I got involved in a conversation about Basenjis. I am a new owner, and am continually learning about the breed. I love my Buddy, and compared to so many U-tubes and BRAT letters, I am blessed with some good genes…#=! Anyway, I was told that the B is a breed that sheds 'real' tears...!!??? I have not run into this in any blog etc.. Does anyone have anything to say from experience? If anyone does go into U-tube about the Basenji, some of the 'barooing' and 'yodeling' seems to come from some fustration as far a I could tell. Here's wishing the breeders will stop and only good folks with much understanding of the need of the breed will adopt!!! PS: I have never witnessed any fustration from Buddy in the 14months of ownership.....He's quiet one indeed......Buddy's Pal....
Some basenjis are talkers and some aren't. I have a talker and she yodels whenever she gets excited. She yodels when someone comes home, when she wants to get a dog to play with her, etc. I'm sure you could call that frustration in that latter case, of which there's no harm. She yodeled at a Great Dane at a dog show once and startled the poor thing. :p I think she wasn't quite sure what it was. Who knows?
@Buddys:
Here's wishing the breeders will stop and only good folks with much understanding of the need of the breed will adopt!!!
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean here. Are you talking about backyard breeders/puppy mills?
Oh, and I personally haven't heard anything about basenjis shedding "real tears". Although I'm not quite sure what that means.
Good genes??? One of mine, Sugar, yodels constantly, at everything, usually because she's happy. My older boy, Shadow baroos when I come home, snarks and mouths off at the other dogs all the time, and is very vocal in many different ways. My other girl, Damisi, I have heard her about two to three times in total-she's three. Of the puppies, Frankie (a Tri) is very vocal, and Johnny is very quiet. Johnny will vocalize, but not very often. As for, I think what you are getting at by 'good genes', correct me if I'm wrong, is their attitude, it depends on the line, the dog, (for me) the colour. My tri boy is a trouble maker all by himself. My black girl is 'busy' and very energetic. My older black boy is too smart for his own good, but very lazy and will only get into something if he can figure it out-like opening doors. My tri Girl is usually very good-once in a while she gets into something. My little black puppy boy is simply put-a puppy and will get into things, but is very sweet.
All 3 of mine yodel (sing). Ruby sings as a greeting to anyone new in the room - human or dog. She will also sing if she wants one of the other dogs to play with her (if pawing at them hasn't worked) or if Brando has laid a smack down on Liyah she sometimes sings seemingly to lighten the mood. 
Brando usually sings only for his dinner - once in a while he will growl/yodel when Liyah comes back from being out and he wasn't with her (they are best buds). Liyah sings to Brando to get him to play - and as a baby she would yodel to her basenji friend (herself :D) in the glass of the stereo cabinet when the adults in the house wouldn't play with her.
Regarding it being a sign they aren't content - I seriously doubt that. Anytime any of my 3 yodel their tail is also going a mile a minute so it isn't out of frustration that I can see - it is a happy noise. And my 3 definitely came from a very good breeder - not puppymill or byb - so good genes.
Oh, and both Brando & Ruby bark once if startled. Mine definitely aren't silent and I love it.
Oh, and both Brando & Ruby bark once if startled.
Oh, yes, Sugar does that as well-but it's soooo loud it really, really scares you sometimes-especially if all is quiet!
Some basenjis are talkers and some aren't. I have a talker and she yodels whenever she gets excited. She yodels when someone comes home, when she wants to get a dog to play with her, etc. I'm sure you could call that frustration in that latter case, of which there's no harm. She yodeled at a Great Dane at a dog show once and startled the poor thing. :p I think she wasn't quite sure what it was. Who knows?
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean here. Are you talking about backyard breeders/puppy mills?
I guess I should have been very specific. There are 'backyard' breeders who think they are going to make large amounts of cash when they sell the pups. I just mentioned this, as it does no good for any dog breed when backyard breeders continue breeding a dog that is 'rare'. Thanks for the replys. Although, no one seemed to ever hear of the tears, I suppose the lady who brought it up meant 'crying' like a human…???? I did learn about the baroos and yodeling. I just ran into some of the videos that the barooing was out of fustration and separation anxiety. But good to know that it is the B's way of vocalizing....
I've read about Basenji tears in a few places as I've been learning about the breed. On Paco's first two nights in his crate, he screamed most of the night through, and the next morning had LOTS of "eye gunk" which I had assumed were his "tears" from crying all night dried up.
Paco is now potty trained and sleeps in the bed with us. 
He does, however, "baroo" when people come over, when we are cooking/eating food he wants, when play gets extra exciting, or when the chihuahua from upstairs comes for a visit and steals one of his toys. :p
I have heard that Basenjis can cry tears too but i can't remember where i've heard or read about it. I have heard that sometimes the bitches cry tears when giving birth, if that's the case i'm not surprised
Dont know if it's true or a myth ?
Well, if they do cry tears, it is just one more thing that makes the basenji unique and one more reason why we all love them. I think I would break down and sob myself if I saw a basenji crying.
I have heard of the tears but dont think I have ever seen them. I remember when my dad was going to be bringing home our first B in the 70s he told me that this dog cries real tears, yodels and laughs a little like a Hyena. Not sure what the laugh was supposed to be. The tears? I remember reading a story, I thought on brat, where the woman had got her B around the time she lost her mother and the dog cuddled and cried tears with her. I dont think I have ever seen the tears, though like shannanigan have seen the gunk in the eyes.
The first basenji I ever had way back about 1970 did cry real tears when she'd get into trouble and get scolded. She was a R&W named Pumpkin because she was the color of one, and we got her from the Humane Society for $3 dollars! This was before the internet and nobody knew what she was. My vet figured out she was a basenji.
Blaze cried real tears when he was a puppy and got stuck in the mechanics of the lazy boy couch. He screamed until we flipped the couch over and tried to push him out, then the real tears came when Dad left to get the tools and continued until we dismanteled the couch and released him.
He hasn't cried since.
The day I got Cody, on the way home, he "cried". I'm not sure if it's exactly what you mean by tears, as he didn't seem to be "scared" or anything like that. I thought it was weird and was actually afraid he had an eye infection, but the vet said he was healthy in that department. You can see them in one of the pictures I took on the way home, if this is what you mean.
The day I got Cody, on the way home, he "cried". I'm not sure if it's exactly what you mean by tears, as he didn't seem to be "scared" or anything like that. I thought it was weird and was actually afraid he had an eye infection, but the vet said he was healthy in that department. You can see them in one of the pictures I took on the way home, if this is what you mean.
Aww you just want to wipe his tears away
My Tyler has never cried but my Kate has. Usually when we pick her up after having to board them. Breaks my heart 
We had a Basenji when I was a child. This was in 1964 that we brought him home. He lived 13 years. Jodi cried real tears twice. Once after his pancreatic surgery and he came home after being at the vets for a week. Once after my mom came home after being in the hospital for 5 days. He had tears running down his face. He would baroo when happy to see us or we were getting ready to take him on a walk, grumble under his breath when corrected, snarl at people he did not like (almost everyone not family), howl when left alone, talk to us to get our attention, and learned to bark, once, when he saw something that really excited him. For a supposedly quiet dog, he sure made some noise! I loved that dog so much and to this day, I miss him terribly.
i think there was something about this in the Goodbye My Lady book, but it's been years since i read it
I have never seen it, but this is an interesting thread.
IMO (I am a total animal lover, not yet a basenji owner) I would not be surprised at all if a basenji cried real tears. I truly believe animals have a higher sense of things - that they can 'smell' emotions, illness, etc. and can display their feelings more easily than we think. We humans just have to look for this.
