The Wonderful Myths you hear about the Basenji's

[ComicDom1]

Its kind of amazing to hear some of the things that are spouted as facts about Basenji Breed. I have to admit that when I first started reading about the Breed, I was even taken in myself by several myths. However once I started gaining more experience with our Basenji and testing some of these myths do not hold water. So I figured I would start a list of Myths and see where it.

TRUE OR NOT TRUE MYTH's Of the Basenji Breed! You Decide

1. Basenji's are Lion Killers!

2. Basenji's cannot be Trained!

3. Basenji's do not Retreive!

4. Basenji's are one of the oldest Orignal Breeds!

5. Basenji's are deathly afraid of Water!

6. Basenji's are pound for pound the most Vicious Dog Alive!

7. Basenji's cannot Swim!

8. Basenji's cannot be Trusted!

9. Basenji's have short a very short Attention Span!

10. Basenji's will only do something when they Choose to do it!

11. Basenji's prefer Clean Clothes to Dirty Clothes!

12. Basenji's cannot Bark!

13. Basenji's are Quiet Dogs!

14. Basenji's do not require a lot of Attention or Care!

15. Basenji's cannot Jump!

16. Basenji's are the Unintelligent Breed!

17. Basenji's can Climb a Tree like a cat!

18. Basenji's have no Fear!

19. Basenji's are Lap Dogs!

20. Basenji's need no exercise!

21. Basenji's are Naturally Socialized!

22. Basenji's have no Health Problems!

23. Basenji's with poor hunting skills were culled out and killed in Africa!

24. Basenji's do not get Fleas!

25. Basenji's have Color Preferences!

26. Basenji's are not loving pets!

27. The Internet is the best place to get information about the Basenji Breed!

28. Basenji's tail's only Curl on One Side!

This is just a small list to get started with. I am sure many others can add to it.

Jason

[etzbseder]

I think only #s 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 25 are true to me. I'm sure the true/false changes with everyone.

[lvoss]

Many of these will depend on the dog. Mine do not retrieve but some of my puppies show the behavior so I am sure with positive reinforcement training I could encourage it, especially in youngsters, if it was important to me. Neither of my reds care for getting into pools or bodies of water. My blacks will hop into a cool down pool on command. On the other hand, my black girl will run away from a sprinkler rather than get wet while my red girl Rio will do battle with every sprinkler she sees until she is dripping wet. Tail curl is the same, I have 2 whose tails look almost the same on either side, 1 where they tail looks better on one side than the other, and 1 who really has a problem with his tail being flipped to the wrong side. My litters have color segregated from birth so they do recognize color even before they see and seem to be more drawn to their own color IME. The list goes on but mostly it comes down to each dog is a little different.

[snorky998]

#4-true. (Original Dog breed study published 2000) #9-true (IMHO) #17-unknown #23-never heard of this, but it may very well be true…..

all the rest, FALSE!!!

[tanza]

Basenji do have color preferences…ggg.. as lvoss said, from birth... it is quite amazing... and it will carry over to adults...
One of my favs is "Basenjis don't shed"...... BIG FALSE

Oh and for climbing trees, visit this site http://ankhubasenjis.com/

Notice the 3rd picture of the Black & White blob in the tree… look close

[Quercus]

I think #10 is not a myth…they really will only do it if they choose to...I mean, I guess you can force them to do something...but doing something of their own free will, has to be a choice, by definition, I think...you can train a dog to do something that they REALLY don't want to do, and makes no natural sense to them...but it is pretty hard to train a Basenji to do something like that.

And I LOVE #11....that is really funny....does that mean they like to wear, or eat clean clothes, as opposed to dirty?

[renaultf1]

@Quercus:

And I LOVE #11….that is really funny....does that mean they like to wear, or eat clean clothes, as opposed to dirty?

Mine would MUCH prefer to eat dirty clothes as opposed to clean clothes…but that would be a whole other thread! :D:D:D

[MacPack]

True: #4, #8, #10, #18 & #25. At least true for all I have known!

[Quercus]

#15…seriously?? you read somewhere that Basenjis don't jump??? I wish somebody would have told my dogs that....they clear 3-4 ft easily...

[Shaye's Mom]

A lot of those are true - and a lot are not - my dog will run into water to get something she wants, has gotten used to walking in the rain, and baths are no problem, just not usually necessary. She will retrieve - as a matter of fact one of her joys is having you throw her toys, chasing it, and bringing it back to be thrown again - as to training, she definitely easier if she's in the mood - no luck at all if she is not.

[Ninabeana26]

@Quercus:

#15…seriously?? you read somewhere that Basenjis don't jump??? I wish somebody would have told my dogs that....they clear 3-4 ft easily...

