Hey there! Meet Tars!

[kaciedurham]

Hey guys! I wanted to say hello and introduce Tars. I got him from a local SPCA here in Montgomery County, PA. They had him listed as a Sheltie mix but I think he's definitely a Basenji mix. He was a stray so I wanted to see if anyone on here or in the area knew where he might have come from! He's a great little guy. Thanks for any information you have in solving his life mystery

[kaciedurham]

@kaciedurham

[eeeefarm]

Cute little guy! How big is he? Certainly has some Basenji look to him, but what else? Vocalizations? Mannerisms?

[kaciedurham]

@eeeefarm He weighs 23 lbs. He's very high energy (he can run faster than any dog I've seen so far!). He's not very vocal but he does a "oooooh" sound kinda like he's yawing if he gets worked up and then actually bark. He seems to have a pretty high prey drive (he really likes squirrels) and is very curious about things and seems to explore with his mouth lol. He seems really smart and is easily trained but also seems to catch onto things very quickly and will not do something because he knows the outcome hahaha.

[eeeefarm]

Other than the ears, he does have a Basenji look to him. What's his tail like?

[kaciedurham]

@eeeefarm It curls up but not as curly as a normal Basenji. And it does have the classic white tip.

[tkdbasenji]

My first half basenji had ears like his and a half curled tail. She rarely barked and not until she was 3-4 months old. He sure looks like he has basenji in him!

[DebraDownSouth]

I am shaking my head over the "sheltie" part. Sure looks basenji mix to me. Shelties do not have the fused middle pads, which Basenjis do.

[CrazyBasenjiMom]

He mostly basenji, but not full, he doesn't have the ears, t he tails a give away too, is it curly? 23 is kinda heavey for a Basenji full grown,

[DebraDownSouth]

@CrazyBasenjiMom said in Hey there! Meet Tars!:

He mostly basenji, but not full, he doesn't have the ears, t he tails a give away too, is it curly? 23 is kinda heavey for a Basenji full grown,

I wish 23 was heavy for a full grown Basenji, but it really is not. In fact it's in the middle with many weighing much more. I have seen some pretty large poorly bred, but also some big ones who were largely African years ago in NC at the nationals. I have seen a lot of basenjis whose tails were not right also, so that doesn't eliminate being basenji. But obviously no way to know for sure. I'd go with mix also, especially if those ears aren't fully erect soon.

In ears...they SHOULD be up... but that isn't always true even of registered basenjis:
https://www.basenji.org/african/lubb0001.htm

One major break from the early development trend is African puppy ears. Both domestic & 3/8 litters had upright ears in approximately a week, while the Africans took much longer. In fact, 2 puppies went to their new homes at 15 weeks of age and their ears were not consistently up although they did finally come up; Roos between 17 & 18 weeks and Roosters by 4 months. <<