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.
Great article thanks!!! Will look into other books by Bradshaw. I have since finished it and thought it was great. There's some basenji info in there'd too. I pretty much agree with everything he says… And I though it was very entertaining!!
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
Hollie will hide her treats and her dog food. Her favorite hiding place is under MY pillow in the bed. She has tried to hide her entire food bowl by pushing one of her plush toys with her nose in an attempt to get the toy on top of her food bowl. Why doesn't she just use her mouth to pick it up and place it on the bowl? Silly dog!