Dallas doesn't jump! It's so weird & I have tried training him to do so. I imagine if he really wanted out of somewhere, like over a baby gate or something, he'd jump. However, when I told up a treat he will "dance" on his hind legs but has NEVER actually jumped into the air to get it. Well, he's jumped onto the sofa & from the sofa into the air. Perhaps that counts? Haha.

#3 - Dallas will retrieve but only for a few minutes. After about the fourth or fifth time, he stops bringing the toy back & would rather you chase him to get it back instead :p

#11 - Dallas prefers dirty, especially when eating them.

#19 - Sometimes Dallas acts like a lap dog. He loves cuddling in my lap

#26 - Ludicrous. My boy is a little love bug, as I call him.

[tanza]

My Maggii always jumped and/or climbed… gates, fences, trees.. ggg... my OJ Boy never figured it out, he would just stand there and watch with an expression of "How you do that?".... gggg

[Ninabeana26]

@tanza:

My Maggii always jumped and/or climbed… gates, fences, trees.. ggg... my OJ Boy never figured it out, he would just stand there and watch with an expression of "How you do that?".... gggg

Haha. Well Dallas & OJ were related. Maybe the Serengeti boys don't jump :p

[JazzysMom]

@tanza:

Basenji do have color preferences…ggg.. as lvoss said, from birth... it is quite amazing... and it will carry over to adults...
One of my favs is "Basenjis don't shed"...... BIG FALSE

Oh and for climbing trees, visit this site http://ankhubasenjis.com/

Notice the 3rd picture of the Black & White blob in the tree… look close

If there are footholds available, they certainly can climb trees!
And without footholds, they manage to jump pretty high against them.

[renaultf1]

@Ninabeana26:

Dallas doesn't jump! It's so weird & I have tried training him to do so. I imagine if he really wanted out of somewhere, like over a baby gate or something, he'd jump. However, when I told up a treat he will "dance" on his hind legs but has NEVER actually jumped into the air to get it. Well, he's jumped onto the sofa & from the sofa into the air. Perhaps that counts? Haha.

Consider yourself lucky. My pup Liyah (4.5mos old) jumps 4 feet from the chair to the couch from a standstill :eek:…because the adults are suddenly on the couch and she wants in on the action. She has also started jumping "over" the coffee table to join in the b500 if she is on the other side of the action :eek:. From a run, she'll also jump over the coffee table right onto the couch :eek:. While on the couch, if she wants to go to the opposite side of where she is and Ruby and Brando are lying down...she jumps from a standstill over them both...they aren't impressed when she does that :D. The way I can tell she is tired is if she tries any of her jumps and doesn't quite make the distance and goes splat :D.

She is also a climber. She regularly climbs over baby gates, she climbs to the top of the 48" xpen (good thing there is a top)...luckily she is not up to the top of the 5ft fence outside "yet"...but I expect to have to put rollers on the top. I've had 3 different trainers that have seen her in action at puppy play group ask if I had thought about her doing agility and that I might want to think about it.

I have no doubt that if she wanted up a tree, given the opportunity - she would do it.

[Kananga]

@Quercus:

#15…seriously?? you read somewhere that Basenjis don't jump??? I wish somebody would have told my dogs that....they clear 3-4 ft easily...

+1

Kananga has no issue jumping. What else to expect from a breed that is all muscle?

[tanza]

@Ninabeana26:

Haha. Well Dallas & OJ were related. Maybe the Serengeti boys don't jump :p

Or that they are/were not the brightest bulb in the box!!! :D:D:D

[Nexa]

@tanza:

My Maggii always jumped and/or climbed… gates, fences, trees.. ggg... my OJ Boy never figured it out, he would just stand there and watch with an expression of "How you do that?".... gggg

This is our house exactly - Nexa can get anywhere…Leo can't figure it out:D

An example of a barrier that only works for Leo:

And Leo in a tree:

[wizard]

Although Gossy has shown no indication of wanting to clear the fence (standard 4 foot chain link yard fence) she will on occasion make it to the kitchen table in one leap. El D could jump straight up to nearly 5 feet from a standing start! And my first beastie never showed any inkling for this at all. An individual trait as are some others.

[snorky998]

@wizard:

Although Gossy has shown no indication of wanting to clear the fence (standard 4 foot chain link yard fence) she will on occasion make it to the kitchen table in one leap. El D could jump straight up to nearly 5 feet from a standing start! And my first beastie never showed any inkling for this at all. An individual trait as are some others.

The stand and spring without warning!!!:eek: The first and only time Kate did this she not only scared the crap out of us, she must have scared the crap out of herself….she never tried it again. (Picture a casual but special holiday table....candles, flowers, multiple guests, and all of a sudden a Basenji in the middle!! Well, not exactly in the middle, a little left center of the turkey. Delicate paws between the taters and the corn. Like an Olympic gymnast, perfect foot placement.)