Thanks for all of your replies, this didn’t happen last year so who knows what triggered it! I have a consultation with a vet tomorrow but would rather avoid neutering because they have no aggression issues whatsoever, and there are lots of intact dogs around which they get along with.

re: comments about redirecting frustration or being aggressive towards each other: they occasionally squabble as all dogs do. But both the boys are well mannered with each other and have learned to share their space. I know this is apparently unusual, but I couldn’t be happier with their behaviour towards each other which is why they aren’t neutered already—I know it can trigger changes. I’m hoping this new obsession passes soon

I’m dealing with very similar behaviour at the moment, you’re not alone!

Hey everybody,

Our older male (2.5yrs) has calmed down an awful lot but still isn’t great while the younger (1.5yrs) seems to be getting worse and worse. I’m wondering whether their being intact can have anything to do with this?

Most of the issues are when walking, with them being incredibly erratic and overstimulated (birds, people in the distance, dogs, DOG PEE), making it almost impossible to break their focus. They’re perfect indoors, but when outside I feel like I completely lose control of them. We’ve worked so hard with loose leash training, walking them separately etc, but it gets especially bad if:

1. We walk in a new/unfamiliar area
2. They can see another dog (lunging, whimpering, occasional screaming)
3. They can smell another dog (lunging)
4. They are walking together (competing to get to smells)

The younger will lunge HARD towards any pee and desperately try to lick it, while the older also does this but with a little less intensity. I know this is also a training issue, but if neutering would help to stop this behaviour I would be over the moon—taking them out is super stressful and I’d love to be able to take them out more often rather than having to brace myself for the ordeal.

We’re in a new area for the next month, it’s very very quiet but the behaviour has somehow gotten worse! And it seems to be entirely driven by the smell of other dogs. If this is a training issue then I’ll work with somebody but if it’s an intact-basenji thing then I need to deal with it 😔

Little update :)

He's up to 8.5kg and is definitely comfortable walking now, a little too much for my liking 😂 pulling towards all of the smells if I don't have treats and showing a little bit of frustration when he can't pull to meet another dog. He's a boisterous boy.

Thanks all for your advice. In hindsight I can't believe he was so skinny compared to now, but he's definitely going to be on the small side. We met a female who was 13kg! and dwarfed him.

@zande I was so so nervous at first when they started to play, because they were totally silent, no growling at all. They still are mostly silent apart from their scampering/slamming/sliding/knocking-things-over sounds lol. Not worried at all now and rewarding them for sharing spaces seems to have helped significantly more than the whole "let them figure it out for themselves" idea.

My scales say around 8kg now! But I had him weighed at the vet last week and he was 7.2, so my scales must be a bit off. He's definitely more steady on his feet and our walks are along canals—meaning lots of bridges and steps :) He still reaches out for Bobby's food through the crate wires after he's finished, so I'll have to get him a slow-feeder bowl. Also the peeing indoors thing has completely stopped. His crate and beds are off limits apart from feeding time and he uses a bell to go out. Success!

Him and Bobby are learning to get along well too, which is nice. There is still frequent snout-grabbing and high pitched growls from Bobby (sounds more like a cat, really), but they're getting closer and closer day by day: shared sniffing and happily rough house eachother during play—Bobby often on the receiving end. All good signs I hope.

Also, weirdly for a seemingly neglected dog he ADORES strangers. He'll go over, begging for attention and licking. Totally puzzled, because now I have 2 polar opposite basenjis:

• One won't approach strangers, one loves them
• One isn't food motivated, one is ABSOLUTELY food motivated
• One has to do the poop-prowl, one goes immediately
• One never yodels/howls, one definitely does
• One hates being near faces, one needs to be in your face
• One has an incredible dog-fixation ability, one really couldn't care less
• One PULLS after lots (and I mean lots) of work, one will walk attentively and perfectly after barely any work

That being said, they both steal, climb, hate water and go crazy if they see a rat/squirrel/bird. So there's that.

Little update, in the space of a week he was up to 7.6kg! So all is going well. The number of accidents have reduced massively but only after being banned from ALL dog mats/beds 😅. He peed on 6 of them, even brand new and freshly washed ones. Most annoyingly, he's already much better than Bobby at walking nicely.

Him and Bobby are getting along relatively well now too, there are one or two very loud daily arguments if Frank disturbs Bobby, but it's getting much less frequent. They'll occasionally share a spot to sleep but I have to keep watch, because they seem to have a strict no touching rule between them. Sometimes Bobby wants to play and Frank seems like he doesn't know what to do/comes to me to avoid the chase, but today he was the one chasing Bobby all over the house. Success!

@tanza The parents were tested and are clear, but I will get some glucose test strips just in case

Another couple of accidents—both times in his bed—today and refused to walk in the morning, but seemed to be much better this evening. I will be switching his food to cooked meat with broccoli, pumpkin, egg etc from tomorrow to see whether it agrees with him.

Regarding kibble, Bobby had been fed Acana for a long time but we've realised that it was causing allergies, (both the poultry and fish versions), and there are so many "good" things in the good kibble that it's hard to track down what caused the reactions. He was fine using a bag of the crappy kibble as a pup, so we got a bag of that in case Frank had similar issues. Very frustrating!

Thank you all for confirming that I'm not just being paranoid about this.

@tanza said in Adopted a 2nd Basenji, a little worried:

What are you feeding him and how many times a day? A good quality kibble is best. He does look thin... It may take some time for him to gain weight and muscle mass

He's being fed Harrington's Lamb and Rice puppy food at the moment, 2 generous portions. It might not be the best food but is similar to what he was eating before. I'm also using this for treats because he's insatiable.

@zande said in Adopted a 2nd Basenji, a little worried:

He does need feeding up, gently. I would suggest three meals a day for a while, so as not to overload the system. A good quality kibble and something in the canned meat line to flavour it. Mixed with a little water. And make a big bowl of fresh water available at all times. You can also build the muscle mass up, but gently. Exercise, free running is best but I realise this may not be possible. But build it up gradually. He's a lucky boy to have found you !

Thank you for this, it's very helpful :heart_suit:. Bobby is being fed beef mince, rice and vegetables while I'm trying to identify an allergy, so I'll add some of that to Frank's food, and he is already drinking a lot. Regular free running unfortunately isn't possible where we live at the moment.

@eeeefarm said in Adopted a 2nd Basenji, a little worried:

I wonder how long he may have been confined to a crate?

Yes, this is my thought also. He spent a few days being transported by road, where he was weighed by the transporters at 7.2kg. This is still very underweight in my opinion. The transporter shared a video where he appeared unsteady on his feet while he was being allowed out of the vehicle, and he often refuses to walk (Bobby used to pull like a maniac at that age and still does). I also have to take him outside to pee every couple of hours as he isn't housebroken. It makes me think he has spent a long time confined to a crate and it's very very sad, but I'm glad that I found him. He has been verifiably wormed, vaccinated, etc.

We adopted a 9m old Basenji, Frank, over the weekend. He's incredibly friendly however we were immediately very concerned by his weight. We weighed him after eating and he was 6.8kg. He sits knock-kneed also, which I believe is due to lack of muscle mass? His hip bones are very prominent, to the point that I thought that he cold be a whippet/italian greyhound cross.
Is this weight common, or a major cause for concern? Any ideas on how to fatten him up? I'm sure Bobby was 9+kg by this age.

I can't attach images so here is a link:
https://imgur.com/a/K5OJBVp

There are/were other things indicating neglect which makes me very concerned given that he was back with his (endorsed!) breeder for at least a month.

@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 Bobby, 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