Not all pet stores get their puppies from mills and irresponsible breeders. It would be better advice to tell prospective buyers to inquire about the breeding of a particular dog instead of scaring them into assuming that all pet shops are evil crooks. I work at a family owned petshop and we buy all of our dogs from reputable local breeders. We work with basenji breeders as well and statements like those made in this thread hurt all of us.

Mine doesn't usually watch TV, but in one of the episodes of Planet Earth there was a segment on wild dogs that were hunting strategically in packs. He was so worked up, it was like it brought out the wild dog in him. He was literally running up the walls but his vision was dead locked on the tube. I think he wanted in on the action!

@tanza:

OK, well that explains alot of it… if he came from a pet store that means that he came from a puppy mill... first he was taken from his Mom and litter mates most likely at 5 or 6 wks... way to young to be separated.... this is an important time of early socialization and build personalities/confindence... also it means that he had lived in a cage (note I say cage, not crate... as a cage was the only thing that he knew...)... so this is another reason that he has a total aversion to a crate.... So poor baby had lots of stikes against him right from birth... It is very hard to erase those early memories, IMO... and then most likely he totally bonded with your Mom as "his" pack.. when he was there....
Sounds to me like you are doing the right things... however, suggestions would be a puppy class, Obedience Class, Agility Class, things to build his confidence in himself....

Don't be so quick to make assumptions. I work at a pet store and we only buy puppies from local breeders, never from puppy mills. We never take puppies under 10 weeks and we also never cage them. We have a large indoor penned area where the puppies socialize from the second they come to the store to the moment they are bought. It's ok to be hesitant to buy a puppy from a major chain store, but if you are buying from a smaller privately owned shop you should inquire before jumping to conclusions.

As for the crating, I've experienced the exact opposite. When I crate my B he will destroy anything inside his crate and thrash at the door for hours on end. However, when I leave him alone in the house he is perfectly content and doesn't destroy anything. Go figure

Thanks again for all the positive comments. He was bred in Killawog NY. Sire is Florelles Dameon and dam is Maringas Zoir of the Congo.

I use pig ears but I cut them into thin strips. Another good option is the puppy-pops (I think thats what they call them?). It's essentially a rawhide product, but the rawhide is shredded, mixed with flavoring and then reformed into a shape… usually like a lolipop. I don't use the bully sticks. Call me a homophobe but I don't like the idea of my dog chewing on a bull penis.

Thanks for all the nice comments and welcomes! And sorry it's been so long since I've been back to post. As you all know, owning a basenji puppy is a full time job. Barley gave us a good scare just a few days after I made this thread. We were cleaning the apartment one day and he got all worked up from chasing the broom. He was running full steam in circles around the apartment, took a quick turn and jumped straight out of the window. He tore the screen right out, fell two stories and landed on pavement. He was a hurting little puppy for a few days, but there were no broken bones or any permanent damage. Needless to say, we have since puppyproofed our windows. Chickenwire fixed in wooden frames isn't too pretty to look at, but it keeps the stunt-dog from performing anymore high flying acts.

Barley is now around 18 weeks old and is doing great. He has gotten over his anxiety issues and is almost completely housebroken. I'll be sure to post more pictures soon!

Hello everyone. My name is Kyle and I'm a new basenji owner. I work at an exotic petshop and we sell locally bred puppies of unusual breeds (no puppy mill stuff for us!). We hand picked a beautiful male basenji for the shop, but after looking at his adorable face all week, I just had to take him home. He is about 13 weeks old and is my new best friend. He's very well behaved for the most part aside from a pretty severe seperation anxiety issue.

Besides being an animal lover, I'm also an avid homebrewer of craft beer. His first night home, he tore into a bag of grains so we named him Barley. The house has since been completely dogproofed. Here's some pics of our little buddy.

It's nice to meet everyone. See you around the boards!