• Is it just one sharp bark or does it continue like say a golden retriever. Maybe you could video tape it?


  • I dont have a recorder anymore…my Iphone doesnt do video. Its several sharp ones and when she charged the door at my sister she let out a continuous one like a retriever...followed by the sharp WOOF WOOF WOOF and growls. Maybe she barks cuz she was raised around barking breeds? The home i got her from had MANY other breeds and she was the only B in the home.


  • Sonny "barks" every time he greats my parents at their house…in 5 yrs he has never made a sound for me...but for them it happens every time! 🙂


  • My guy will bark, some of my previous Bs would bark, but normally just one at a time, and not often. It's not that Basenjis can't bark, it's that most rarely do.


  • Makes sense. I had to post cuz Ive never heard it before lol. Definitely caught me off guard haha


  • My rescues Bowie and Bambi can woof/bark and they are mom and son. I think it is genetic although she could have learned it from living in a barn with 100 other dogs! Bowie was rescued as a young pup-around 3 months old so I do not think he learned it. Bambi will rarely only woof once but she makes other noises and Bowie will woof at the most twice. He usually woofs at squirrels and I think he is telling them to come down out of the tree! I usually tell them no woof! Maybe they are related. Bambi came from the SD/MN area and is APRI registered but she goes back to AKC registered dogs. These are the only Bs I have ever had that could woof/bark.

    Jennifer


  • I have heard by B bark a few times - it's only one at a time, and has a higher-at-the-end sound that isn't like a normal bark. I think she does it because her basenji/sheltie mix "sister" barks all the time and they do mimic each other's behavior.


  • Our Male Basenji can Bark but not continuously. Usually its just a bark bark. Basenjis have been known to be able to imitate sounds that other animals make. Our Male seems to be able to make many different sounds. Our female while still young has been able to actually get a Baroo out but it seems to take everything she has to do it.


  • A single bark or a single bark, pause, single bark, pause, etc is normal but a repetitive bark, bark, bark, is not. The sound of a Basenji "bark" is different than other dogs. It's more of a boof and seems to come from deep inside. I have heard of Basenjis being able to bark repetitively but I don't recall ever having heard one in person.


  • The Basenjis I have owned have usually barked when startled, and it is generally only one bark, not a repeated bark. Although another single bark may be forthcoming if whatever they are concerned about remains suspicious to them. I don't believe it is a "learned" behaviour, i.e. copied from other dogs that bark. What I have observed has been spontaneous, and limited to occasions when something was unusual. OTOH, it is possible to teach a Basenji to bark on command if you capture the moment, but unless your B offers the bark I don't know how you would go about training it. 🙂


  • I'm of no help…Oakley is getting quieter with age. As a pup he would always yodel for me when I got home. Now, I get happy whining and an occasional yodel or baroo. He has never barked, but is amused that other dogs "feel the need" to...he tilts his head to the side and seems to express concern when he hears barking...he just doesn't get it!


  • When Arnie used to go to the dog parks and another dog near him would bark, he would look around and then look at the dog like-what are you barking about? I do not think Arnie minds Bowie when he woofs because he usually has a reason why-to get those squirrels to come down from the tree!

    Jennifer


  • Its strange. She will "Boof" and sometimes she will BARK LOUDLY and repetitively. And there's no doubt shes a full blood B. Im willing to bet since she was raised in a home with many barking breeds maybe its a learned behavior and she taught herself to do it. I wish I could record it lol. Ill see if I can borrow a recorder from my mother


  • My fella will give a 'bark' when my dad comes over, he loves my dad and my dad loves him 🙂 He will whine when dad leaves and try to chase the car. Otherwise he is very quiet. He sometime whines when he sees rabbits or squirrels in the yard, and sometime yodels when he wants to play, but he is mostly very quiet. I can get him to yodel, any time, with my harmonica, though 🙂


  • How do you know she is a purebred?… Mixes can really fool people.... There was a person in New Mexico that was breeding Fox Terriers to Basenjis and many, many people could not tell if mix or purebred.... by the way, they barked also


  • Barking is a learned behavior. Guppy barks often and he's a B but he's a monkey see monkey do kinda guy. His B mix sister Norah barks so that's where he gets it from.


  • @Jacquieoutwest:

    Barking is a learned behavior.

    Two of mine barked and were never exposed to barking dogs, so I doubt it is that simple. For mine, it was a startle reaction.


  • When I say "bark", I don't really mean that. What's the word I've heard used? Kinda a chuff, is that it? When my dad visits, my boy is very happy and makes a noise completely different than my neighbors sheltie that just barks at the car pulling into my driveway. 🙂


  • 'Barking is a difficult term. I'm pretty sure that a Basenji with a normal dog bark isn't pure. However a Basenji does make a sound which to the uninitiated could be mistaken for a bark. In my opinion the sound is made inward rather than outward - that's the only way I can describe it. possibly others can do better? Some Basenjis will do this and some never do.


  • I know a Basenji can't bark. My Basenji is just starting to understand his yodel…
    It's really funny, but isn't that why we love Basenjis.
    Cheers...

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