Hey all, I’ve watched this forum for a long time before getting a basenji and I’ve now had mine for a year, so I guess it’s time for an intro

This is Bubo, my little chaos demon. He’s 18 months now and I got him at 6 months. We lived in Vienna until recently.

It’s been a heck of a ride so far. Luckily he’s great with other dogs, but we’re currently working (hard!) on keeping him from getting overstimulated when outside, a couple of suspected allergy issues, and the hardest thing right now is finding a safe space for him to be off leash. We’re also thinking of adopting a 2nd from somebody who unfortunately has to give up their pup.

Anyway, thanks for all of the help so far! This forum has been so helpful.

@senjisilly @elbrant thank you!

His markings really are amazing, he goes from brown in the shade to golden in the sun. He has a dark stripe running down his back which a lot of people confuse for a ridgeback. But people have asked me if he’s a cross Akita, Staffy, Whippet, Fox, pretty much everything

Here’s a little video with his markings:
https://imgur.com/gallery/HWuix8V

And a picture

@jkent yep! I get the same reaction here! He’s 18 months, the conversation usually goes like “ours used to do that too when he was a puppy” followed by my “I was hoping he’d grow out of it but here we are”. Sound familiar?

It got marginally better using a halti yesterday, where he was accepting treats and (eventually!) walking by (with some, um... persuasion) but I’m now avoiding parks that I are busy on sunny days. Busy streets are the most difficult, and I think it stems from him growing up during all of the intense lockdowns in Europe last year. Cities were silent, but now thronging with day trippers.

He’s never growled at another dog, but I have met a couple of people with Manchester terriers who have both mentioned theirs behaving similarly so I think it’s definitely an overstimulated-hunting-dog thing. With the lunging, I usually let him have a very slightly loose leash, he’ll wait for the other dog to come over but if it’s clear the other dog isn’t interested then I need to take it in to control the lunging—I almost have hold of his collar at that point. I try to avoid keeping it tight throughout the interaction because I believe it makes the lunging behaviour worse.

@elbrant I got it from here, the loop has worn quite quickly but it’s better than some of the other collars I’ve tried: https://meandthebear.store/collections/collars/products/waxed-cotton-martingale-army-green

@elbrant I got it from here, the loop has worn quite quickly but it’s better than some of the other collars I’ve tried: https://meandthebear.store/collections/collars/products/waxed-cotton-martingale-army-green

@senjisilly @elbrant thank you!

His markings really are amazing, he goes from brown in the shade to golden in the sun. He has a dark stripe running down his back which a lot of people confuse for a ridgeback. But people have asked me if he’s a cross Akita, Staffy, Whippet, Fox, pretty much everything

Here’s a little video with his markings:
https://imgur.com/gallery/HWuix8V

And a picture

Hey all, I’ve watched this forum for a long time before getting a basenji and I’ve now had mine for a year, so I guess it’s time for an intro

This is Bubo, my little chaos demon. He’s 18 months now and I got him at 6 months. We lived in Vienna until recently.

It’s been a heck of a ride so far. Luckily he’s great with other dogs, but we’re currently working (hard!) on keeping him from getting overstimulated when outside, a couple of suspected allergy issues, and the hardest thing right now is finding a safe space for him to be off leash. We’re also thinking of adopting a 2nd from somebody who unfortunately has to give up their pup.

Anyway, thanks for all of the help so far! This forum has been so helpful.

@jkent yep! I get the same reaction here! He’s 18 months, the conversation usually goes like “ours used to do that too when he was a puppy” followed by my “I was hoping he’d grow out of it but here we are”. Sound familiar?

It got marginally better using a halti yesterday, where he was accepting treats and (eventually!) walking by (with some, um... persuasion) but I’m now avoiding parks that I are busy on sunny days. Busy streets are the most difficult, and I think it stems from him growing up during all of the intense lockdowns in Europe last year. Cities were silent, but now thronging with day trippers.

He’s never growled at another dog, but I have met a couple of people with Manchester terriers who have both mentioned theirs behaving similarly so I think it’s definitely an overstimulated-hunting-dog thing. With the lunging, I usually let him have a very slightly loose leash, he’ll wait for the other dog to come over but if it’s clear the other dog isn’t interested then I need to take it in to control the lunging—I almost have hold of his collar at that point. I try to avoid keeping it tight throughout the interaction because I believe it makes the lunging behaviour worse.

@chlloe-k did this improve over time? I have a similar problem.

I got my B when he was 6 months and he had this behaviour from day 1. At first I thought it was submissive, but now it really is becoming a huge problem. I can’t get around a park with him, and if the dog comes close but doesn’t acknowledge him, he’ll start darting and choking on the leash. If he sees multiple dogs but can’t meet them, he becomes unmanageable for the next hour or so, in a crazy hyper alert state.

It might be a “natural” behaviour but it’s dangerous when 1) the dog stops in the street 2) becomes hyper alert and reactive to other sights and sounds and 3) other dogs interpret it as threatening

Did you manage to improve this with your B? Really hoping for any tips before I start working with a professional on the behaviour