Thanks for the comments and support, everyone! Much appreciated!
Basenji on a farm
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Grace, I am not a fan of tied out dogs.
If it gets too hot or rainy, they are stuck, if they have a dog/critter approch them, there is NO way for them to get away.
Studies show, dogs who are tied out are much more likely to bite humans, usually kids, because, again, they can't get away from them.
Sorry…nothing positive to say re this thought. -
I would be at the farm all day! I can't imagine her being happy on a leash most of the day. Is she likely to run away and is their a way to teach them to stay on the property without fencing? Any thoughts?
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Grace, I have to tell you, with b's..you take your chances.
You might decide its worth whatever risk for her to be off leash, and be able to run the farm.
BUT if something happens…well, then it happens.
It very well might be ok...and I hope it is. If its not, then...... -
As they say, it works till is doesn't…. Basenji off leash can and will chase critters... I would not worry about them around farm animals (well, except for chickens... they could be considered "lunch")... but if they pick up a trail to a critter or spot a rabbit, etc... off they go.... I would think that when you are outdoors with her, you "might" be OK if you want to take that chance... but all other times, the doggy door should be closed.. Just my opinion
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Maybe you could link together a few ex-pens together to make a temporary fenced area for him to roam around when you're there? Honestly, I don't think I would see one of my dogs again if she was free and saw a rabbit or anything to chase.
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I love the honesty on this forum.
I too, would just not take a chance. Losing a part of your family just isn't worth it to me.
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There are no fences for dogs- only 3 board rail for the horses. I have a home on the farm and there is a doggie door from dear dogs from my past- a dalmatian and two Jack Russel's. They roamed freely and never had problems with the horses or sticking around! Of course, they were raised on the farm and other than puppy school and dog obedience, they never needed a leash.
If the consensus is "not advised" than- has anyone used a yard stake and long line so their dog can be outside most of the day?if we go on holiday we always use a long line for Tillo to keep him in the garden, so he has enough room to run around or lay where he wants. If you are there to watch the dog, I don't really see a problem with doing that? I wouldn't leave him alone when being tied up though.. I like the idea of X-pens as well, maybe you could give that a try?
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I know folks who use a tie-out stake and long line when they are working in the front yard, or in and out of the house. The dogs have shade and water and love being out with their humans. While you are home with her, and no people coming around that might upset/threaten her, I think that would be fine. Sometimes a wire run between a couple of trees gives more running room. As long as it is just when you are there with her, it should be fine. I agree with others, dogs left on a wire all day can develop issues.
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Nemo- I thank you for your honest response! in other words, their love for hunting is so extreme that they forget their surroundings or anything except the chase! including their way back home! Definitely not worth the risk! Are ex-pens easily available?
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Grace, you can sometimes find x-pens used for sale in the paper or at garage sales.
Or you can check them out at Pet Smart. -
IMO, basenjis off leash where there is no proper fencing is asking for trouble - yes, they will run off if they see anything they want to follow or chase.
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Basenjis are not totally smart about horses. They get behind their feet and could get into trouble with the wrong horse. I have horses at home and I do not let my dogs run loose around the horses. Also be cautious about leashes when around horses. Getting a horse wrapped up in the line is super dangerous for everyone involved. Best idea would be to keep the dog with you and away from the horses. Even if they can be safe, they will end up eating lots of manure. Not pleasant when they throw it back up…
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and roll in it…....
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We go to hubby's parent's farm every second weekend. The fencing out here is not Basenji proof. There is one farm dog and two perenese sheep dogs for the herd of sheep and two dexter cows.
Blaze was 11 when he first came out here and I started him on a long lead. We walked the farm yard to show him the boundaries. When ever we leave the farm yard, either to go out to the pasture or down the road, Blaze goes on his regular walking leash.
He is now allowed off leash, he's learned from the farm dog to stay away from the cows and all vehicles. The sheep are off limits because the Perenese dogs love Blaze outside of the pen. Inside the pen, they see him as a predator and get pretty mean to get him out. He's not stupid and doesn't over stay his welcome.
The farm is down a dead-end road that has two other farms on it, so the road is not busy. There are no birds or squirrels for him to chase, thanks to the farm dog. Blaze refuses to go after gophers… that is too dirty of a sport for him, but sheep sh!t, well that's a delicacy!
