Hi all,
Just thought I'd introduce you all to our Basenji GSD cross. His name is Bravo and he is 2 years old.
He has the personality of a Basenji but the head of a German Shepherd. He can, and does, bark, but also sings, whines and wails.
He has the energy of a Duracell battery and like I have been reading here a real hatred of the rain ?*especially when it comes to going outside to toilet.
He has the energy of a Duracell battery and like I have been reading here a real hatred of the rain ?*especially when it comes to going outside to toilet.
Yeah, that's the Basenji coming out. What an interesting cross! Where is he, temperament-wise? Is he biddable, like a Shepherd? Or cat like/independent, like a Basenji?
Thank you all for your kind welcomes.
Bravo does really hate rain, especially if it is last thing before lights out and we need him to go outside and be clean - considering building a covered area in our garden for him to use as a latrine!
eeeefarm - the cross is only what we were told by the rescue centre (Battersea Dogs Home in London, if you've heard of it). My boss at work has a pure GSD and Bravo shows some of the traits of her personality, but there are others that appear to be pure Basenji. For example he will avoid water (puddles, streams, the sea) at all costs, he will clean himself all over every evening and almost as soon as he is in a vehicle, even if there is the smallest amount of dust or dirt on him. He will pursue anything that moves, particularly squirrels, rabbits and even the odd goat (we have them where I work). He is a very lucky dog in that he comes to work with me everyday - I am a Park Ranger, so he has almost 1200 acres that I look after to roam around.
I will get a few more pictures up on the site soon so you can see him properly. He currently weighs about 18kg (40 lb US) and is pure muscle.
Think that's about all for now
Welcome to the forum! Every time I see these mixes where one of the breeds is a small dog and the other a large I'm thinking "how the heck did that go?!":eek: Anyway looking forward to more pics of Bravo (love that name).
What I was asking re: temperament, is whether he is cooperative, as a GSD would be…...easy to train, comes when called, wants to please you, etc. Rather than the Basenji "what's in it for me?" attitude?
Sorry eeeefarm, didn't catch your drift first time around. Bravo has some of the willingness and can return when whistled, but only as far as he wants to. He really has an aloof attitude and can be as stubborn as a rock. We have him able to sit and lay, he will return on recall, and will respond to his name, BUT we cannot get him to behave on a lead or follow through with any more 'tricks'. He will respond for food though! He is not really too eager to please, he tends to need to get something out of it. Playing 'fetch' is not really 'fetch' more 'I'll chase the stick/ball/pebble, but you better have another one to interest me or else I'll just keep hold of the one I've got'. As I said he'll do something in return for something.
As for the toilet training - well let's just say it took almost 2 years…
Sorry eeeefarm, didn't catch your drift first time around. Bravo has some of the willingness and can return when whistled, but only as far as he wants to. He really has an aloof attitude and can be as stubborn as a rock. We have him able to sit and lay, he will return on recall, and will respond to his name, BUT we cannot get him to behave on a lead or follow through with any more 'tricks'. He will respond for food though! He is not really too eager to please, he tends to need to get something out of it. Playing 'fetch' is not really 'fetch' more 'I'll chase the stick/ball/pebble, but you better have another one to interest me or else I'll just keep hold of the one I've got'. As I said he'll do something in return for something.
As for the toilet training - well let's just say it took almost 2 years…
Welcome! Those all sound so much of the basenji side of him! Can't wait to see more pics of him!
As I said he'll do something in return for something.
Sounds to me like you have a big Basenji with longer fur. 
