said, yeah they are definately not a breed for everyone.