Posts made by BillyK

The light is mid-morning light from a south window into an otherwise lowly lit room and it just made the indoor background noise disappear into darkness. She is wearing a nice wool sweater my wife made for her, and a purple collar. Jenny has several nice sweaters made by Bridget or myself. She also chewed up even more before we got got the fit snug enough and became habitual about taking it off before crate time.
renaultf1, I couldn't be more vaklempt to here that you found my advice useful and easy! It truly saved us during Jenny's early time with us. The 867-5309 is part of her name because we already named our first dog "Black Betty Bam-a-lam" (which is from a early 70's song by the one hit wonder Ramjam) and liked the song title 'theme'.

My girls (Basenji and a Lab-mix) spent 2 and a half hours outside with me in snow packed 25 degree weather. It's like Jenny B thinks she's a lab the way she frolics in the snow. She does wear a wool sweater and spends lots of time licking her cold paws when we come inside, but as long as I'm outside, she wants to be out too.

This is the best dog photo I've taken to date. I used a Pentax K1000 35mm with 400 ISO film.

She so rarely sits still long enough for a portrait.

Thank you JoeyQ for getting this thread back on topic
Not that puppy mill/responsible breeding isn't a good thread… :p and there might be one on this very forum.

Nice to see so many Basenjis that go against (somewhat) the stereo-types.
I feel lucky because Jenny was a 7 month old shelter dog - stray - and really must have had a good upbringing because she has always been very handle-able (one of my friends picked her up and stacked her show dog style the first time he met her) and really only fussed (like the dickens!) in the crate the first night or two.

I would remind those who are having difficulty crating: your emotions are a factor in how your dog reacts and adapts. The stress of hearing their cries, and worse, often puts an owner on edge enough to subtly (and often not so subtly to most dogs) encourage the behavior. Earplugs help.:o

Wow! I feel so lucky. My basenji has been raised with a lab, and she rarely acts like water is going to kill her. She is sometimes hesitant to go into the wet grass or rainy yard, but I always take her on a leash, so we just keep walking until she pees.
In the winter, I clip her to a tie-out rope (supervised), she RUNS into the yard (wearing a sweater, of course), does her business, and RUNS back to the door and gives the fastest sit ever (because she MUST sit before going in or out) - before being let back in. It is quite comical, like an old silent movie running too fast.
Mine also prefers to poop in the farthest reaches of the property, which is nice since we don't have to walk in anything near the house.

That someone else is ME
visit the "a tired basenji is a happy basenji" thread to read about my simple method of biking with dogs.

Crate the dog. If it does well with eight hours, nine won't be that big of a deal. If you're worried about potty issues, I can only say that when the weather is cold, my girl can and will (by her choice) go 12+ hours without eliminating.
That being said, I don't recommend 12 hours in the crate. Just illustrating that they can hold it when they grow up, and your dog is obviously not a puppy anymore.
It also helps make it seem like being in the crate is "business as usual" if you don't make a huge fuss when you come home and let the pup out. When we come home from work, we don't even talk to our dogs while we let them out of the crates until saying "sit" at the front door - which they do lightening fast. They always act happy to see us, wiggley and much sniffing, but if we talk much before they get to pee, they get overly hyper and start jumping.
Plus, the less time spent chit chatting, the sooner they get out to pee.

Here are - left to right - Zack, Jenny and Benny. Rat Terrier, Basenji, Jack Russell Terrier.
The boys stayed with us this weekend, and showed me what a well behaved dog we have with Jenny - they were wild and Benny knows NOTHING in the way of obedience, while Jenny is a good sitter and often just watched as they chased each other around.

Here are some pictures of our Jenny. She is about 18 months old.
I will add some of her and her buddies later today.

Also, what if she decides to go see what she can chew on while she waits for you to wake up and let her outside to pee.
Oh, there are so many reasons I can think of not to let her free at night, and my Jenny is a pretty good basenji when compared to the descriptions of "typical". Lola is obviously comfortable with the crate, and trying to figure out how to manipulate you ("shaped your behavior" in clicker training lingo) into not crating or leaving her.
@Quercus:

I think she is just going thru an adjustment period. The most important part is to never let her out of her crate, or pay attention to her when she is screaming in her crate.

It is a good sign that she is fussing when you leave, it means that she is bonding with you, and doesn't want you to leave. Keep in mind that it probably wasn't her choice to leave her last family…and she may have some separation anxiety because she is wondering where they went. But no matter how heart wrenching that is, you have to be firm on the rules of no attention when fussing, and not baby her. She will get used to your routine soon.

Tell your co workers that all that noise is normal I feel your pain! Hang in there!

IF you break down and let her out while fussing, you will be reinforcing the fussing behavior. Also you will be strengthening the behavior, thus making it more difficult to extinguish or change. AND if you wait longer and longer (and while the fussing escalates) before breaking down and giving in, you WILL increase the intensity of the fussing.
Be strong, breathe deep, use earplugs if necessary, and RELAX. It helps to be cool and aloof about the situation.

I use her martingale (No Slip brand I think) or harness - depends on what we were doing previously. The harness is used in conjunction with biking. Her recall around the yard is better if Betty is there - otherwise, she remembers every place that she has scared up a rabbit, and MUST check to see if the rabbit is foolish enough to be there again. After that, listens some but is always shooting to the end of the rope so quickly that I rarely get to call her with a loose leash and around our house/yard she doesn't get to be off leash, and therefor she is always aware of being tied to me.
If only there was a large open grassland/very lightly wooded area that I could let her run through wearing a big bell, I would follow the noise to whatever she catches or corners like one of the African styles of hunting….