When we go walking to the trails, Blaze walks to the edge if the farm yard and waits for his leash to be put on before continuing.
In the five years here, Blaze has only wandered out of the yard twice. Once was at a family reunion, where EVERYONE brought their dogs. He was so annoyed by the three small dogs, he broke the rule to follow us when he saw us on the road on the quads. When we noticed the black speck in the dust behind us, we stopped and he came trotting out of the dust with this look on his face "I'd rather get dirty than stay with those three!". He came right to me and got a quad ride out of it.
The second time was when the neighbouring farm dog came into our yard and all the dogs played together. When the dog went to go home, Blaze followed. He was already on his way back when we has the quad ready to go after him.
The only scary animal moment was with Rambo the Ram. I didn't know that Rambo was out in the yard grazing. We walked down to the barn and Blaze spotted Rambo. He went to go sniff him. Rambo put his head down and charged Blaze. I started to yell, Blaze was paralized. Luckily Rambo is a sweety. He stopped at the last moment and literally nudged Blaze on the side. Blaze peed himself and high tailed it out of there. He was completely fine and never bothered Rambo since.
There are no horses here, but I have taken him to the stables and let him accompany me on leash in the pastures. He seems fine. The real test will come later this summer when we get my horse's pen ready at the farm and start bringing him out too. -
I dont live on a farm, but I do have horses and keep them on a livery yard. My basenji often joins me at the yard to help me with the horsey duties.
Regarding basenjis and horses I have found that Maya is very curious of the horses, but also very sensible around them. When they are tied up or in the stable she will go up and talk to them (my horses are very dog friendly so always have a sniff of Maya!) but when they are walking or out in the field she keep a sensible distance from them. I have not had any issues with her getting under their feet or getting kicked. If anything she is a little wary of them when they are moving and that is only a good thing. Maya has also never touched any of the manure other than to have a sniff and wrinkle her nose in disgust
The off lead thing always seems to get a lot of opinions on here. I have walked Maya off lead from 12 weeks old when she was able to be walked. We started working on her recall in the house from day one, and then practiced in the fully enclosed dog park. A basenji will never have a 100% recall, but then neither will any other breed of dog. I personally think that my dog needs off lead exercise everyday, I couldnt give her the exercise she needs if i only walked her on a lead as she is so desperate for a really good run everytime I walk her I feel the best way for her to get that is off lead. I am lucky that I do have a "dog park" nearby that is enclosed (though with some gates that get left open by walkers/children! Very annoying) and that is ideal for giving her a quick run. But I walk her daily through the many acres of farmland behind my house and her recall has always been perfect. She is walked with my other dogs (labrador and pug) and she is always the first to come running back when I call them. I trust her recall as much as any of my dogs, she has regularly spotted rabbit/birds/deer in the field and started running after them but has always come back when I called her. I dont know if it is just my dog, the fact that I walk her with a non-basenji pack all with good recall, or because I started teaching her recall so early, but I have not had any issue with this. Obviously, there may be a day where her recall fails, so i'd never walk her off lead near a road or somewhere she could get into danger, but i think thats common sense with any breed of dog.
If your basenji usually has a reliable recall and you are sensible about not walking near roads, I think she would really benefit from a good run on all those acres!!
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I consider I'm lucky to have a large play area around the house where my dogs are obviously off leads but I always take them for their walks on lead where they might chase and kill running animals. Obviously you feel confident in letting Maya run free but please as I said before don't be too complacent.
I know of one Basenji who always ran free in his own country park, nowhere near a public road and obediently came back when called. One day he was startled by a bicycle that appeared apparently from nowhere and he panicked running across a very large field onto a busy road and was hit by a car. He did survive despite horrible injuries but had many major ops to rebuild his face.
Obviously you are lucky that Maya hasn't got a strong hunting instinct but others aren't so lucky.
It's your choice to let her off lead but free running is not the bea all and end all and many don't have the facilities or the opportunity.
When I review my post it does seem a bit stern - I'm not in any way intending to be so. Please don't take it amiss, Jess.
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I consider I'm lucky to have a large play area around the house where my dogs are obviously off leads but I always take them for their walks on lead where they might chase and kill running animals. Obviously you feel confident in letting Maya run free but please as I said before don't be too complacent.
