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?
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/
If the dogs are having similar symptoms as in the previous years, they need to be treated ASAP! It is my understanding that many are developing the acquired Fanconi Syndrome and need to be put on the protocol. Many vets though do not have the equipment to do the venous blood gas test and get an accurate diagnosis. Emergency vets should have the equipment.
Do not buy any dog treats that come from China and if the package does not state where it is from then do not buy it!
Jennifer
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!!
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
