And I think that clicker training is the BEST way to train a Basenji.
-Joanne
New, 3 month B with floppy ears - is this ok?
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Hello all! I picked up 3 month old Lucky, yesterday, from the breeder and I love her! She is adorable, smart, cute, friendly, and amazing. Although their was whining when we left her in the crate for a bit and when we put her collar on, their were no other problems. oh, ya, and she had some accidents. The breeder told us that her dad just came from Africa and that that is rare and good. However, her ears are floppy and don't stand up. Her tail is also not extremely tightly curled. Is this OK? Is it normal and safe? Does it mean she has some birth defect? I will still love her no matter what but I am just interested.
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Not all B's, especially the imports, have a tight curl. Her ears should be standing by 3 months but then again, the stock dogs don't 100% follow the AKC standard. Who is your breeder?
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Do you have pictures (or the full name) of the dad?
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Just a guess but if you say her father is of African decent and you live in MA I bet you have an Eldorado pup (who is the breeder of my boy). I say that because they had a littered sired by Ojo this year who is a recent African import; I believe that litter consisted of two females. To answer your question, sometimes ears don't fully erect themselves until later- my boy has WICKED big ears and was the last in his litter to have them stand up..it wasn't until a good 12 weeks. The not so tight tail curl is a result of the sire (if I'm correct that it's Ojo), his tail isn't very tight; which could be a result of his direct African lineage..and the same could end up resulting with the ears..perhaps the African lineage will result in floppier than normal ears?! It isn't a defect or a mutation..it just so happens that a lot of the basenji traits you see such as tightly curled tails, shorter coats and wry erect ears can be more domesticated lines and your pup has a higher African percentage. Give it time and the ears will stand if they're meant to but if not that's ok too, I wouldn't ever expect the tail to be super tight, just look up the sites picture and you will get an idea.
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If Ojo is the father…it would make sense that the ears are a bit on the floppy side, and may just take time to raise up (or possibly never). As for the tail though, more likely than not to curl more overtime.... my dog (also half african) had a pretty loose tail as a puppy - and came from a mother that had minimal tail curl, but overtime developed a completely curled tail. Just depends on the genetics.... the breeder should know, with some degree of certainty, how this puppy will turn out as an adult.
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Eldarado Basenji in MA
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These are really things you should be talking to the breeder about….. And if the sire was an import, could be as already noted just take time for the ears to stay up, or they might never.... same with the tail...
Note also, it is not uncommon when they start to loose the baby teeth that the ears don't stand up....
