Thanks for the responses!

It has been five months since our move and we are still struggling with separation anxiety. After a couple months we resorted to putting him on medication, which has seemed to help but I do worry about it just kind of covering up the problem and not really getting to the root of it. I talked with my vet about re-introducing the crate but we both decided it would just add more stress to an already stressful situation for Finn. Fortunately we found a great doggie day care place and he's doing well there.

Admittedly, I am probably not doing everything I could at the moment to help him get better. After the first couple months of trying many things without much success (and with the stress of starting a new job and adapting to a new schedule) I just sort of got stuck in the habit of taking him to daycare when I go to work, using medication for quick trips to the grocery store and such, and relying on family members when we both need to be away from home for longer periods of time. Now that we're all used to our new schedules, I'm trying to work with him more so we can get him off meds and I can have a social life again.

About once a month or so I decide it's time to start looking for another dog but then I seem to always talk myself out of it. I do want another one. And Finn is such a playful, social dog, I think it could be really good for him. But I keep realizing what I really want is the perfect dog and the perfect match and I'm just not sure yet whether this is the best time to take on another dog that might have any number of problems of his own. It's so tempting though.

My boyfriend and I just moved with our one and a half year old basenji, Finn, and he is having a hard time adjusting to us leaving him in our new place. We've only left him alone here for more than five minutes once and it went HORRIBLY, worse than I ever could have imagined. We don't crate him when we leave because Finn has proven to be an uncrateable dog. At our last house, we worked with him for 6 months on getting him used to a crate and tried everything but he just never stopped screaming. So finally we threw our hands up and let him have free reign of the house, with bedroom doors closed, which he did remarkably well with except for a few mishaps in the beginning with an old, already ripped couch.

He seemed to be adjusting to the move alright. He's been very calm inside our new apartment and likes to chew his bones in the cozy spot we set up for him in the living room. In the beginning, he got very upset any time either of us left, even if just to go get something from the car, but that seemed understandable because I know this has been a stressful and confusing time for him. After being here for four days, I decided to leave him to go to the store. It was evening and he was already very tired out from the dog park, so I thought he'd be fine. I left him with a frozen peanut butter kong to keep him occupied and only planned to be gone for an hour. When I got home, I immediately heard the blood curdling screaming from the stairs. I ran inside and found that he had pushed open the door I had closed that separates the living room from the rest of the house and was in the kitchen up on his hind legs with his collar caught on the electrical cord for our refrigerator. I later realized he had chewed the cord a little bit trying to free himself and must have gotten shocked! He had pooped on the floor beneath him and it was smeared all over him. He hadn't chewed anything in the house but there were things scattered and out of place near all the windows and in the weird corner where he had gotten stuck which makes me think he was running around frantically to each window trying to find a way out. Once I got him free, he ran immediately outside to the porch and refused to come back inside so I took him for a long walk to calm him down and then let him hang out on the porch while I cleaned up the mess. After about an hour, with some coaxing and petting and treats, I got him to come back inside. He paced around and whined a little at first but was okay after a little while. I have no way of knowing how long he was stuck there. I talked to all of our neighbors but none of them had heard anything. I'm SO thankful he is okay but am worried that this was a traumatic enough experience for him that now it's going to be a very long time before we can leave him alone in here.

It's been a few days since that happend and I am TERRIFIED to try leaving him again but, of course, eventually I'll have to. Of course now I'll be taking his collar off whenever I leave him alone. Fortunately I haven't started a new job yet where we've moved to so I have some time to work with him before we have to leave him for longer periods of time. Just today I've started leaving for 5 minutes at a time, going downstairs and waiting in the driveway and then coming right back. So far, no mishaps, but he certainly doesn't like it. Eventually I'll start trying it for ten.

Does anyone have any advice for us in this situation?

Great, thank you! I can't make it out today but hopefully next weekend.

I remember reading awhile back about a meetup at a dog park in Tampa on Sundays. Does this still happen? If so I'd love to bring my 8 month old boy, Finn. He is very, very playful and gets along well with other dogs. I'm down in Sarasota so I probably couldn't make it a regular thing but I'd love to come every once in a while, and hopefully tomorrow!

I remember reading on here about a Tampa meet-up at a dog park on Sundays. Does that still happen? If so I would love to bring my boy Finn. He is just over 8 months and very playful. I'm down in Sarasota so I probably couldn't make it a regular thing but I'd love to come every once in a while and hopefully tomorrow.

Mine does it in two situations, neither of which are surprises. If he's tired and laying down in a comfy spot and I move like I'm about to pick him up, he'll growl at me. When this happens I usually just pick him up anyway and he gets over it. If he's actually sleeping and I wake him by picking him up, he doesn't care and just snuggles right up against me. The other times he's done it, it's been because he's nagging the other dog in our house (a 12-year old dachshund) to play with him and the dachshund is getting upset so I pick him up to intervene.

I really don't want this to progress to aggressive behavior. Anything else I can do?

My puppy is going to be 12 weeks old this week and has just recently started doing the exact same thing. Was it resolved for you? Or did it escalate?

My puppy will be 12 weeks old this week. I know he can't possible be housebroken yet but, for the most part, he's been a breeze to potty train and has already started signaling when he needs to be taken outside. We are having a problem, however, with him peeing on my roommate's bed, which is also where her 12 year old dachshund sleeps. It seems like every chance he gets he runs right into her room and pees on her bed. Even if he literally JUST came inside after peeing. Is this marking??? I thought puppies didn't start that until they were at least 6 months old, so I guess it probably isn't but this seems weird. We try as much as possible to keep her door closed or keep a baby gate up blocking that hallway but the two times this weekend he had the chance to run in there, he did and peed immediately.

