Best posts made by kjdonkers

If you can, try fresh food: raw meat, soft bones, cooked vegetables, eggs, chewing stuff like tendons, cartilage. Our Lela was a muncher with kibble but when we changed to raw, she became a little wolf, really into food. And despite what vets say, I hold fresh food healthier than kibble.

Pretty girl with a pretty name. You all are so lucky.

We are lucky to live in an area (Netherlands) where we can buy good quality raw (deep frozen) food, with good balance between muscle, bone and organs. Also lots of varieties are available. Why would a raw diet be odd? What would basenjis eat in the wild? Meat, eggs and plants. So we feed meat, eggs (one a week) and vegetables (raw/cooked broccoli, carrot, beet, cauliflower, beans and the like). No rice, no peanut butter. Pumpkin only in case of stomach / digestive trouble. No kibble.

Our Lela has a lot of pack howl in her musical variations, and LOUD! After a minute her quieter older sister Binti will join in, in a lower key. What we found that helps a lot is this: make good eye contact just before you leave, and tell you will be out and when you will be back. Just as you would to a human. Then make sure you are back at the mentioned time. No howling. When we got this advice from a dog therapist we didn't believe it, but we gave it a shot. It does work.

He looks wonderful! From his face and coloring I would put my bet on jack russel x basenji - quite a mix!

What works, depends a lot on the individuals involved, both human and canine. You just have to figure out what works for you. I found that body language that is congruent with energy works best for me. No touching needed, and very few words.

They can do well in a small house, but need walks AND exploration AND interaction with other dogs. Movement is not enough, you need to let them use their mind. When on leash our 2 sisters can sniff all they want, even if it means we do one mile in an hour. They will be tired afterwards.
Trainability: depends on the individual, the age, the human. On YouTube or dedicated fb-pages you can find basenjis showing perfect obedience, even stunningly choreographed doggy dance routines. Will take time and effort and patience. We found that if we treat them along the lines of how you would interact with a 3 year old child, all goes well (most of the times anyway).

What I would suggest, based on our own experience and literature:

• 4 meals a day up to 12 weeks; after that 3; 2 for adults;
• offer a serving for about 10 minutes, then take it away;
• puppy food up to 7 months, then adult food;
• 25 grams average per day for 1 kg of body weight; for adults 10 grams per kg; all depending on individual requirements and type of food.

Agree with eeeefarm. We have two lovely, laidback sisters, who growl and baroo a lot when meeting other dogs on leash. It takes calmness and practice to teach them to behave themselves. You can dedicate entire walks to addressing this issue. It can be a lot of 'work', but also fun and rewarding to see your B change. And it is wonderful for bonding.

@DebraDownSouth Well, I'm sure your dogs love it!

Please don't feed carbs and grains. It's not what dogs eat. They do well on meat and vegetables. If you want to make it yourself you cand find input online: e.g. https://www.wildatheartpets.com/pages/what-to-feed-how-much. What I have seen in our dogs and other dogs who went from kibble to raw is that they became healthier all around. Good luck with Zuzu!

I sleep with two sister-B's under the covers. Everybody happy.

Congratulations! We found that - besides good info - among the important things are: patience, an open heart, a soft voice, clear boundaries, and above all a sense of humour. And you do realise that your life as you know it, will be over soon?

Sounds good. We feed lamb ribs for chews (when in season) - soft enough but still good for the teeth. Any non-weight bearing bones are good. We get ours at a butcher shop, sometimes for free. Otherwise we find stuff in specialised (web)shops: camel hide, kangaroo, tendons, trachea, dried lung. There's a lot of stuff out there.

One of our sisters is called Bintu (Swahili for daughter - Binti for calling her). The other one's official name is Elinor (Arabic for light of god). To find a short name that was connected to that, we went from Elinor to Eleonora (the European version), and from there to Lela (Spanish abbreviation for Eleonora). And a Lela she is 100%.

Not to put anything to rest (why would we?), but it seems every online discussion I have followed about e-collars (here and elsewhere) follows a fixed script:

• people who are against describe e-collars as cruel, no matter the particular application or dog;
• people who use them can argue all they want, but they are viewed as lazy at best, dumb and mean at worst.
  It's a pity.

And as to eeeefarm: I really don't see how she is selling something here; she is describing her own experiences, assesses some of the research that has been done, and answers questions. Why it would matter how many posts that takes, is beyond me.

I am sure you can find a lot of good info here on crating. Apart from that: why use a crate? Our 2 B's can sleep wherevere they want; they don't destroy anything. Sometimes they stay on the couch, sometimes they join me in bed. I'm from the Netherlands and I learned through other basenji-groups that crating is illegal in a country like Sweden, unless for transportation. All the best!

@nathanyodavis Well, another life, yes, whether it's normal remains to be seen. Many, even dog lovers/owners, find basenjis strange creatures and the way they move around the house (as in couch, table, bed) difficult to appreciate. As long as you realise you have entered a universe where different laws apply and new possibilities arise around the corner every day, you'll be fine.

Depends on the dogs. We have 2 athletic B's but they wouldn't dream of jumping our 3 ft. fence. They just don't. And they don't want to be in the garden if we're not with them. Silly beasts.