• Hello,
    As the title might suggest I am reaching to your fine community for help in the identification of a rescue we adopted.

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    She is a year and six months now and a lovely girl. They told us she was a pit, and she almost looked the part as a 3 month old puppy.
    I have owned pitbuls and she is definitely not a full blood. Isa (her name: means strong willed) has a lot of the basenji nuances but she can bark. Though it is very quiet and a bit gravel/hoarce.
    She does not yodel but does vocalize a lot. We came to the conclusion she might be part basenji when I came home from work and my husband claimed she had the weirdest howl he ever heard! He called it her death howl. He was in another room when I pulled up a video of the basenji howl. He came almost running and pointed at my screen and proclaimed "that's the death howl!"
    I am hoping to put a definitive finger on what she is.
    Thank you for sitting through my ramble and for your help.

    Oh, and she is 35 lbs, 18 in long, 18 in high. Measured from the shoulder for height and from chest to back huanch for lenght.


  • Not a clue what she might actually be, but she's kinda cool looking. 🙂


  • thank you. We love her to bits. I die every time she does the side head cock.
    She lives up to her name though. Very willful and stubborn. She is my 10 year old son's best buddy though.


  • Could be mostly basenji but with mixes it's hard to tell. A DNA can give you a great idea of the main things at least. She is really cute!


  • There's a LOT of pit mixes with big prick ears in the shelters. You really can't tell by looks. I did an embark dna test on my shelter pit mix and he had chow chow and pomeranian in him which you'd never guess by looking at him. He also howls and rarely barks, but he has distant husky dna. Embark also has a good article regarding basenji mixes, the majority of suspected basenji mixes they test have no basenji in them whatsoever as basenjis are a rare breed, but prick ears or curled tails often make people think of them. So it's unlikely that your dog is a basenji, but not impossible. DNA tests are worth it in my opinion.


  • Looks like mostly Basenji to me but well worth a DNA test. All my dogs can bark although I don’t think it’s a true bark. The DNA test is useful proactively for breed illnesses, which you can then look out for. Beautiful markings, my first dog was a brindle.


  • She is a beauty! My initial reaction when I saw the picture was that she had the face of a German Sheppard. If you find out what mix she is, keep us posted.


  • What a handsome dog! He is beautiful!


  • She looks like our full blood red and white basenji but almost as though it is mixed with the Brindle-colored Basenji. I do not see the pit in this dog; just a different colored Basenji. Our Basenji is AKC registered and she is 35 pounds. We adore her! P.S. Your girl is gorgeous!!0_1527025011957_Miss Kalena.jpg


  • Thank you all for your kind appraisals. I looked up the cost of this test and I am cringing. $200 is way more than we can afford for a long while from now 😦


  • I finally got a side profile of her face. She is so alert I have to have someone grab her attention just to get this.

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    She is a bit scrunched up but there it is.

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  • When she is wet, does she have a doggy odor, or smell like a wet wool blanket?

    Every basenji I've met, (and smelled) did not have a doggy odor.


  • She does have a smell when she has been sweating. When I wash her she doesn't. I know true basenjis don't smell, that is why I figure she is mixed.
    She really hates to get wet. After every bath she spends 5 minutes frantically rolling and scotting face first up and down the hall. As if I doused her in acid.
    I know she is part of the sight hound family being her prey instinct is so strong she has flipped my son over her chasing a ball at a dead run, and my husband!
    When she is locked on she can't stop until it is caught. It is why I don't leave her alone with the cats. She has never tried to 'hurt' them, but that chase instinct still causes her to go after them in play. I stop her every time.
    The little one has taken a 180 lb man down from the knee just because he accidentally stepped in her path when she was locked on a toy at a run.
    For a little thing she deceptively packs a lot of power! I have seen her cover 9 yards in 3 seconds flat and she can spring about 4 feet from the ground when she really wants that toy.


  • Whatever she is, she's a lovely girl and extremely lucky to have landed up with you. Why worry what she is, just love her to pieces !

    I would think the majority of her is Basenji and that anything else is extremely dilute. I've always understand that mixes will bark. Does she clean herself, cat-like ?

    Doggy odour is absent in Basenjis, even when they have been out and become soaked. I have had a conga-line of 8 in the kitchen, each cleaning the dog in front.


  • Yeah she does, and perches everywhere. She is a big lover and commands our attention. It is funny how smart she is. It did not take her long to understand what certain clothes i put on meant.
    I was dressed for work and scooping the cat box when I heard this whiny yawn. I look over and find Isa standing in the entryway staring at me expectantly. She did it twice more as I finished up. The moment I stepped toward her she left out this huff of a sigh and trotted off to her little bedroom. We put her in the laundry room (made it nice and cozy for her) while at work or sleeping.
    I pick up my keys and she will get up from sleeping on the couch and go to her bed and wait for me to tell her goodbye and close the door.
    When we can afford it, we will do the dna test.


  • I had a girl named Emma, rescued her in Ca. from Medfly Briggade. Emma I think was part pit and Basenji, but what a sweetheart! She was 3 when I got her and 18 when she passed, just of old age. She too was brindle with all the white socks etc.,....beautiful dog!
    Good for you for bringing her a new and wonderful life!
    I now have only Rickie, which is now 10, rescued him at 1 yr old, get dog also, but was a handful in the beginning. YES...they are so smart!


  • She is beautiful and sounds like a delight. A DNA test would be fun, but I think your money is better spent on high quality kibble/treats or saved for a rainy day (i.e., emergency funds or teeth cleaning). May your smart strong-minded furbaby bring you joy for many years to come.


  • @pawla said in zaBasenji pitbul cross??:

    but I think your money is better spent on high quality kibble/treats or saved for a rainy day

    Or even getting her a playmate - Basenjis are gregarious pack animals !
    (fresh beef bones from the butcher will do a better job cleaning her teeth than any veterinary dental treatment !)


  • I would like to get her a buddy, but right now we don't have the room. When got her we were looking for another pitbull. We love her all the same though. She is the perfect size for my son and her temperment fits us as well.
    I give her beef bones to chew on. Her teeth are so clean and she loves them 😊


  • @willem_42

    Sounds like you are doing everything right, Willem !

    I once thought two Basenjis was enough - but then they kept on coming, and eight were no more trouble !

    (Just a lot more work and an increased need to remain the Alpha !)

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