Color eyes standard

[Maca]

Hi everyone, i am confused, what is the standard for the basenjis eyes?

dark? brown?

I adopted a female with clear eyes, will not breed her, but i wanna know because i see some basenjis with clear eyes.

Thanks!

[tanza]

What do you mean "clear" eyes, do you have a picture? The standard calls for Dark eyes (yes that would be brown or hazel), however there is no DQ in our breed standard, it would be considered a fault as in not according to the recommended standard. Do you mean like a blue eye?

There are many Basenjis with a lighter eye, medium to light brown/hazel. And there has been at least one Basenji that I know of that finished its championship that had one blue eye… again, not a DQ.

Here is exactly what the AKC standard says for Basenjis - Eyes--Dark hazel to dark brown

[Kananga]

I'm actually a fan of the lighter eyes (not clear). I've seen a few on this forum that have it, very striking appearance.

[tanza]

On a red and white, I can live with it…. but on a Tri, Black and even a dark Brindle, makes me go "not pretty"... I knew a Tri with very light hazel eyes, they looked yellow against the black and tan face, even worse if they have a big white blaze.

[krunzer]

Yeah not a fan of the lighter colored eyes either. They are supposed to be dark in color to absorb the bright sunshine in Africa and not blind them while working. There is a tri up here that is a Amarh Nahr dog that is number one B in Canada and his eyes are really light and he looks almost spooky.

[JoT]

@krunzer:

They are supposed to be dark in color to absorb the bright sunshine in Africa and not blind them while working.

Lovely, romantic thought. But, there is no bright sunshine under the canopy of dense, old-growth, equatorial rainforest where the Basenji evolved as a specialized tool in the hunt.

And contemplating further … can you give me any examples of any animals on the vast savannas of Africa (where there is, in fact, bright sunshine during the daylight hours when diurnal species hunt) that have dark eyes? Look at pictures of the big cats ... lions, leopards, cheetahs or Wild Painted Dogs. Generally all have light, amber-colored eyes.

No disrespect intended but the notion that dark eyes are an adaptive defense against the equatorial sun is just not supported by the evidence.

[krunzer]

Sorry JoT, I thought I had read something that had said something about the eye color and brightness of the sun, however I cannot find anything to support what I have said. I may have mis-interpreted the text. It is not my intention to spread false information.

[dmey]

Ayo has hazel eyes, a little on the light side I would say. I don't thinkmit looks bad, I wish he had a darker rim around them though, that I think is more important on basenjis..

[Maca]

Thanks for your answers! will post some photos. Just looking a site to upload .

[sharronhurlbut]

yes, photos will help. My African village dog, Wheat has yellow eyes. She came from the Congo.

[DebraDownSouth]

The dog they THINK is Cara's sire has blue eyes. Very striking but sorry, I wouldn't breed them. Guess too many years with Rotties, I like dark eyes. Cara's are light brown.

[sharronhurlbut]

Aren't blue eyes in basenjis a sign of PPM or such

[tanza]

@sharronhurlbut:

Aren't blue eyes in basenjis a sign of PPM or such

Two different things, when a puppy's eyes first open, if there is excessive PPM they will have what looks to be a blue film over the eye.

Dogs with blue eyes like Huskie's are natural. While pretty rare in Basenjis, blue eyes in dogs is natural in many breeds.

[MacPack]

Some of the Wimauma older pups had beautiful golden-hazel eyes, quite striking. One female had a very dark 'mahogany' coat and her golden eyes were a knockout, visually stunning.
Not for breeding, obviously, certainly not 'standard' but gorgeous in her own right.
Chipley's eyes are very dark, I wish they were more hazel, for contrast!

[dcmclcm4]

My boy who is almost 5 has one bluish eye. He does have PPM and other eye problems in that eye so he is basically blind in that eye. He is a rescue who will probably be staying permanently with me. If I ever can make it to a national, I can let people see him. I could not make it to the National this year because the car dealership screwed up the ignition recall for my van-first it was a defective part and then the second time they ordered the wrong part! Robin did see him during the lure coursing event at the National in Lexington, KY a few years ago.

Jennifer

[Chealsie508]

In Oakleys litter some of the pups eyes were lighter hazel in color, I am fond of the way it looks and think it's striking but agree that the standard is the darker the better… Oakley has dark eyes buy wouldn't have minded at all if they were light