My basenji, Noel, is shedding like crazy. Every day around her cage she has tons of hair on the floor. She doesn't seem to be bald anywhere so I'm not sure what's going on. I didn't think Basenji's shed like that.
Any thoughts?
I do not mean to sound in different but all my dogs until Jaycee like really shed need vac everday. My long hair akita vac is not the word.
However the other day Jaycee lays on a rug that is really a dark color and I did see a few red hairs. I can take this shed do not know if it will get worse but not so far.
Rita Jean
My basenji, Noel, is shedding like crazy. Every day around her cage she has tons of hair on the floor. She doesn't seem to be bald anywhere so I'm not sure what's going on. I didn't think Basenji's shed like that.
Any thoughts?
Other then checking her Thyroid and if that is normal, then the shedding is normal… usually it is earlier in the year then now, but we all know that Basenjis don't read the books...
And yes Basenjis shed "like that".. it is truely a wrong statement when people say they don't shed.... usually they will do that once a year... some are worse then others (the Basenji that is) and sometimes one year is worse then the next....
Otis just went through a pretty "sheddy" time, a month or so ago..he is finally getting better to the point of done with the worst of it.. and yes, he hasn't read any of the Basenji rules in the instruction manual he came with..;)
Thanks for letting my know my girl is normal. I do bath her once every two week and I brush her once a week so I wasn't sure if I needed to do anything else.
Pat is that a possiable clue for thyroid if shed lots? When you say some years are worse than others you think that could be due to weather?
If you give her a bath every 2 weeks could you be making her skin and hair dry?
My first basenji shed like crazy 3 days twice a year. The 3 I have now don't shed much. Jet the try-ing shed a lot this year (and didn't mind Zest being in season), so i had him tested for thyroid - yep, he's now on pills, so we'll see how much he sheds in the spring. Diggie, the brindlewonderkid, hardly sheds at all, but he has a very short harsh coat. Jet's is longer and softer, don't know if that makes a difference. But I do know of some basenjis that really molt, for lack of a better word, every year.
@Rita:
Pat is that a possiable clue for thyroid if shed lots? When you say some years are worse than others you think that could be due to weather?
If you give her a bath every 2 weeks could you be making her skin and hair dry?
Yes, sometimes heavy shedding or a poor coat in general can be a sign of the thyroid being off…
And no, usually I find especially with spay/neutered that they will have one year with horrible shedding.. and then a couple with just normal. I have never had any the I could relate to the weather.
And I agree about the baths.... honestly... unless I am showing mine never get a bath... or if they do, it is maybe once a year.
Jibini has been shedding like crazy too. Like others said, usually his heaviest shed is in the spring. This year he shed a little bit in the spring & then grew in a really nice thick, soft coat….and now he's blowing it again....like crazy! I do remember he's had years where it's been this heavy; like Pat said it has varied between normal & heavy from year to year- he is neutered. Thyroid was checked in March and he was normal (well as normal as a Basenji can be LOL).
His undercoat is so soft & downy, I'm wondering if it can possibly be made into yarn, LOL. It would be wonderful to have a Jibini sweater, but I don't think there's enough hair there. 
Oh- and both Jibini and Tana have absolutely read their Basenji Instruction Manuals. They strive every day to specifically break EVERY rule and do everything in their power to go against what the manual says. It's the one rule in the manual they actually do follow
I'm the same with baths....neither Jibini nor Tana has had a bath in almost 2 years....the only reason I bathed them occasionally then was because I was trucking with them & they were more frequently exposed to icky stuff. And even Chloe, a mixed breed with med-length hair similar to a GSD, hasn't had a bath since I adopted her. She's possibly a B mix; I'm not sure but she does share the "low odor" trait. No odor to her & she has a "self cleaning" coat that seems to shed dirt just like the Basenjis do....at most, a good brushing and spritz with a grooming spray spruces the dogs up quite nicely.
My first question is why are you bathing her every two weeks?
Is she roling in manure or something else with a nasty stench?
I have 4 basenjis in my house.
Two that are going on 2 years old:
One bitch was shown in early July… she was bathed that weekend.
One bitch was shown back in March.... she was bathed in late March.
The two 5 month old pups were bathed in mid-August for the first time.
I don't have grass in my yard.. just pine trees and weeds and wood chips...
which means they are in dirt all the time.
I wipe them down with a hot wet towel when they come in...
but that is it.
I must preface this with the fact that I HATE DUST AND DIRT of any nature to touch me.
If they were dusty, I would wipe them down.
But bathing them every two weeks?
HECK NO. That is why I have basenjis... I am not a groomer,
and hate dealing with grooming... bathe for shows, and very little else.
And my dogs are CLEAN to the touch....
Perhaps you should bathe them a bit less often and use a super good scrubber to scratch out the dead hair…
that should be enough I'd think....
of course, I am coming from the point that I don't have dogs that get an undercoat... so perhaps it is quite different.
Please don't take offense at what I suggest... I just can't imagine having to bathe a basenji that often.
