Cairo will be beginning his Basic training class soon. If you have a basenji that seems difficult, basic training will be a savior for you. I cannot express how important it is. It helps you communicate with your dog. It helps your dog communicate well with stranger and other dogs!
Cairo has been going to an extremely large and populated dog park several times with his basenji pack before he was fixed (14weeks to 17 weeks old). This is not something that I would suggest for a puppy owner if you dont have experience with dog parks or have a regular pack that you meet with.
The basenji pack accepts him and as a puppy and he recognizes that he cant run with the boys out into the park. He has been hanging with the girls who stay near the owners.
I have been taking him to this other dog park at lunch so he can meet one or two big dogs on his own and learn how to communicate without running into a dangerous situation at the other park.
He typically sticks to Caesar like glue at the park when we are at the huge park, but I want him to know that big dogs are okay too. And, build some independence away from Caesar. I am worried that he will develop seperation anxiety from Caesar always being around.
I strongly recommend taking your basenji to the small dog pen if it is your basenji's first experience at the park. Smaller dogs play differently and it is easy to control any behaviors in your pup that need to be addressed.
When Caesar was a pup (my first basenji), I didnt want to take him to a dog park until I finishsed basic training so I could be sure he would listen to me in a populated park with strange dogs.
It is also very bad form to take an unfixed dog into a dog park when they are at that heat stage or manly stage because they will try to hump or over sniff which may cause conflict with other dogs. If you plan on not fixing your basenji, basic training will be important before a dog park so your basenji knows what conduct is not ok at the park.
