That is so cute! I love the first pic. Mirtillo looks so much like my Baroo. Especially the spot on the back of his neck and the end of his tail. He is adorable. I can tell he will be a big strong boy. He looks very muscular already.

My dogs love plastic bottles too! They always get into the recycling and drag them all over my backyard and toss them. They are the best toys as far the are concerned! I don't know why I bother with the fancy ones!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will look around for a different food and hope that helps.

There is corn glueten meal and wheat flour. Are either of those bad? Other than that, it is all meat and vitamins. That is the nutro max though. I haven't noticed her biting her feet since I switched back though. Maybe she is ok now. I will keep an eye on her.

Is it possible for a dog to be hyperactive? Thats exactly how Oba acts.

How cute! I love the bottom pic, he is smiling! She looks so innocent when she is sleeping, but we all know better! She is beautiful though.

Wow, I never would have thought it to be an allergy. I normally feed them nutro max, but I had to get the natural choice last time because the only store in town that carries it was out of nutro max. They have finshed it off now and have been back on the nutromax for a couple days now. I haven't noticed her licking since then now that I think about it. I know the two foods aren't that different, so I will have to look at the ingredients to figure out what it might be. I guess an allergy makes sense, I just never thought it would make her do that.

As far as exercise goes, she gets a long walk everyday, and I also spend at least 30 minutes a day playing with her outside. On top of that she gets bones or treats to occupy her. She does have a lot of energy, but she still has some behavior that I am a little worried about. She never seems to be really calm unless she is sleeping. Even when she is calm she just seems restless and always looking for something to do. Its like she can't relax. She can be resting and then suddenly jump up and try to get baroo to play or go looking for trouble and if she can't find anything to do she paces. She only pace sometimes when she is in the house, but I thought that was always because she just wanted to go out. She prefers to spend most of the day outside. She seems more comfortable there. That may be because the people she was rescued from kept her tied to a tree in their backyard all the time. Maybe she is just used to it. When she gets like that I try to play with her, and that helps for awhile, but even when I know she is tired she just keeps at it. She plays with baroo and when he has had enough he lets her know, but she rarely backs down and it is hard for her to relax afterwards. She also is really bad about chewing. At first I thought it was just because she is young (only a year as of this month) and maybe her teeth are still bothering her, but I think she is getting a bit old for that now. She chews EVERYTHING. Plastic is her favorite, but she will take anything if that isn't available. It really worries me, because I dog proof as best I can, but she still finds a way, and what is worse is that sometimes she eats the pieces. I have to watch her very closely. I know a lot of dogs chew, but I haven't seen on like this before. Not even Baroo was this bad.

She also barks for no reason, or at small things, like bugs or birds. I have never known a dog to bark at something like that. She rarely barks when I have her citronella collar on, but if I take it off she barks non stop at everything. Isn't that a sign of anxiety?

When we first got her I was concerned about the way she breathes. Even after resting for at least 15 minutes she still pants and breathes very quickley. I called the foster about it and she said she noticed it to and had the vet check her out, and she couldn't find anything wrong. She said she has always been like that. From my experience that just isn't normal. She breathes as heavily as she does when she is running, just for a long time afterwards. I don't know, maybe I am reading too much into it and that is just normal for her and I'm not used to it.

Oba is bitting her feet a lot lately. At first I thought there was something in her paw because she was licking it a lot and chewing on the pad, but then she started bitting her ankle and her other foot. I looked at it, and it looks a little bit pink, but not irritated. I have seen Baroo do this on occasion, but not recently. Sometimes she is very intent on chewing and licking like it is bothering her, but I can't figure out what it would be from. Do you think her paws could be dry and it is bothering her? I remember someone mentioning a cream to put on their paws, but I am not sure if that is the answer. I am starting to think that she is just doing it from being bored or anxious, but when she does it she looks like she is really bothered by something, and she bites more than just one foot. I have started to notice that she has a lot of anxiety. She will get worked up and it is hard for her to calm down. It goes beyond normal young dog energy and excitement. I am just waiting to see if maybe it is just because she is a rescue and has been moved around from home to home and maybe she just isn't adjusted yet. I am hoping she will grow out of it, but I'm not sure. I have seen herbal supplements that are supposed to help with that kind of thing, but I am not sure if I want to try them. Does anyone know anything about them? Is this something I should be worried about?

I do! We just adopted her a couple months ago. She looks a little more GS though. She does have the ears and some wrinkles and her tail does curl quite a bit when it is up, but she is a lot bigger and weighs about 50 pounds. Unfortunately she does bark though, and a lot! I think she is very pretty though, and I am quite happy with her. I only hope she adopts the obedience that germans are famous for! She is comming around though. When I was looking for a rescue I did see a few other B/GS mixes also, so you might have some luck finding one. We feel in love with her because I wanted another B, but DH has always wanted a GS, so she was the perfect compromise! I know there is at least one other member with one too. Here is a couple pics of her and my other B.

