Hi Hoot,
Welcome to the forum. I wanted to introduce myself to you because I too adopted a dog for the same reasons. I wanted a companion for my Golden Retriever who is also my service dog. He had gained a lot of weight during a period where I was sick with my MS. I decided to go to our local shelter and found my baby Taz. He had a great personality and got along well with my Golden "Levi" . I too did not know what kind of dog he was until my BF figured it out. All we knew was that he was hound/terrier mixed. Little did I know he was Basenji or even what a Basenji was. I learned quickly. lol.. He too likes to chew a lot and we have to put everything out of his reach, especially cell phones (from experience) He won't mess with the remote control though. He does like to table surf and will take anything from gloves to mail to cellphones off the tables. He is a very loveable dog though. He loves to be in my lap and is a leaner. You will probably find she is very cat like as it is a trait of basenji's. My Taz likes to lean up against me when i am getting ready in the bathroom or when I am standing around. He is very partial to me though he loves my BF (not sure why) but he doesn't sit with him unless I am out of the room. I have to put baby gates up to keep him from going into the kitchen or from going upstairs to table surf in the bathroom or bedrooms or keep the doors shut. You will find baby gates very helpful. Also you will find that keeping lots and lots of chew toys around will be very helpful to keep her attention off of things she shouldn't chew. We use Nylabones for powerful chewers and they love pigs ears and will take them a while to chew them. Kongs are great as well because they can chew them and not destroy them as they tend to do to other softer plastic toys. I have also found he loves tennis balls and won't destroy them as well. He is fully crate trained but will sleep in the bed with me when my BF is not here. They are very playful as well. Females do tend to try to be more dominant but being a dominant person can offset that problem. Here are some pics of my Taz and you can see they look very much alike. Taz's tail is curled but not nearly as much as a full Basenji. His ears also tip more like a terrier as well. He sheds very little though when I brought him home he was shedding very bad and I don't know if it was stress related to him being at the shelter or if it was just his diet. I feed him purina pro plan sensitve stomach and skin formula which consist of salmon, brewers rice and oatmeal which are very healty for them and keeps their fur shiney and their skin healthy as well as their stomachs. You will find though the longer you have her you will fall in love with Basenjis. I hope you enjoy her and have lots of fun.
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Hi! Wondering if I have a Basenji mix.
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@ DebraDownSouth
How lucky for her that she found a patient loving owner. My Chico was abused and is still afraid of lots of things. Sometimes it is hard to be patient when I have an armful and he is pulling on the leash but I try to not get mad at him as it is not his fault he has so many fears. -
@himalayangypsy
I suspect, as with most abused dogs, that the underlying issue is an unsound temperament to begin with. Most people assume a dog has been abused, when it really was simply a fearful dog. Severely abused dogs with stable temperaments come around pretty fast. That said , because the rescue got her from filthy deplorable conditions (it took nearly 5 hours of soaking to get the feces soaked loose enough to shave her down), in a dark basement, living there nearly 5 yrs... well, unstable or not, I had to give her a try. If Sally went in and said "walkie walkie" and Hannah came to her, she took her for a walk. If she growled, she came back later. She loved curling up with the cats, they loved her, and Sally had a heart of gold. If she'd been a large dog, I'd have had to put her down. As it was, she was manageable. -
@DebraDownSouth Bless yer heart Deb...I hate hearing what some people can do to an animal but then there are people like you..who come along, pick up the pieces & make every effort to give them a good, rest of their life! I think that the person who did that to that poor, defenseless & innocent dog, should be done exactly the same way!! Grrrrrrrrrr!! Makes you wonder "what" is wrong with a human to do this! There are reasons (I guess) & there are "excuses". I know some are M.I. (reason) but there should be someone or a group, keeping an eye on a person with M.I. & the one's with the "excuses" ... well, there's no excuse for them other than they are just mean & can't bully someone their own size so they pick on a little animal. Most other people probably wouldn't even have taken on that poor little dog & if they did, may not have tried as hard & long as you! You'd make a good dog psychiatrist!
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@DebraDownSouth Chico was definitely abused but has come around a lot. I could never get a sweater on him to start with but now he loves it and lifts up his head and paws to put it on. He had a huge bruise on his nose and I think some of his pain problems now are from then. He had ribs showing through as well. A dog who flinches at sudden movements or barks at certain types/looks of people, probably has a reason why.
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@himalayangypsy I'm sure you're right about dogs having a reason when they flinch & bark at certain movements. It's just sad that any human can make a dog, no matter what size the dog is, be afraid of certain movements or noise. They just ruin a dog's life & for what? Their own sadistic problems. It really is a sad world we live in but then, you read or watch people who rescue these dogs & clean them up & show them that not all people are bad. Most dogs come around after a while but they shouldn't have to go thru abuse/neglect to start with. But we have the same problems with adults doing the same things to children. They aren't as easy to bring back around...they just can't get away from what they remember has happened to them. Sick, sick, sick people!
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@himalayangypsy That makes me sad and angry. I can only second what Nancy said.. what is WRONG with people? Obviously he is doing good and healing mentally and physically with your care.
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@himalayangypsy Hi there, she looks like a B. I too have a basenji mixie, probably part IG as well and also a Velcro dog with some separation anxiety, but a very lovey dog and a very happy dog. I laughed when reading "she had other ideas" about it being temporary. Yep, not surprising! Enjoy your new friend!