Hello All,

We have added another Basenji to our home. We currently have a 2.5 yr old male Basenji named Koufax. Our new puppy is a 9wk old female name Lola. We made sure to gradually introduce her and to give Koufax and the puppy equal attention. We always make sure to greet Koufax first before the puppy.

They get along most of the time…playing and chasing. Koufax openly shares his toys, water bowl...etc However, every now and then I think Koufax gets tired of her puppy ways. Sometimes he will growl at her or corner her. Before Lola, Koufax never showed any aggression towards other dogs and or humans. I mean NEVER! Im guessing this is his way of showing dominance? He also, at times, seems a little aloof. When its time for bed, Koufax will hide under the bed instead of on top of it...eventually he will join us.

I wanted to know if anyone had any advice for us? If this is normal... how to address it... and or advice overall about adding a new puppy. Note: Their time together is always supervised with me or my Husband. They are crate trained when we are not home.

I've done this with two females. A seven year old and a 7 week old. Our older girl really didn't think the puppy was a necessary addition, and didn't like her at all initially, but since it was a puppy she tolerated her. Generally she would growl and walk away, even from her feed dish, allowing the pup to have it. After about three days of hoping the pup would disappear, she gave up and started playing with her. After a few weeks, she began treating the pup as if it was her own. The first time we introduced the pup into our bed, however, the older girl was seriously put out and didn't want that youngster to even touch her! Later on, however, they would sleep curled up together and were inseparable after that. The only time they squabbled is if I had had the youngster out to a show and was away for a couple of days. Then they would stand on their hind legs, lock arms, and snarl into each other's faces. But that was it. Back to normal.

I always made sure to give preference to the older girl. After all, she was there first! Given that yours are opposite sex, it probably won't take too long before everyone adjusts.

When I brought my youngest girl Liyah home at 11 weeks, Brando (then 4yo) was a little put out. He made a LOT of noise that first week (it got better over time) - some times Liyah would scream bloody murder (he scared her but he never touched her - she was quite dramatic as a pup) and other times she would yell back at him. They ended up being best buds - although he would get sick of her and would let her know. If she missed his very obvious "get away from me signals" he would chase her off until she understood exactly how far away he wanted her from him. It was a really interesting time watching all the communication. I pretty much let them work it out. My 4yo girl Ruby immediately took Liyah under her wing and treated her like she was her own pup. She would move herself in between Brando and Liyah if she thought Brando was being too tough.

The first week was the hardest relative to noise, but things settled down pretty quickly after that.

It is normal, the adult will teach the pup what is acceptable and what is not. And no one and I mean no one, can prepare anyone for the noise that they can make.

@tanza:

It is normal, the adult will teach the pup what is acceptable and what is not. And no one and I mean no one, can prepare anyone for the noise that they can make.

Ain't that the truth, lol. Joli78, I posted here soon after I got my second basenji Zoni and was practically freaking out because of the noise at first. My older basenji Nemo was NOT happy there was another dog in the house. He wanted nothing to do with her. But after two or three days he discovered she wasn't that bad after all. There was (and still is) noise from time to time when she was annoying the heck out of him.

Just give your older dog a way to escape from the puppy when he wants to. Plus make sure the puppy learns appropriate play manners (and impulse control) and that should help too.

When I get my third this winter (knock on wood) I'm sure that will be an adventure in introductions. :rolleyes:

Wow! So good to read about all your experiences. I have to say basenji interactions are fascinating… Good to hear Koufax and Lola's interactions arent too out of the ordinary.

Timely thread for me - I'll be adding a young male at the end of the month. Thanks for the warning about the noise and it sounds like you just let them "duke it out" as necessary. It will be interesting for me not only because this will be the first time I've had more than one dog but I also work a full time job so spending time training and playing with both will be an experience.

Kudos for all the new basenji's added to the families above.

@wizard:

Timely thread for me - I'll be adding a young male at the end of the month. Thanks for the warning about the noise and it sounds like you just let them "duke it out" as necessary. It will be interesting for me not only because this will be the first time I've had more than one dog but I also work a full time job so spending time training and playing with both will be an experience.

Wizard,
I think it is a bit different with adding an adult, even a young one than a puppy. Puppies act to adults just like they would have with their littermates or their Mom. And those sharp little puppy teeth that they use to latch on to everything make the adults nuts! Hence much of the noise, IMO is due to puppy teeth, along with just being a wild puppy.

While adults play/make noise etc, it is a bit different then a puppy

@tanza:

Wizard,
I think it is a bit different with adding an adult, even a young one than a puppy. Puppies act to adults just like they would have with their littermates or their Mom. And those sharp little puppy teeth that they use to latch on to everything make the adults nuts! Hence much of the noise, IMO is due to puppy teeth, along with just being a wild puppy.

While adults play/make noise etc, it is a bit different then a puppy

The other big difference, I think, is that puppies get somewhat of a free pass for bad behaviour. Adults will tolerate things from puppies that they will not let go by in an adult or senior puppy. If they discipline the pup, it is unlikely they will get rough enough to cause injury, which might not be the case with another adult. (this is true with horses also. Foals are usually let away with things, and any discipline will generally be mild. I remember my gelding's expression of long suffering when one of the foals tried to nurse on his sheath!)

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience!
Saturday Feb. 14th 2015, we brought home an 8 weeks old puppy: Pix.
Alf who is 2 years old was really great at introducing himself to the puppy.
4 days later, he litteraly is educating Pix, teaching him good manners and snipping him gently from time to time.
I wasn't sure if all the noise was normal, but I for sure know that Alf never really hurts the puppy. He never had any troubles with any dogs, and I think Pix is probably a really good actor