Longtime member, not active. Had a basenji with the same diagnosis back in 2004. He took a tremendous amount of bicarb each day, his Fanconi was being well managed, but he started having seizures at night. Our vet gave us something to stop the seizure that we'd administer rectally. We kept track of the number of seizures and they started becoming more frequent, to about twice a week, if I recall. The final seizure he had he went temporarily blind and howled and howled and we knew that was it was time. I just sat on the floor with him and cried. A couple months later we looked at photos we had taken of him right before and he looked very, very tired. Very much the hardest thing we had ever done was to let him go across the Bridge, but after looking at those photos, we had done the right thing. Our vet had told us that it was possible he would have a seizure and not come out of it, and we certainly didn't want that.

We occasionally let our B's sleep in the bed with us, but on those nights in a queen size bed we both wake up in the morning clinging to the edge of the mattress with a small section of the covers just over us while the dog is blissfully sleeping with all four paws stretched out; essentially taking up a 24 x 24 inch square right in the middle of the bed!

Or, he snuggles under the covers, and then gets too hot and comes out of the covers and sleeps on top for awhile and then paws at the covers and drags them off us while attempting to dive under when he's feeling cold again. Not the best sleeping partner!!

I agree that putting a heavy blanket over the crate is a good idea. We usually put a towel the crate and then the blanket so if there is any inclination to chew, the towel gets it but not the blanket.

I remember soon after we got our first basenji pup, we were out walking him and he just sat down at one point and wouldn't budge. We were horrified we had walked him too long. Based on that we halved the time/distance and increased both slowly. I would err on the side of shorter walks when they are pups.

Back when I had basenjis, we had gotten this little girl after we moved into a new house. She was not yet housebroken and so could not be let out when we weren't home. One morning soon after we had moved in, we came back from picking up lunch and our new neighbor came walking over to the car.

She explained that she had called the police to come to our house while we were away. She heard this horrible screaming, and knew we had dogs, and was concerned that something had happened to one of them.

So, the cops look in the front windows and what did they see?- just a little dog sitting in a crate, looking mighty annoyed at being crated.

So, I understand the issue you're having.

We never crated her after that, we blocked access to areas with baby gates and we were lucky she never chewed herself free. If we gated her in the bedroom, the bed usually was too enticing and she just took a nap.

Wonderful wrinkles on that head!!! My brother always asked me "well, how can you tell if they really ARE worried?" LOL!

Hi Fern,

I concur with Joan, this forum is very valuable for a basenji owner. And, if you're put off by people's posts about Woody not being very "Basenji-looking" please remember that it really doesn't matter. What matters is that you have done a wonderful thing, rescued a dog in need. From what you wrote, Woody's behavior seems very basenji-ish, Shiba Inus are very similar and from a person I knew who had one, even MORE stubborn that basenjis.

We call the behavior you mentioned Jax's "gravity boots"--he just won't budge! I started doing a 1-2-3 count with him. I say "one" and wait about 6-10 seconds. Then I say "two" and wait about 6-10 seconds more. When I say "three" we go. Jax has learned that "three" is IT. If you do that consistently, Woody will probably remember it. I like it because it gives him time to sniff what he is interested in (a dog's main sense) and it gives me control as well. So it's a win-win situation.

I LOVED reading that Woody was on his dog bed!!! With the rescues I've had and know about, it takes about a month for them to understand that this is the new normal and relax.

So, final words--stay on the forum!! I rarely post but I read it weekly.

As our old basenji was getting up there in years, she lost a significant amount of hearing and sight, but still seemed good with eating, walking. She'd sleep so soundly at time we thought she had died in her sleep.

All this to say we knew we were on the downward slope. One evening we went to the movies and when we came home,we found her entangled in the legs of a stool and she hadn't been able to free herself. She was exhausted and scared and we knew it was time. This was a proud and dominant little girl who I thought would fight us to the end, but she went very peacefully. Looking back, we did wait a couple of months too long.

I chuckled when I saw your post.

All my basenjis did this and my basenji mix does this. We call it "gravity boots"

I have been successful in doing a count down. I say "1-2-3" with at least 5-10 seconds between each number. At 3, we GO.

I start out giving big praise and a treat at "3" the first couple of times we do this. After a while, I don't need to use treats, but it works--my dog has gotten what he wants (to sniff or smell something longer than I'd like and I've gotten what I want (to have him to start walking again).

Prior to 2016, we had two basenjis, our last girl died in October 2015 at the age of 16. So, we had decided to go the shelter route and find a new dog. Just happened to see this guy from North Carolina and snapped him up immediately--he is definitely a mix of basenji and other hounds. He YODELS!!! When I come home in the evening, he'll greet me at the door with yodels! Smart as a basenji, a tissue scrounger like our last two, but not as independent at all. Very dog friendly, which was not the case with our b's as they aged. Such a playful and always happy fellow, very much adored and loved. Thinking of trying him at either agility or lure coursing in the future.
0_1556211448784_JAXY!.jpg

I'm a Pennsylvanian and unfortunately the state is infamous for its puppy mills; some are operated by Amish farmers who live in Lancaster County.

If you drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike from the Philadelphia region to Lancaster County there is a huge billboard 0_1547047988771_mills.PNG saying "Welcome to scenic Lancaster County, land of Puppymills" that that has been paid for by a wealthy Pennsylvanian sympathetic to the plight of these dogs.

Some farmers will have their children sit by the roadside near their farm with a basket of puppies (and who can resist a child with a puppy?) and the prospective buyer does not get to see the stacked cages of poorly maintained dogs of all breeds that are used to keep this business going. Simply put, the Amish regard dogs as livestock and a revenue generator.

