Not sure how Xylitol is being marketed. It is an alcohol found in a lot of plants, including birch wood, which is the source of Xylitol used in medicines. And it is toxic to dogs, even in small amounts. Most of the time you find it in sugarless gum and candy.

Here is an FDA warning "Paws Off Xylitol": https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/paws-xylitol-its-dangerous-dogs

Looks like both of you are having fun, but only one of you is going to have to buff out the floor! LOL

This surgery isn't very common in the Basenji world. You will probably get much more and better recommendations if you ask in a Retriever forum (large dog) or a a Pomeranian or French Bulldog forum (small dog).

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

Running up and down stairs helps too.

Good point. Getting them to back up the stairs is even better. I've had Basenjis who did this naturally. As they started up the stairs, with a treat at the top of the stairs, I'd grab them and put them at the bottom. After a few times of this they would decide that backing up was the Rx. Wasn't even thinking of training the back up, just playing with them. So funny.

Using pressure and treats in the hand to get them to back up between a wall and furniture also works.

WOW! That was quick. Weight looks much improved. How is his hind end working? A simple exercise that helps with hind end issues is simply to have him back up. Backing up a ramp would be best but a floor would work. This exercise gets them to pay attention to where their hind legs are and builds strength in the legs by getting them moving under load. Given his interest in food this should not be too hard to do. LOL (There are many videos on YouTube about how to train this. I've used frontal pressure but other methods would no doubt be equally effective).

FYI I have heard about one Basenji who had this issue after being crated excessively but I've never seen it. (I saw the dog later but by then he was moving normally). Not saying this was the case but that would be my guess.

Congrats that he's made such progress in such a short time.

Fun video. I believe they do flush, that's what the bells are for, so it may just be in the DNA. But given how easily he goes in the water I'm not convinced he's a Basenji!

Thanks for posting.

No issue IMO. Personally I think 16 weeks would be good on the early end. Six months won't be an issue at all. You'll have plenty of time to "enjoy" Basenji puppyhood and there shouldn't be any issues with training. Separation anxiety will be an issue, but that would be the case at any age when a dog changes home -- six months is easier than six years.

I suspect you will be their bestie from day one.

@sanjibasenji said in Sanji 4 months Recall:

Qualifications: I never even try to recall when he darts off the path to chase something. I don't need to. He always comes back looking for me within a minute or so. I mean always. I'm very very comfortable going off leash in parks (would never do so in town). He gets along with all people and dogs. (The trainer we worked a few months ago for swimming lessons said he's the nicest Basenji she ever met.)

This qualification is the problem IMO. Yes a Basenji will stay with you and/or consistency recall ... until they don't. The prey drive can be too strong. We've had a Basenji with what seemed to be great recall chase a deer and only "come back" when the deer circled back.

I'm with @Zande on the pantyhose. But there isn't an easy fix. When a Basenji meets a collar they don't like the collar is going to come off. Even attaching the collar to a harness, the half life of the collar on my dogs is about 15 seconds. Unless I'm there to supervise and they get sleepy and give up.

Hope your pup gets better soon!

@tanza said in Article on Basenjis:

@donc - If you are saying that a Basenji is "for ornament" and not for function, then you need to do more research. My Basenjis are all dual champions, conformation and performance. As they say, form follows function... and in the end it depends on what the owners/breeders are breeding for and what they want to do with their Basenjis.... you can't just judge all Basenjis (including imports). My Maggii from the 90's was totally domestic bred, she was long in the back, she finished in the show ring because she had outstanding movement. She was also a field champion, however her interest was for real game, not the plastic bags...LOL

There are a couple of facts which aren't arguable. One is that Basenjis generally bred in the US don't look like the Basenjis in Africa. Two is that Basenjis throughout Africa look more like each other than they look like US bred Basenjis.

Since Africa is a huge continent this tells us that Basenjis in Africa share physical traits which have functional value. And to the extent that Basenjis in the US don't share those physical traits this tells us that these traits are there for non-functional reasons. Additionally, given that the differences you've identified -- longer backs, lower tail sets, less curled tails -- are known to provide a functional advantage, it's clear that the Basenjis bred in the US have different physical traits for non-functional, e.g. ornamental, reasons.

Of course there is nothing wrong with breeding for ornament. Many dog breeds are bred for exactly that purpose. However, if this is what you want to do then you should own it and not pretend otherwise.

My objection to the comment about the dog from Africa being "pudgy" -- which if you looked at the picture is quite inaccurate -- is that it assumes the ornamental is superior to the functional. Or put another way, that the "fake" Basenji looks more like a Basenji than a "real" Basenji from Africa. Which of course is a bit silly.

@tanza said in Article on Basenjis:

@donc - I don't think that is a true statement, Import are tougher then the domestics. There are many that have lots of titles on their Basenjis (domestics)... and there are many that are field champions same as imports. Yes Cindy's Basenji was great at agility, but she is a wonderful trainer.

As far as "not as pretty", true... they are long backed and tail set is low which accounts for the less curly.