I can't tell you how sick I am of cleaning up a trail of stuffing strewn from one end of my house to the other! Once there is even the smallest hole in the toy it's a gonner! They still love to play with the destroyed limp shell though. I think it's part of the basenji creed. If it is stuffed it must be unstuffed, and the more expensive the toy the better!

@Jylly18:

Hey, Lovemybaroo, do I notice a tatoo on the underside of your B? The reason I ask, is my B Tosca (who we got from a shelter in Iowa) has one almost identical to it, but smaller and darker on her stomach. I am not sure if it is a tatoo or not (or am I looking at a um…male part? The pic was hard to tell :) ) but if it is I was wondering how he got it. I am asking because even though we got Tosca from a shelter she is originally from California, so I didn't know if it was a common breeder symbol or anything. And if its not a tatoo, just consider me dumb, but like I said the shape (Cross with circle) is almost identical to Tosca's tatoo. I have just always been trying to figure out why she was tatoo'ed, since the vet said a breeder would usually just tatoo a number on her, not a picture. Thanks!

lol! no, he doesn't have a tattoo. Thats his "male parts" you are looking at! And although I don't know much about his breeder, I do know he didn't come from this state. Interesting that your dog has a tattoo though…

Welcome to the forums! Nina is a cutie! Could she possible be mixed with Australian cattle dog or blue healer maybe? I see shepherd, but maybe something else too. Here is some pics of my B/shepherd mix. Her name is Oba (for now) we just adopted her a few weeks ago. She is more shepherd though. She is 11 months old and about 50 pounds!

Here is Oba and Baroo (my other furbaby)

I was at our local pet store and came across these dog sitter videos. You put them on for the dog when you leave and they have about 90 minutes of interesting stuff for your dog to watch and listen to. They claim there is 8 different layers of sound put on so it would be interesting for them to listen to since they can hear so much better. It is all filmed by "doggie cam" so they get the dogs eye view. They mostly show other animals, but one had a part about agility and other dogs. On the back there were pics of several dogs watching it, and one was a B named Kozmo. I thought it was interesting and wondered if anyone has seen them or has tried it out?

Those are so funny! She looks so relaxed and really doesn't care he is totally invading her space.

These articles were very helpful. I had never looked at it like that, but it makes sense. I will have to try it.

Thanks for the advice. I am trying to get her into training, but there are VERY limited classes in my small town and we dont have a dog park or anything similar that I could take her to. We have a good sized backyard, and she runs a lot there, but not enough to wear her out. I play with her as much as possible, but she does have a lot of energy. I put her in her crate to calm down, but I don't use a crate with Baroo because it traumatizes him after being kept in it for long hours before I rescued him. I don't like having to do it for her and not with him, but it just isnt an option to do it differently. Baroo isnt really a problem. He calms down easily, it Oba that doesnt know when to stop. I will just have to start insisting that they cant run in the house. I have been putting them outside when they start, but they still are going to do it regardless.
I know she doesnt look very basenji-like, but I know for a fact that she is. The original owners saw the parents and confirmed that she is part basenji. She just looks and acts a lot more sheperd.

Anyone have experience with your B being rough with a toddler? Oba is still a puppy and wants to play like one, but she is about 50 pounds, and she runs straight at you without slowing down, and has sent my son flying several times now. Just tonight she knocked him into the corner of a door frame and now he has this nasty bruise on his face. She just has no regard when it comes to other peoples space. Is this something I can teach her not to do? My son knows to try to stay out of the way and he even does the duck and cover maneuver, but its not working too well. I try to watch them all closey, but there is only so much I can do. When the 2 dogs start running you better look out, and my poor son just doesnt have a chance. She just tramples him. With Baroo its not so bad because he is only 25 pounds, but Oba is twice his size, and solid. She is also bitting him, but only because she is trying to play, but also because she wants to chew on his shoes, or snatches a toy from his hand. She just runs up and puts his foot or leg in her mouth and bites down and usually pulls too. She doesn't mean to hurt him, but I guess she just doesnt know better, and I dont know the best way to go about training her not to do this. She hasn't seriously injured him yet, but I know it is only a matter of time. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't know what to do about this issue, but I can't have her hurting him, intentional or not.

How adorable! Those are great pics!