For sure let them handle it. If there is no bloodshed, there is nothing to worry about.

floppy ears - isn't that a sign of something other than basenji?

I would think you would need to use them almost like they are used in Africa because they are so prone to chase and CATCH nearly any small game that doesn't climb trees quickly.
Jenny will sort of "point" (nose down, frozen) when she smells a rabbit and even flush one without chasing it occasionally, but that is because she doesn't SEE it! My lab-mix, Betty, might see it and chase half-heartedly if I don't say "leave it", but even then, Jenny will so obsess on smelling where she thinks the rabbit is, that she will totally miss everything.
Sometimes when I have Jenny on a 30 foot long line and Betty free roaming in the tallgrass near our place, Betty will focus in on something and Jenny will immediately rush in to investigate. Betty will also watch and react to Jenny (when she's not watching me, hoping I have a Frisbee to toss).
Jenny has 80-90% recall (defined as coming on the first call) when we are at the dog park and I have wondered how I could use their "teamwork" in the field.

This morning I watched Ally lay in the MIDDLE of the living room floor waiting for some action. I was again amazed/amused as Ally would spin on her back in a propeller-like fashion while Jenny went in for soft bites on the legs and back of her neck. Around and around they went. And when Jenny gets too rough or Ally has had enough, Ally just vocalizes, uses a little claw and her back feet to throw Jenny away. (Otherwise there is almost never any claws or yelps like there were when Jenny first came to live with us.)
Also, if Jenny doesn't come back for more, Ally definitely seeks Jenny out to keep the game going.

We've met two at the dog park. Neither stayed very long due to not getting along well with others.
My favorite quote was from a little girl, maybe 7 years old, who asked "can I walk your horse - dog? I meant dog." I told her I thought she was a horse-dog too.

Jenny likes white and fluffy as her combination, and she just likes to get some hair between her front teeth so she can run around looking like she needs her chin wiped. We have a fluffy white-ish cat that is an occasional victim. At the dog park I have to watch out for the little Alaskan Eskimo Dogs and Samoyed (sp?) or she may hassle them.

Jenny is just over a year old, and we got her at about 7 months (rescue). We have an older cat that is totally uppity and VERY vocal - even growls like a small dog - and we have two other cats that are sisters who turned a year in October '06. The cats, especially the pair, are accustomed to our lab-mix and have held their own with Jenny. Older cat kept her at bay with growls, and I would often calmly intercede and "protect" the cat to let her see I was there for her. Of the sister cats (long hair), one was already fast friends with our frequent rat terrier visitor and tolerated Jenny's advances. The other one smacked her so many times in the first 5 seconds of meeting, that for the next few months Jenny shook her head as if dodging blows every time they crossed paths. That was the first part of July '06. Now the older one gets respect (mostly) and the smacker still gets unexpectedly wild without provocation. The other cat seeks Jenny out for a game of chase, or will lay in the middle of the floor on her back and side (in a pinup girl fashion) and wait for Jenny to attack.
I have monitored these interactions very closely and know for a fact that Jenny is not hurting the cat, and the cat - who has claws - is not hurting Jenny BUT it does look like Jenny is biting the cat's neck and the cat acts like she's clawing Jenny. Mostly the cat just lays there and when Jenny walks away, follows her until they start up again.
Oh, the smacker is fluffy and white-ish and Jenny likes to get some fur from her tail occasionally. Sometimes she does this to white fluffy dogs too.

I'll address traits Jenny does not display first, then the jumping and door bolting questions.
Jenny loves the water; she lives with a lab and her first lake intro was in the dead of summer and the water was warm. That being said, this winter, late march when things were thawing, Jenny stood in 6-8 inches of thawing lake (meaning she was standing on ICE covered with water) straining on her leash to get to the geese out further in the ice water. She stood there for a couple of minutes until she was nearly convulsing with the shivers.
She is a chewer (less so now and anytime she's tired) and often rude at the door (rushing to go out) but has learned that Nothing In Life Is Free (Google that phrase for more detailed explaination - also one link out of many http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nothingfree.htm) and she has learned great patience and SOME self control because of it. She has to at least sit for everthing - food, outside, inside (when it's cold, she does her business and bolts to the door and sits so fast it is comical), chew toy, meet the dog (the dog above that is bonkers in it's own neighborhood most likely is bonkers to meet the other dogs), meet the child, chase the squirrel - get the picture? NOTHING in life is free. Basenjis are smart and as long as you maintain some self control and are calm but firm, you will see progress. Jenny will actually wait in the other room in her kennel while I prepare her food, AND as long as I remind her "wait" she will let me set it down and wait until I say "Take it". For the first 9 months we had her, I thought that type of obedience would be impossible due to her "basenjiness", but about 2 months ago she started to develop some self control. NILIF - Nothing In Life Is Free.

Ever try to take a piece of unaceptable "food" from your dog and find that as you open her mouth the food (or cat box bisquit!) doesn't fall out - no matter how wide you pry? I always find it in the back as described above. The basenji cheeks seem to cover more of the back teeth than I've seen on other dogs. Maybe this is a survival adaptation from their closeness to the wild, a way to hide food from the competition.