The numbers are telling. I'm not sure what percentage of Basenjis are imports. 2%? 5%? And imports definitely don't make up only that percentage of top agility dogs. Looking at the power ratings for Basenjis for 2020, you'll see the imports: https://baddogagility.com/basenji-ranking-by-powerscore-for-2020-through-q1/ (FYI Cindy Griswold bred Zuri but didn't train or handle him).

The two differences you've mentioned demonstrate the anatomical advantages of the imports. The longer back means the coil before the spring will be stronger, which means the stride will be longer, which means more distance for each stride, which means more distance in the same time. The lower set (and really straighter) tail means the tail can more easily curl under, which adds speed, or to the side, which lets the tail be more easily used as a counterweight when turning.

Of course other things come into play but these are the advantages of a dog bred "for function" in Africa rather than "for ornament" in developed countries.

So sorry to hear this.This has to be absolutely horrible. Cancers can be genetic but they can also just be random, but they are never good. You have our sympathy.

@helle-devi said in Article on Basenjis:

And quite pudgy that "African dog brought back from the Niger expedition" !

Pudgy? Ha ha ha! Do NOT confuse fat with muscle. The more recent imports have longer bodies and less curled tails, but are more muscular, more athletic, and are a lot tougher than the "domestic" Basenjis. Not as "pretty", they are far closer to the "real thing" and to the original imports than what we see today. Put the two groups together on a lure course and one group will be 10X more likely to qualify.

The imports also dominate agility. I think a 3/4 African dog bred by Cindy Griswold in Texas-- Zuri -- is the only Basenji which has managed a Mach 4 rating in the history of AKC Agility (might be wrong on that but I'm reasonably confident this is accurate). And when you look at a list of the top agility Basenjis, the imports are vastly over-represented. This could, by the way, be because the people who are drawn more to function than form are more interested in sports than showing. But they are definitely faster, stronger, and more athletic. Also larger.

@tanza said in Lure Coursing Age:

@donc - Age to compete for AKC and ASFA lure trials is 12 months of age

Thanks. Seems odd to me to have the same minimum age for Fast Cat and Lure Coursing. The latter will put a lot more stress on the dog than the former. Then again, large dogs and small dogs are not the same, so having a good age requirement would be difficult to come up with.

@chenke said in Lure Coursing Age:

Teki’s doing Fast Cat next month for the first time at age 2 1/2. I’d really like to see how Zulu would do because he’s so fast but it’s AKC sponsored and you must be at least one year of age

That's great. I've never done it but I've watched it and have friends who have. It's simple but you still have to get the dog to drive to you. In some ways the best situation is to be at the other end with a tasty treat and loudly call. This can work well for Basenjis because they want to be "saved" by their human!

Let us know how it works out.

FYI for AKC and I believe USDAA your dog has to be 15-18 months to enter an agility competition (depends on the event). If AKC requires dogs to be 12 months old for Fast Cat I'd expect the requirement to be more for lure coursing since lure coursing will place a lot more stress on the joints than running Fast Cat. A year seems excessive for a Basenji but larger dogs take longer to have the ligaments and tendons attach solidly, so that might account for it.

I don't know. Totally off the wall speculation would be an insect bite which swelled quickly, stretching the skin, and it it took a couple of days for the skin to return to its normal state.

@julie4444 said in Communicate to come inside:

That's great, Kembe. I think I'd need one outside as well. I live in northern Minnesota and the bugs are a pain of they get in. Seriously, our mosquitos are huge! 😁

I understand. Ten thousand lakes and every lake has ten million mosquitos!

We don't let our dogs outside unintended. The vast majority of the time they are perfectly content to hang out, but if something of great interesting -- like a neighborhood cat -- shows up then all bets are off. We've had them go over six foot fences which they couldn't climb (don't ask me how). And yes, they will climb.

You could probably do a piece of plexiglass and insert a dog door in that. The downside of dog doors is that other critters can use it. You could also train her to ring a doorbell but unlike scratching that would take some effort.

It's great that you are thinking about this.

You will want to run as a "Junior Courser". This involves a single dog running at a time, avoiding the possibility of a badly behaved dog that bites.This avoids her having a terrible experience and will give you a good idea of whether she would like it and get her thinking that she needs to chase the lure and not the other dog(s). HINT: If she loves to chase paper bags then she'll be a champ!

After two successful runs -- which gets her a JC title -- you can decide whether to continue. If the lure coursing organization is well run it will likely have her run with another Basenji/dog known for good behavior to make sure she doesn't bite. You need to be careful because, unfortunately, there are people who have dogs that bite who insist on running them sans muzzle and plenty of lure course organizations which don't throw them out.

Another alternative is FastCat which just involves a single dog running down a wide chute. Like lure coursing, this doesn't involve much training. Unlike lure coursing there isn't anything subjective in the evaluation -- it's just time -- but they don't get to wear those cute little jackets. LOL It's also a lot shorter distance.

On the age I'd probably wait until she was a little older but it depends on the dog. It's a bit of an "eye"decision. Certainly by a year she'd be fine. When making this evaluation, if you have a large field available, just watch what she does. If she tears around then she'll be fine because that's more or less what lure coursing is.

You will also need to know how you'll get her back. If the area is fenced then no problem. If it's not you'll want to work on the recall first.