We have had our beloved Basenji for about 1 1/2 years. We love her to death but she is a handful. Do they ever stop chewing things…tissues, towels, shoes, toilet paper? And do they ever cease to bolt when you open the door?
Her name is Condoleezza and she was born 12-21-2005.
Hello & Welcome to the Forum. This is a great place for info, bragging and venting!!! We all love our b's!!! Mine is a mix and I fortunately don't have alot of the same issues the purebreds present. Hollie doesn't chew anything she shouldn't and she's leary of the door… wants to be sure it's really "open" and not gonna close on her before she'll go in or out. I know someone here will have tons of advice for you. Hang in there. BTW Leeza is adoreable. It's hard to be mad at them... they are so darn cute!!
She is adorable! It's been a while for me since the puppy stage, other are more equipped to help you out on the chewing! I do know that this is a great site to learn and share and have fun! Welcome!
We have had our beloved Basenji for about 1 1/2 years. We love her to death but she is a handful. Do they ever stop chewing things…tissues, towels, shoes, toilet paper? And do they ever cease to bolt when you open the door?
Her name is Condoleezza and she was born 12-21-2005.
Nope… 
Well OK, some slow down, with age.. but my oldest male that will be 16 on September 9th still will shred things are times... granted his teeth are not what they used to be.... whenever I thought that they had outgrown these things... they would do somthing to remind me that once a Basenji, always a Basenji and to expect the unexpected...
Who did you get your Basenji from?
So cute!!! I have a 6 yr old and a 4 yr old I recently adopted–the 6 yr old is a worse chewer than the 4 yr old. But there are certain things he LOVES to chew--mostly plastic--no matter how hard it is. My TV remote is barely working, and I can't believe what he did to a knife handle last night--in probably less that two minutes!! My last B was still shredding paper on a regular basis at 16....
Ha Ha that's what I was afraid of. She chewed up a brand new pair of my wifes sandals last night. I guess we just have to grin and bear it.
Norm
Nope…
Who did you get your Basenji from?
We got her from a breeder in Humble, Texas. Have forgotten his name.
Ha Ha that's what I was afraid of. She chewed up a brand new pair of my wifes sandals last night. I guess we just have to grin and bear it.
Norm
Or, you could be like my dh and GRIPE and barely bare it. LOL
MOST of the people in our family have learned to keep things picked up –it's amazing how clean my house stays now that Basenjis live here, LOL --except my oldest dd, who at 20, insists on leaving the shoes she wears to work...to fry chicken... in the front hall by the door and then gets mad at ME because your dumb dog chewed them yet again. LOL Who's dumb?????
Ahh, well.. she's back to college in a few weeks. 
And for all the griping, our Basenjis are VERY well loved and enjoyed. Really, the minor irritations {like losing your sandals, LOL} are nothing compared to the joy they bring. IMO, anyway.
I think the chewing thing really depends on the individual dog and owner. My Garrett does not chew anything other than his dog toys. You could put paper, Q-tips, or rolls of toilet paper in front of him and he would just look at you like" and what am I supposed to do with this?". As far as the front door He will bolt if there is dog cat or other critter outside. So I taught him to sit and stay in front of an open door, it has helped. There are alote of other people on here that have good tips and multiple B's.
Or, you could be like my dh and GRIPE and barely bare it. LOL
MOST of the people in our family have learned to keep things picked up –it's amazing how clean my house stays now that Basenjis live here, LOL --except my oldest dd, who at 20, insists on leaving the shoes she wears to work...to fry chicken... in the front hall by the door and then gets mad at ME because your dumb dog chewed them yet again. LOL Who's dumb?????
Ahh, well.. she's back to college in a few weeks.
And for all the griping, our Basenjis are VERY well loved and enjoyed. Really, the minor irritations {like losing your sandals, LOL} are nothing compared to the joy they bring. IMO, anyway.
So true. She has changed our life.
And for all the griping, our Basenjis are VERY well loved and enjoyed. Really, the minor irritations {like losing your sandals, LOL} are nothing compared to the joy they bring. IMO, anyway.
Excellent.
Abby like paper toilet papaer, paper towels, paper plates, wrapping paper, printer paper, mail, news paper you name it if it's paper she's on it. 
We have to keep our shoes in confinement or she will eat them, she has eaten teeth, glasses, baseball hats, shoes, flip flops, stuffed animals especially beanie babies, blue tooth headset, cell phone and several remotes one of which belonged to the cable company, oh yeah and the latest she ate the leather pillow to my couch (i'll post that pic later). Here's the thing though, if she is left out of her bed and she knows someone else is in the house she will destroy stuff, but if no one else is home and we leave her out she is fine. Oh yeah she ate the screen from the sliding glass door and the woodwork from around the door. She has plenty of toys and bones it's just what she does. We love her all the same.
It really does depend on the dog. Jazzy never did chew much, really. Aside from my stuffed Santa that she killed, leaving poor Mrs. Claus a widow, I don't recall her doing all that much damage. I can put a roll of paper towels in her crate and it will stay intact. I can put her leather leash in her crate,and it will not be touched.
Then there's Keoki. We haven't found anything yet that he won't chew up. LOL – he's ruined two coolers, various shoes, ink pens, socks, pencils, kids' toys, lawn chair, carpet . . . I haven't time to continue. He's a busy, busy boy!
Nope…
Who did you get your Basenji from?
I checked my papers and found the name of our breeder: Kenrick Lamascus
My 4 year old, Savannah, hasn't chewed anything for awhile. We can leave the remote control on the coffee table all day and she won't chew it. Well the other day, I was doing laundry and I guess I dropped a pair of cotton underwear. Anyway, I left and came back and there they were, on the couch–on her spot--and she had chewed a little hole in them.
I couldn't believe it. We leave shoes out, tee-shirts, and she doesn't touch them, but for some reason this particular underwear was too much of a temptation for her.
My 4 year old, Savannah, hasn't chewed anything for awhile. We can leave the remote control on the coffee table all day and she won't chew it. Well the other day, I was doing laundry and I guess I dropped a pair of cotton underwear. Anyway, I left and came back and there they were, on the couch–on her spot--and she had chewed a little hole in them.
I couldn't believe it. We leave shoes out, tee-shirts, and she doesn't touch them, but for some reason this particular underwear was too much of a temptation for her.
We are about resigned to the fact that our Condoleezza will probably always chew things. I have so many rags and face towels with holes in them that I will never need to buy any rags for polishing my cars. LOL
Ok here is the teeth story, my husband has a partial plate, and he had them in the bathroom (where they belong) and the cat jumped up on the counter and knocked them off and Abby took off with them, unbeknownst to me. Then I heard crunch crunch when I walked into the living room there was his teeth in a couple pieces on the floor. Needless to say our dentist got a big kick out of it.
Welcome to the fourm…and to answer your question...I do not believe a Basenji will ever leave the TP alone. There is just some bizzar reason why they go crazy for it. Even paper. All they want to do is shred it! You have to admit...ho can you get upset looking into those eyes.
Just thought I'd share a glimpse into how different life is with Keoki as opposed to Jazzy:
Here are the beds they sleep in at night – everyone is good; no one chews their bedding.
This is why Keoki doesn't get to have his night-time pillow when he's crated during the day. Note Jazzy crate looks just the same, no matter when or for how long she is crated.
Keoki's on the other hand… well, this is what is left of a brand-new, first time ever used little bed that was in his crate with him for two hours this morning. :rolleyes:
