Name this breed…Basenji (or not) Mix?


  • Hi all! I posted yesterday in the newbie thread about my Joplin Tornado adopted dog. Thanks for all the welcomes. Friendly board you have here!

    The Joplin Shelter had identified her as a Basenji Mix and I was checking that theory out. It looks like the opinions here were mixed..some thinking yes, others thinking Shibu Inu…

    Well, I got a call today and they said her spaying was done and I could come and get her. Turns out she's a real doll and we're very lucky. Hasn't gone in the house, sheds hardly at all, moved right into our hearts immediately!

    The Adoptathon was a whirlwind needless to say. Iimage adopting out 745 dogs and cats in two days. You had to choose your pet without really knowing much about them. It's, I'll take this one before someone else does, really. But we got really lucky on JT. She's soooooo sweet. So far no accidents in the house, doesn't shed much, and is absolutely loving and she's only growled at our other dog a couple of times. He wants to keep sniffing her and she doesn't want him to. They started to play by the end of the evening but I had to break it up since she's just been spayed. It looks like she's going to be a great fit! Oh, yes, she's as small as I remember, about 7 pounds...absolutely adorable!

    I've more pictures. I've been looking at Shiba Inu's and I only see that breed in the face. Not anywhere else. She's not hairy fluffy enough, legs are too long and strait, coloring isn't right, tail is all wrong (when she's prancing it's tight laying on the back piggy type tail, tighter then the picture). Chihuahua most likely because of her size and I'd say her ears are Chi... but with the coloring, the long strait legs and the tail, I'm thinking that says Basenji or something I've missed.

    So what do you all a think with these new pictures (there are two others in the introductions thread). Thanks for any opinions you might have. I know I could have her DNA tested, but the cost really isn't worth it. Besides, it's more fun to guess.


  • @Dustie:

    I've been looking at Shiba Inu's and I only see that breed in the face. Not anywhere else. She's not hairy fluffy enough, legs are too long and strait, coloring isn't right, tail is all wrong (when she's prancing it's tight laying on the back piggy type tail, tighter then the picture). Chihuahua most likely because of her size and I'd say her ears are Chi… but with the coloring, the long strait legs and the tail, I'm thinking that says Basenji or something I've missed.

    I still think Shiba x Chihuahua cross

    Shiba Inu

    Chihuahua


  • I think Robyn called it. That was my thought as well.


  • I also believe she's probably shiba/chihuahua. There are lots of chihuahuas where I live, and some of them are a lot taller than others. She is a cutie in any case, and you are more than welcome at the forum.


  • My thought too, Shibe/Chi cross. But how cute she is…. just a cutie!


  • @Shaye's:

    She is a cutie in any case, and you are more than welcome at the forum.

    Thanks for stating that she's still welcome in this forum! Regardless of the breed, you can learn tons of good information here!


  • Lots of Chis have curly tails too so it could just be Chi x fuzzy dogs of some sort.

    No matter who her parents are, she is a cutie.


  • She is so cute!

    I agree with the others Shiba x Chi, a friend of us breeds Shiba?s and she just said goodbye to her last litter, 9 weeks of Shiba puppy pictures and her face remind me of the pictures 🙂


  • @tanza:

    My thought too, Shibe/Chi cross. But how cute she is…. just a cutie!

    Agree! Maybe some Pomeranian too..but I don't see any Basenji. Cute none the less though, and of course, feel free to stick around 🙂


  • Whatever mix she may be…she is absolutely stunning 😃

    I am so glad she found a good home with you.


  • You guys are great!

    Ok, so not Basenji then, but I'm still not sold on Shiba Inu…she doesn't have any inkling of an undercoat and she barely sheds at all. Her hair may look long but it's actually short. You can't run your fingers through it. She does bound like a deer when she's running..that should say something, but I'm not sure what.

    So I'll have to go with the poster who says Chi and some other type dog. Now I just need to find another type dog that looks like a fox, since everyone says that's what she looks like and I totally agree, except for that that curly tail. Is it possible for fox to breed with a dog? LOL!

  • First Basenji's

    Speaking as someone with both a Basenji and a Shiba, and has met a LOT of confirmed Shiba mixes, I still say… Chi + Shiba Inu. Most of the mixes that I've met did NOT have an undercoat, and lucky for that, I say! But FWIW, my Shiba's undercoat didn't fully develop until he was almost 2 years old. And if it's smack in the middle of summertime wherever you are, your dog's coat knows this... and so there's a reason there's no undercoat. 😉


  • Curlytails, if those are your fur kids, they are a handsome pair!

    Ok, here's three more of JT's pictures. To me a Shiba Inu is a lot like one of our thick haired Northern Breeds. I had a Malamute mix and he shed throughout the year, although heavier during spring for sure. This guy is totally nonshedding and her hair is even to short to try to comb. I do hope you are wrong about an undercoat developing. My husband wouldn't be happy if she went from a non shedder to a shedder.

    Today the vet suggested that she could have a Chihuahua parent and a Shiba/Basenji Mixed parent. He said this after I said I coudn't make up my mind what I see, that I see both in her. I think the man is a politician.

    If I ever get rich, I'll have her DNA tested, but I won't hold my breath (about getting rich anytime soon).


  • What about the vastgotaspets? IT has a few hits maybe..

    Maybe she is a vastgotaspets x chi x basenji x shiba?
    It doesn't matter that much I think, she is adorable 😃


  • Oh how funny those Vastogotaspets look. My daughter is over here and they used to have a Corgi (died at a ripe old age). I showed her the pictures of the Vas's knowing just what she would say… they look just like Corgi/Shepard mixes... and that's exactly what she said. They do look like Corgi mixes. I wonder if they come from the same part of the world?

    OK...it's official. I'm just going to say when people ask what she is that she's a Chihuahua mixed with a whole lot of cute who was well blended by an EF5 tornado and lived to bark about it.


  • I love the new photos - she is certainly very, very sweet and I'm so glad that she is now yours.


  • Thanks Patty. We are loving her to pieces. She's as sweet as she looks too! Took her to the vet again today because where she was spayed isn't completely closed. She was the hit of the office again today with everyone asking what she is. I just told them that she's probably a Chihuahua mixed with a whole lot of cute and it could have happened while she was flying around in the tornado. 😉 Two people wanted to know if she was a Basenji. It's that tail that prompts the Basenji questions, that and the way she poses.

    What ever she is, she's ours and she's here to stay for a very long time (I hope).

  • First Basenji's

    @Dustie:

    I'm just going to say when people ask what she is that she's a Chihuahua mixed with a whole lot of cute who was well blended by an EF5 tornado and lived to bark about it.

    laugh I LOVE that quote.
    I would also be satisfied with Chi + Basenji/Shiba mix parents. "Diplomatic" answer, maybe, but probably closer to the truth than we'll ever know!


  • I am looking at her and thinking definately chihauhua but I can see some Basenji in there too. If you think about it all of her feet are white, she has a white chest and a white tail tip. It could just be coincidence or it could be the B in her.


  • A Shiba Chi cross for sure! The 2 pics posted above by Robyn show your little dog's traits off perfectly. SUPER cute!!! I just wanna cuddle her lol

Suggested Topics

  • 10
  • 2
  • 8
  • 8
  • 7
  • 7