• Do your Basenjis wag their tails? Cody has never wagged his and I find it disconcerting as I have always had dogs who showed their happiness through wagging. Cody gets this completely contented look on his face - I swear, almost a smile, when something good is going on (belly rubs, ears scitches) but no tail activity at all. Just curious whether my little sweet pea is unusual, or if it's a Basenji thing!


  • my baby really wags her little super curly tail. It looks like a little cinn bun going back and forth.


  • My b's often wag when under the covers, on their belly, with the back legs out…the donut tail will wiggle and then they settle.


  • Ayo wags his tail, which is the funniest thing because of the curl it just moves back and forth really funny, but he doesn't do it very often. hardly ever does it with me. he does it when a friend of mine comes to visit, he really likes him and his wife, and he will wag a lot and then he will cry when they are leaving!!!! That's how he is, he could care less if I leave, never has anxiety, but when they leave!!!!


  • Mind waggle their tails and I love it. Arwen does a LITTLE, Sayblee did it on command, working on it with Cara.


  • suki waves her little curl whenever she's excited. it just cracks me up.


  • Shaye has to be really really excited to wag hers, but since it's so tightly curled, it's just a matter of it moving quickly back and forth a little bit - hardly lives up to a "wag." It almost looks like her cinnamon bun is jiggling.


  • Many Basenjis just don't wag so please don't think your Cody is odd. It's very easy to tell if a Basenji is happy just by their facial expression. Some of mine have wagged and some not.

    Wagging (especially the slow twitch) is not always a sign of happiness in a Basenji - quite the opposite!

  • Houston

    Pippin wags his tail as well, just not all the time..sometimes he is happy happy and baroos and all but no wagging tail, other times he is happy happy and his tail looks like it will take off…

  • First Basenji's

    We get very enthusiastic welcome home/greeting wags, but otherwise, no. I do have to find other ways to read her mood!


  • @Patty:

    Many Basenjis just don't wag so please don't think your Cody is odd. It's very easy to tell if a Basenji is happy just by their facial expression. Some of mine have wagged and some not.

    Wagging (especially the slow twitch) is not always a sign of happiness in a Basenji - quite the opposite!

    Wagging isn't always happiness in any dog.


  • Neither Jigsaw nor Indy are big tail waggers. The only people they wag for are my immediate family members, who they really love. (Especially my nieces and nephews!) Indy will wag when he's playing either with Jigsaw or his best doggie friend, a standard schnauzer. Jigsaw's best wags, though, are when she is within close range of a bunny or a squirrel. Her prey drive is extraordinarily high. Do other people's basenjis do this "predatory" wag? I find that one most curious. If she's hot on the scent of something in the yard and I can't see anything myself, I watch for the wag. If she wags, I know that she's really close and I need to intervene before she catches something. (Most of the time I've been successful, thankfully.)


  • Kipawa is a wagger - when we get up in the morning and all greet each other, when I return home and he first sees me. He is a really happy little camper!


  • +1 to what Debra & Patty said about tail wagging not always being a sign of happiness.

    Three of mine do wag their tails in happiness - one doesn't wag at all (he talks and gives whippet ears to show his happiness). The one that doesn't wag has the loosest curled tail. The one that wags the most has the tightest curled tail (wildly flipping back & forth) - and his tail wagging is usually partnered with crazy dancing. The other 2 that wag don't do it as wildly.


  • Kananga doesn't wag his tail much. It will move slightly when he's really excited, but you don't notice it because he's spinning in circles at such high speeds. 😃

    I always joke that he's winding himself up for a B-500, which is usually the case.


  • Kell is the out wagingist B we have ever had, it is like a cinnamon roll -unrolls & then rolls back up and wags and repeats. Too cute. Rogue wags hers when you talk directly to her. Cory, never. Sidhe when she is trying to tempt you to play with her. And we have had others that never wagged. But look into their eyes, that tells you so very much. Dawn


  • Spring, who has a loose curl looks so funny when she wags her tail! It really makes me laugh and join in her happiness.

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