I know of one Basenji who always ran free in his own country park, nowhere near a public road and obediently came back when called. One day he was startled by a bicycle that appeared apparently from nowhere and he panicked running across a very large field onto a busy road and was hit by a car. He did survive despite horrible injuries but had many major ops to rebuild his face.
Obviously you are lucky that Maya hasn't got a strong hunting instinct but others aren't so lucky.
It's your choice to let her off lead but free running is not the bea all and end all and many don't have the facilities or the opportunity.
When I review my post it does seem a bit stern - I'm not in any way intending to be so. Please don't take it amiss, Jess.
I understand that a lot of basenji owners feel the same as you which is why I would never tell people that the way I exercise Maya is the way people should exercise their own basenji's, that is down to each individual to decide and no one can tell anyone else how to do something like that, we can only give our opinions from oour own experiences. But as for the story of the basenji getting hit by the car, I could tell you countless almost identical stories of dogs getting scared or chasing things and getting hit by cars. Gundogs, working dogs, toy dogs - it is not something that is unique to basenjis, i think that is what a lot of basenji owners forget. Yes there is always a risk, but theres a risk when walking them on the lead, they might pull it out of your hands when they chase after something and get hit by a car! At least by walking my dog off lead well away from any roads I am dramatically reducing the risk of any such accident.
I have no intention of swaying anyone to my way of thinking about exercising, I was merely giving an opposing opinion to some others based on my own experience with my own dog. I have only had the experience of one basenji, but I have had a lot of different breeds in for training over the years and have not found her to be much different to any other dog in terms of the pack mentality they have and their trainability. I cant help to think the basenjis used for hunting in africa wouldnt be much good at all if they were all so disobedient as everyone thinks basenji's are… :rolleyes: And I do stand by what I said, I believe giving my dog a good run every day is very important to her health, both physically and mentally. They are a hunting dog with very high activity level and I personally believe that it is an important part of Maya's general care that I provide her with what I believe to be the correct exercise. All of my dogs have the same exercise as to me free running a dog is the best form of exercise so I believe, it is the "be all and end all"
I dont mind if other people dont agree that it is the correct exercise, no one else knows my dog like me. But please accept that it is my choice and I do it for the welfare of my dog as I see it, she is a part of a pack as the breed are designed to be, and as such she doesnt stray far from them at all. I waited many years until I was in a position to cater to the needs of a basenji and i am very happy I did as she is a lovely, well balanced dog to live with and I put a lot of that down to her exercise regime! If she doesnt have her daily runs she is quite literally bouncing off the walls and a nightmare in the house -
Yes, it's your choice indeed and I'm relieved to hear that you're not advocating it for all
Hounds on the whole do have a totally different mind set to other groups as you know. And indeed other dogs have accidents but in my opinion it is our responsibility to take the utmost care with all our pets. Basenjis can have extremely strong 'race memories' and it is difficult to halt the adrenalin at the sight of a running creature and that is why, I'm now wary. I'm pleased that you are confident with Maya, she is a nice little girl.
I do agree that exercise is essential for all dog according to their needs and it would be lovely if we had dog parks in plenty and in particular for those who live in cities. I do envy these other countries who have the facilities - it seems to me that there are always moves afoot to ban dogs from all sorts of places.
We normally kept a 3 to 5 acre field 'basenji' fenced and it was always available for local people to bring their dogs to play as I'm always aware that there are people who for some reason or other can't exercise their dogs properly. Unfortunately (I suppose) we are now free ranging our sheep and so have had to relinquish the field for a while.
I think you'll find that most Basenji owners would not say that they are disobedient and indeed there are many on this forum who have basenjis with obedience titles. There are quite a few here who have completed their Good Citizens courses. Mine have competed highly in obedience too although I've never bothered to campaign them for Ob. titles.
I laughed to think of Maya 'bouncing off the walls' Literally??
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Yes, she will bounce around the living room off the sofa and just be completely wild. Maybe it is because she is in the habit of having two good, long runs a day and now she cant settle without it…!!
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I live on a "farm" and although Tenji isn't allowed to run free in the yard (too close to the highway and no fence) he is allowed to run free in the fields behind our house, we always see rabbits, deer, gophers, skunks and all sorts of critters and Tenji hasn't chased or even given notice to any of them yet, he has never been around horses or cows or anything though so i'm not sure how he'd react to that. He also doesn't go very far from us..usually no more than 50ft. I guess it depends on your basenji and what kind of environment they're in.