Hi,

I have a new 9-week old basenji puppy named Finn that I just brought home on Saturday. He has been great so far and we love him but I am a little concerned about crating. He hates to be in his crate and starts whining immediately, usually progressing to full on screaming. I haven't left him in there for longer than an hour yet and I've only actually left the house while he was crated twice. Usually I'm still there and mostly in the room where he can see me and he still whines and sometimes starts screaming. I try to tire him out before putting him in but it doesn't seem to help. We've been feeding him in the crate from the beginning and he goes in willingly to eat but as soon as he's finished eating, he whines. I try not to take him out when he's whining because I don't want him to think that will work but sometimes it's hard to avoid doing that because he literally doesn't stop for more than 10 seconds. I know he's very young and this whole being alone thing is very new to him so I can certainly understand his reaction. I'm just not sure what I could do to make sure he doesn't continue this behavior when he gets older.

Otherwise, though, he is perfect! Here's a picture:

I don't think a breeder's first litter is necessarily a red flag either. She is a person who I trust, a friend and neighbor of one of my closest friends. When I asked her about health testing she mentioned Fanconi right away. She is having me sign a contract with her saying she will buy back the dog at any point in time. She's offered to dogsit anytime I go out of town. She is not a regular breeder in that she initially planned for this to be her first and only litter but she did say she is thinking about keeping one of the males from this litter to breed with her second female. She picked her breeder carefully based on the reputation of her dogs' sweet temperament. I met them and it's true–they're just about the sweetest and fawned all over me even though I was a perfect stranger. She decided to breed her own dogs based on a desire to carry on this temperament. I will verify that she does direct DNA testing for Fanconi before I put a deposit down but otherwise, I trust her.

This is my breeder's first litter and I'm not sure if she plans to do it again next year. She bred one of her girls with a male from her breeder, who has guided her through the process of having her first litter. The original breeder I believe is Anne Webb-Pratt in Punta Gorda.

She has tested for Fanconi, yes.

Thanks for all the responses!
I got to visit my breeder and her adult dogs yesterday and I totally fell in love with them. I am going back to put a deposit down later this week.
And of course I asked about the health testing, which she does and even offered to let me talk to her vet if I wanted to double check.
Other than the Patricia McConnell mentioned above, does anyone recommend any good Basenji books I should read before I get my pup?

Hi there,

I am thinking about bringing a basenji into my life and am already in touch with a breeder who has 2 week old puppies that will be ready to go to their new homes in early March. I am a college student graduating in May. I'm taking minimal classes and don't plan to start working until the summer so for the first two months with my puppy, I will have pretty abundant free time. I've been reading through a few of the posts from potential owners and I have a few questions I was hoping you all could answer for me.

1. I'm concerned about my dog developing separation anxiety and was wondering how to treat my puppy to best minimize the chances. I grew up with a beagle, another breed with the tendency to develop separation anxiety, but we had a second dog in the house for her whole life so that was never really a problem. It seems like most of the basenjis with separation anxiety on this forum are rescue dogs but have any of you raised a dog from young puppyhood that developed this problem? Are some dogs just naturally inclined to develop it or is it all about the treatment they receive?

2. I am a little concerned about the fact that I also have a pet rabbit. Of course, I plan to never let them be alone together but I would like them to be able to be in the same room when I am watching them. Does anyone have any experience raising a basenji around other small animals? We had a rabbit in my house when I was a kid, which we got before we got any of our dogs. We owned a chesapeake bay retriever, a beagle, and a mixed breed dogs and all of them were fine around the rabbit without any training. They seemed to just understand that the rabbit had been there first and was therefore off limits. I think our mutt even had some sight hound in her because she chased everything that moved once she was outside the house. I am wondering, though, if a basenji might be a different story since they are so prey-driven.

3. In terms of the sleeping situation, I plan to have the dog sleep in a crate at night while he or she is a puppy and then out in the living room whenever (if ever..) we can trust him or her not to be destructive when left alone. How important is consistency? If it was up to me, the dog would sleep in the bed but I also live with my boyfriend who isn't very into the idea. I would like to have the option to let the dog sleep with me when the boyfriend is out of town (which happens often enough, he is a musician that occasionally tours) but I am worried that will be a 'if you give a mouse a cookie' situation.

4. A lot of people on here have asked the question of which sex is better to own and the responses seemed to be very mixed. Some say girls, some say boys, some say there aren't any discernable differences as long as you spay/neuter (which I plan to do). I want my dog to be as affectionate as possible and the least likely to have any aggressive tendencies because my boyfriend was attacked by a dog several times as a kid and (understandably) has some lingering fears. Anyone have an opinion about this? My breeder's vet told her that her basenjis were the most affectionate basenjis she'd ever met, so that should be a good sign regardless of sex.

5. After graduation, I will be living and working in Florida for two more years and then applying to law school. I may stay in Florida but there is also a chance I will move to New York. I've read that basenjis are very adaptable and will do just fine in an apartment as long as they get sufficient exercise. Anyone on here have experience keeping a basenji in a city environment? Or any experience taking a basenji with you when you moved across a big distance?

Sorry for the long-windedness, just trying to make as careful a decision as possible. I appreciate any/all advice!

Thanks,
Katie