I don't use a crate for Baroo because he was locked up in one for up to 12 hours a day before I rescued him, so he is traumatized by the crate and won't go in one, but I am fine with that because he really doesn't need it and can be trusted without one. I hate the idea of putting her in one and leaving him out, but thats just how it is. Baroo has calmed down a little more with the bowl issue. He really doesn't care now as long as he can choose which one he wants to eat from. They switch a lot, and it seems to be fine.
I do put Oba in her crate to settle down sometimes, and that works for the most part, but sometimes she settles down in there and comes out ready to play again and baroo still isn't in the mood.
She is getting better by the day. She still chews a lot, but I guess that is to be expected. I was a little upset when she chewed a hole in my blanket though. I am trying to keep her busy with treats. She really seems to like the healthy edibles nylabones.
She has peed in the house a couple times even though she is housebroken, but I am guessing that is just an adjustment issue. She hasn't done it in a few days though. Hopefully she won't again.

We need to get her into obedience class, because she doesn't even know come, but it is hard to find a decent one where we live. Hopefully we will soon.

She has a rawhide chew stuck to her lip

After a long wait, Oba has finally arrived! She is a 10 month old German Sheperd mix we adopted last week. She is such a sweetheart, and we are totally in love with her already. She loves to cuddle and insists on sleeping in my bed and even trying to push me off the pillow! She has tons of energy and will play all day long. She seems to have settled in very well and is already at home here. We are so happy to finally have her, there are just a couple issues we need to deal with.

She was dropped off a week ago, and for the most part things are going good. When Baroo first saw her he tried to attack her, so I was worried at first. They went for a walk together and he was being a bully, but then we turned them loose in the backyard, and they instantly started chasing each other and running all over. They had a blast and we were all shocked at how well they got along right away. They played all day and wore each other out. It was great! There was one little fight later that day when I gave them both a chew treat. I put Oba in her crate and left Baroo inside. Even though she was in her crate he got very upset because he wanted them both. They calmed down and weren't showing any interest in the treat, so I let Oba out, and then Baroo attacked her and stole her treat. They stopped after I sprayed them both, but we keep having the same issue with the food dishes. He thinks they are both his and won't let her eat out of them unless he wants to. He goes back and forth between dishes even though they are in different areas, and he doesnt seem to care if she eats out of "his" dish, as long as he doesnt want to. Should I let him continue to do this, or make them have seperate dishes and only eat from those?

There are a couple other problems that we are dealing with- I have realized she is more sheperd than basenji, except she has the bad basenji behavior! The main problem was that she barked. A lot. It was very loud, and for no reason. She would even bark at birds or some times nothing at all. That had to stop, so we got her a citronella anti-bark collar, and that has done wonders! She barks 1 time, and that is it. She hates the citronella and there is no more barking!

Other than that, she chews. She is still only 10 months old, so she is still a puppy and I will excuse it most of the time, but she is really bad about it. She can't be trusted out of sight. She makes Baroo look like an angel! We have gotten her more toys and chews, and that helps some, but it is still an issue we have to watch out for.

For the most part Baroo likes her. I can tell he gets very irritated with her though. She wants to play constantly. She doesn't give up until he is really pissed and on the verge of a fight. He comes running to me to hide or keep her away from him. He likes to play, but he loves his naps and relaxation time too. I don't think Oba knows what that is. She is always looking for something to do and plays with her toys or things that she shouldn't all day long. I am hoping she will settle down as she gets more used to things, and as she matures. Its just kinda hard to look at her as a puppy because she is so big, but she is. She weighs about 50 pounds, and she uses it to bully Baroo. I hear him yelping all the time when they play. How can I get her to settle down and leave him alone more? The poor dog needs a break!

We are still stuck on the name issue. We wanted to change it to Sheba, but have since decided against it, and can't come up with anything else we like. It is driving me crazy. The problem for me is that she looks like an Oba, and thats all I see when I look at her, but I hate the name and want to change it, so hopefully soon she will have a new name. Any suggestions? I don't want to confuse her for too much longer.

Sorry this is such a long post, I have been saving it all for a week since I have been too busy watching her to post sooner! Here are a couple pics. They aren't great, but it is hard to catch them holding still!

Her tail curls at the end. It looks like a question mark when it is all the way up. There is no denying those are basenji ears though!

A rare moment when they aren't running

Tug-o-war!
I have to add- the sofa in the background was trashed before, but it is now in pieces. We got a new one and put in the the patio and she was shredding it in no time. Its a good thing it was trash anyway!

This video is absolutely gut-wrenching and it broke my heart :(. It just makes me sick to think this goes on everyday, and so much more often than we know about. That man should be shot. Dogs have been good to him, but he hasn't been good to them. The saddest part was the look in their eyes. Despite the absolute horror they are put through most of them still look like they are smiling and just want to be loved. This was very disturbing, but we all need to be aware. Thanks for posting.