Our Wonderful Basenji

[cooneywright]

Hello to our Basenji family!

We adopted our little man from an AKC breeder almost two years ago when he was only seven weeks old. He is a tri-color/brindle (trindle, as it were) with a tail that curls almost two times around. His name is Anubis. He is our first Basenji. We did a lot of research when we decided to get a dog. In the past we've had larger breed dogs (Chesapeake Bay retriever, Shepard) and wanted to adopt a dog that is smaller (not an ankle-biter) and doesn't bark alot as we are both retired and lead a rather quiet life. Our little Anu (which is what we call him), was a handful when he was little. His puppy teeth were like needles (he loves to play-bite), tons of energy, disobedient, and yodeled a lot. Now that he has grown, he has become a treasured member of our family. He doesn't yodel anymore and he has calmed down tremendously. Most of the time he'll be standing right beside you and you didn't even hear him approach.

Anu knows a lot of commands … doesn't necessarily obey them each time, but you can tell that he knows what they mean. He was once very aloof, but now he prefers to be near us all the time. He can be very mischievous at times when he takes something that does not belong to him. He knows the item is not his, per say, and will run all over the house with it until we get from him. We have a large, fenced back yard and he loves, loves, loves to run around chasing squirrels (his arch nemesis) and any other creature that happens to get into the yard. His favorite animal is deer. When a deer (or several deer) come up to the fence, Anu goes nuts. He runs up and down the fence line. We've seen, on many occassions, an adult doe come up to the fence where Anu is at and almost touch noses. But, alas, before the doe can get close enough, Anu takes off, running amuck in the yard and it frightens the doe. He's a character.

He gets along well with all dogs...at least so far. We have several neighbors that bring their dogs over for a visit and Anu does great. Although he does seem to demonstrate a type of "herding" behavior with other dogs...and small children (our grandchildren). If they run around in the yard together, Anu takes wide loops around them and appears to be trying to "herd" them in another direction. He definitely tries to be the dominate member in a group (be it human or animal), even in an area that is not his territory.

Anu really enjoys playing catch...with anything. He'll bring a toy or sock or anything to you and want you to first play tug, then throw the item. He'll fetch it and return immediately for another tug-of-war and throw.

He doesn't walk that great on a leash. We have him harnessed trained and will pull like a sled dog if given the chance. It was recommended that we use a muzzle harness. This has worked out very well. We do hope that maybe he'll be able to walk without it at some point. We've been practicing.

Well, there's lots more to share, but we are slowly growing into a novel here. So I'll post a photo and share more later.

Thanks for having this great site to read up on other Basenji families and their experiences.