Skip to content

Having trouble getting your basenji to eat their food?

Basenji Talk
  • @etzbseder:

    Are you sure it's a basenji? 20.1kg is too heavy for a basenji. Medjai is a light basenji (also a little short) and he only weighs about 8.1kg. I think standard for a male should be about 11.3kg.

    He will eat if he's hungry enough, just do the best you can with picking something he'll like based on what the rest like and he'll eat it in time. If the vet says that nothing's wrong, go with it. It'd help if you could post pictures.

    Yeah, that does sound HUGE….like almost double the accepted weight for a male Basenji. Must be a mix with something. Can't wait to see pictures.

  • We feed Tupper Blue Buffalo with the life sources bits. He loves it. On special nights try adding a little pumpkin to the dry food. Make sure you get real pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling and add NO MORE then a tablespoon. Anymore then that the dog with have a bathroom problem. As soon as we put the pumpkin mixed food down Tupper goes crazy, it's so cute

  • The vet told me that he is to thin.I found an absessed in his mouth, took him to see the vet and now everything is fine.He started to eat a bit more then usually but not like my other 2 dogs.There are 3 bowls for each dog but i place it far apart from each other and they eat in peace.Thenk you so much for everything.

  • Every morning and evening they will get some extra with their food but i know that Nano loves and going crazy if i pour some meat flovour soup over his pellets. He doesn't like to share his food but that's okay, i never share my food not even with my kids or husband.I put a red light in their kennel so they can sleep warm during the night in the winter because Nano easily get cold and the he doesnt want to play but i understand it's too cold outside so he would rather snuggled. Oh, i LOVE MY NANO>

  • @wizard I have tried that no luck, so left food out all day no luck. he will eat SOME food at night when I put him in it for bedtime. I hate to see him go with out food for so long. we are on our 6 food still no luck.

  • @badbasenji - Should be feeding on a schedule not free fed... NOTE that they will NOT starve themselves unless sick.... give them 10 minutes to eat and then take it away until the next feeding time. If they are hungry they will eat.

  • @tanza
    While I agree that is almost always true, it is not absolutely. You can say "must not know where the sickness is"... but I have personally know known of a dozen for whom no medical issues were found that WOULD hold out until skeletal.

  • @debradownsouth - People should always first have a health check on their pets if there is a problem..... obviously

  • Check for a cracked tooth.

Suggested Topics

  • Should I get a Basenji?

    Basenji Talk
    9
    1 Votes
    9 Posts
    1k Views
    J
    @emmett Hope you're still reading our responses. I'm impressed that you're doing research and reaching out to people who have the breed of dog you're interested in. In my opinion you're doing exactly the right thing. I also like that you're considering a Basenji. I really hope you'll keep that seed of interest in the back of your mind, and that when the time is right that you'll revisit having a Basenji. As other have pointed out, and you've concluded... a Basenji may not be the best choice for where you are right now. Another thought might be to find a local dog park, go there, observe the dogs, the way that they interact with their owners and see if particular breed looks interesting. Some are laid back, some are high energy, some crave attention, some want independence, etc. Watch them. Get use to spotting the behaviors that you want in a dog. Then, when it comes time for you to choose your dog for life, you'll be better prepared to spot the personality, or temperament as we call it, that best fits where you are in life. In turn you'll be making the best choice for your new pal as well. We have great members here with decades of experience breeding, training, showing and co-existing with dogs. I hope you'll stop by anytime you have any questions at all. They don't have to be about Basenjis. Good luck and let us know if you get a pup!! :oncoming_fist: :slightly_smiling_face: :thumbs_up:
  • How did you get your basenji to walk off leash?

    Basenji Talk
    17
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    13k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    @eeeefarm said in How did you get your basenji to walk off leash?: What I find interesting is the change in attitude to dogs on leashes. At that time, many people walked their dogs off leash, and many left them loose on their properties all day long. First, and probably foremost, you're a excellent owner. We disagree on a lot of training things (like e-collars) but you are uber responsible. On the "in the old days"... I see parents talk about not how they roved the neighborhood or all over small towns and how safe. But I also worked with women over the age of 70 who had been sexually assaulted as children and never reported it. I am not sure kids were massively safer in the good old days except for the fact that back then, your neighbors DID look after your kids... they'd scold them or call you without being fearful of being called meddling... because it was about caring. We've lost that. As for dogs, yep... we're similar aged and I remember my grandmother's farm and the fairly steady stream of new farm dogs because they got killed by wild life/snakes etc or roving dogs. It was business as usual. Dog disappeared or dead-- get another one. I know many still feel that way. Rather have to dogs run free and happy and dead young than "cooped up." Our value for dogs as companions has dramatically changed, and our view of our responsibility for them. We always had cats and dogs who were allowed out, and like you, most stayed on the property. But I remember 3 dogs who didn't (one small, probably stolen) and cats didn't live long. We just took that as the norm. Obviously I have look back at that and am horrified. (Though there was an Irish setter who would NOT stay on his property and if the owners weren't there, he followed me about a mile to my house when I walked home from school. His owners laughed, would come get him when they got home if he didn't go back. I thought that was kewl back then but not so much then.) But my experience, and I lived in a very small town then, and a smallish one now, is very different. Then and now, dead dogs and cats on the road are incredibly common. The litmus test is research statistics. Cats who are even allowed out a few hours a day loose have dramatically decreased life spans. I haven't bothered to look about dogs, though a look at shelters should be enough to prove that dogs loose are often dogs lost. The number with electric fence collars demonstrates how ineffective even that is if prey drive kicks in. (for the record, your dog your choice. Loose cats however have an almost unimaginable impact on wildlife, so it IS my business if your cat runs loose.) Yep, times have definitely changed.
  • Thinking about getting a Basenji

    Basenji Talk
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • How do I get my basenji to talk???

    Basenji Talk
    24
    0 Votes
    24 Posts
    15k Views
    E
    My boy yodels when I say "I loooooovveee yooooooouuuuuuu" :D
  • Basenji eating habits

    Basenji Talk
    11
    0 Votes
    11 Posts
    6k Views
    MacPackM
    My Topper was a grazer, if he ate too much at one time he would throw up, but as long as he could munch off and on all day he kept a wonderful weight, so it does work for some dogs.
  • Thinking about getting a basenji…

    Basenji Talk
    32
    0 Votes
    32 Posts
    26k Views
    tanzaT
    @JazzysMom: Well, it's a good thing we went straight to a breeder! I'd considered BRAT, but decided to get a puppy instead. Good thing, because with six kids at home and lots of other kids in and out, we'd have never gotten a dog! Sad isn't it….