I would take the advice of the members of this forum. Also check the Basenji Club of America website for a list of breeders and the American Kennel Club (AKC) website.

Longtime member, not active. Had a basenji with the same diagnosis back in 2004. He took a tremendous amount of bicarb each day, his Fanconi was being well managed, but he started having seizures at night. Our vet gave us something to stop the seizure that we'd administer rectally. We kept track of the number of seizures and they started becoming more frequent, to about twice a week, if I recall. The final seizure he had he went temporarily blind and howled and howled and we knew that was it was time. I just sat on the floor with him and cried. A couple months later we looked at photos we had taken of him right before and he looked very, very tired. Very much the hardest thing we had ever done was to let him go across the Bridge, but after looking at those photos, we had done the right thing. Our vet had told us that it was possible he would have a seizure and not come out of it, and we certainly didn't want that.

We occasionally let our B's sleep in the bed with us, but on those nights in a queen size bed we both wake up in the morning clinging to the edge of the mattress with a small section of the covers just over us while the dog is blissfully sleeping with all four paws stretched out; essentially taking up a 24 x 24 inch square right in the middle of the bed!

Or, he snuggles under the covers, and then gets too hot and comes out of the covers and sleeps on top for awhile and then paws at the covers and drags them off us while attempting to dive under when he's feeling cold again. Not the best sleeping partner!!

I agree that putting a heavy blanket over the crate is a good idea. We usually put a towel the crate and then the blanket so if there is any inclination to chew, the towel gets it but not the blanket.

I chuckled when I saw your post.

All my basenjis did this and my basenji mix does this. We call it "gravity boots"

I have been successful in doing a count down. I say "1-2-3" with at least 5-10 seconds between each number. At 3, we GO.

I start out giving big praise and a treat at "3" the first couple of times we do this. After a while, I don't need to use treats, but it works--my dog has gotten what he wants (to sniff or smell something longer than I'd like and I've gotten what I want (to have him to start walking again).

Athena hit the jackpot with you! Congratulations! She is so, so cute! And she sounds ilke she's settling in with your family.

My rescue b-mix just started to be scared during storms, he's been with us for 4 years. Just sits near us or under my desk while I'm working and shivers. Read online on an animal behavior site (unfortunately I don't recall the site) that you need to let them find their safe spot, it may not be a crate or somewhere that they usually might be very comfortable in.

You can try to behavior train them out of the fear by getting them acclimated by softly playing some thunder noise and slowly raise the volume, but it the dog starts reacting, lower the volume and start over--it seems like it takes a great deal of time to get them acclimated, but it sounded worth it.

As our old basenji was getting up there in years, she lost a significant amount of hearing and sight, but still seemed good with eating, walking. She'd sleep so soundly at time we thought she had died in her sleep.

All this to say we knew we were on the downward slope. One evening we went to the movies and when we came home,we found her entangled in the legs of a stool and she hadn't been able to free herself. She was exhausted and scared and we knew it was time. This was a proud and dominant little girl who I thought would fight us to the end, but she went very peacefully. Looking back, we did wait a couple of months too long.

I agree about dogs liking the company of dogs and being depressed when the fun times end. Any time we take our dog down to visit my brother's dog (the whole point of the trip, don't you know...) both dogs get really bummed when it's time to leave. And the next day he just sighs and looks at us under his brows to let us know he wanted to stay longer.

The post-fun "recovery period depends on how long we've been gone and how long he's been with another dog.

I heartily recommend doggie day care visits to keep a dog happy just being a dog.

Not sure about a second basenji--double the fun and double the trouble ! LOL

I remember soon after we got our first basenji pup, we were out walking him and he just sat down at one point and wouldn't budge. We were horrified we had walked him too long. Based on that we halved the time/distance and increased both slowly. I would err on the side of shorter walks when they are pups.

Laughing out loud at your post. YOU will need to wear sweaters and put extra blankets on because your basenji block the heat vent with his body which will drastically reduce the heat coming from the vents in your house to you, the human residents! Welcome to basenjis!!!!

On the other hand, the summers are a great time to see them stretched out snooZing away in the sun.

Back when I had basenjis, we had gotten this little girl after we moved into a new house. She was not yet housebroken and so could not be let out when we weren't home. One morning soon after we had moved in, we came back from picking up lunch and our new neighbor came walking over to the car.

She explained that she had called the police to come to our house while we were away. She heard this horrible screaming, and knew we had dogs, and was concerned that something had happened to one of them.

So, the cops look in the front windows and what did they see?- just a little dog sitting in a crate, looking mighty annoyed at being crated.

So, I understand the issue you're having.

We never crated her after that, we blocked access to areas with baby gates and we were lucky she never chewed herself free. If we gated her in the bedroom, the bed usually was too enticing and she just took a nap.

Hello, just thought I'd add my two cents. I used a 50-foot web lead when walking my basenjis in a lovely park with rolling hills that is close by. My dogs loved the freedom and quite honestly, I wasn't interested in having them off lead. Both dogs had very strong prey drive and they'd see a squirrel and that was it. Squirrel chasing is better than treats!

I have a nylon 50-footer that I use on the beach with my guy, same thing, he can run and play but it's almost impossible to call a dog and have the dog hear it with the sound of the ocean and waves breaking

That said, I wish you good luck in training your b to walk off leash to be able to enjoy a walk in the woods. Please give us an update when you've gone on your first adventure.