Not taking sides since I have no experience in this matter; just pointing out: @jholsing mentioned... he has a basenji MIX.
His dog may be more tolerant of the suggested set up?
However, 8 hours is quite a long time to leave any dog alone.
Wont leave my cat alone!!!
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Recently purchased a home and it has a huge fenced backyard and so we thought we should spring for a medium sized dog as we have always wanted a larger dog.
We currently have a 16 year old shih tzu, 5 year old chihuahua and a male cat.
We adopted a 2 year old male basenji, he is altered, and has been bounced around home to home.
After a week of having him we realized why! He gets on tables and gets into dishes, eats anything he finds and worst of all out poor cat lives up stairs now because the basenji wont leave him alone.
Just want them to live in harmony.
At our witts end withthis dogs bad behavior!! Help!!!
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You just entered planet B! This is what normal basenjis do: get on the table, chairs, couch, beds etc. They are hunters and will lay their hands on anything edible. On the internet you can find lots of valuable info on the character of this unique dog (I take it you didn't research the breed thoroughly?). Just stay calm, with an open heart, define rules and enforce them consistently but without irritation or anger. Patience, patience, patience, especially with an individual with this kind of history. You have now in your home 2 dogs, 1 cat and 1 dog-cat-monkey. Enjoy!
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Basenjis can be taught to have good manners in the house, but you are starting from well behind the line, as this dog is obviously not acquainted with the "rules". You can change this, but it will take consistency and supervision, and prevention when you can't supervise. Do you have a crate? Getting along with the cat may not be an achievable goal. You will have to make it clear to the dog that the cat is off limits, which may be possible when you are there to supervise but I wouldn't trust them alone together.
Don't expect overnight miracles, but if you are patient and persistent you can probably make this work.
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I would not risk my cat's life on changing the dog. Unless you can 100 percent guarantee he won't have access to the cat, you my need to consider other options. I take it this was not from a responsible breeder, who almost assuredly would not have placed a 2 yr old male with such poor manners into a home with potentially 3 targets... because it really is not a sure thing the shih tzu and chihuahua won't also become "interesting." You need to make sure he is crated when you are not home. Getting on tables etc... well that's trainable, though very normal for a basenji.
The cat issue though.. that is a potentially deadly issue.If you can afford to get a good trainer in to evaluate, that's an option. Or contact basenji rescue and let them take the dog and find a suitable home after they have had time to really evaluate him in a foster home. I am sure others will give excellent help, and I had to be so gloomy, I've just known too many tragedies from such placements in wrong homes.
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Basenjis are a sighthound, what they see they chase, they have prey drive... that is what they do. Some do better with cats and they semi learn to get alone, some never will. My first male never did.... we had an upstairs cat, downstairs Basenjis.
Basenjis need boundries.... they need structure in their lives... and most of all, they need to use their minds.... They do not want to live in a backyard, they want to be were you/family is more often or not.
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He doesnt live in the backyard, he lives in the house with us.
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@codizzle1988 Was just a comment about Basenjis in general (backyard comment) It will take time to correct the bad habits, but know this, my Tri Girl can be found sitting in the middle of the kitchen table every now and again... she looks at you with a look that says "I can sit here if I want to"!
One thing that a Basenji will do is teach people to pick up after themselves, if not it becomes fair game
