Happy to find a forum for Basenjis as we are new to the breed and now proud owners of a 9 week old male Basenji named Charlie. He is full of energy and spends his days napping, chewing, running, and let me say chewing again because everything is a chew toy right now.
His first night home was rough, but he has taken to the crate and is working on potty training and learning his name.
We look forward to reading ideas here on how to raise a Basenji.
We welcomed our first Basenji in February 2021 (Charlie’s pic is in member intros from last year), and it was time to get him a sister.
This is Ripley at 14 weeks. She is everything we hoped she would be helping our other Basenji adjust to life alone when working from home was no longer an option. She loves food, using her crate as a potty ( 
), and is extremely vocal (makes us laugh every time). We were so worried getting a second, but don’t regret it for an instant.
And here are our 2 together.
All I can say is have patience. We never thought our Basenji would stop biting, and thought we were the only ones with a bitey little land shark. We tried everything, but he matured and now suffers being bitten by his new sister lol.
Just be consistent and even if you don’t think what you are doing is working, as someone mentioned it won’t stop overnight so just stick with it.
Charlie is a year and 7 months now and Ripley only 7 months and they love walking together (thanks to gentle leaders!).
@jengosmonkey
Thank you so much for the advice regarding chewing redirection. Will definitely try those techniques with Charlie.
The sock and sleeve we thought were pretty cute and matched my husband’s habit of walking around the house with 1 sock on 🥰.
Is there something wrong with Basenji breeders and pups from Texas? We got Charlie from a breeder in Texas as we live in the state, but was curious when I read this.
Also on the snuggle puppy, that worked quite well for Charlie. He snuggles up to Aggie (named the snuggle puppy) and carries her out of the crate sometimes, but overall has taken to the space. We only put him in the crate when he is sleepy, or has fallen asleep elsewhere and we transfer him to get used to the crate as calm time.
Thank you all for the Dremel suggestion!
I purchased the pet version last week and wow! My older Basenji was used to the sound and the younger we fed her treats to get used to it. It saved me a trip to the pet salon and after only 2 trims, the trimmer pays for itself.
I am sure he has plenty of relatives across the US as the breeder mentioned some pups were going to OH, MN, and I think LA.
His Dad is Mojo Mean Bean and Mom is Freeman’s Reddy To Go. We are in the process of registering him soon.
Quick update and thanks for the advice to just let them work it out. We were so worried we made a mistake with #2.
It’s been a month of pure joy watching them become the best of friends. We hear an occasional yelp when someone gets too rough, but after about 20 minutes of play, they pass out right next to each other.
Thank you all for the Dremel suggestion!
I purchased the pet version last week and wow! My older Basenji was used to the sound and the younger we fed her treats to get used to it. It saved me a trip to the pet salon and after only 2 trims, the trimmer pays for itself.
Thank you and oh yes they have nail appointments next week lol.
Charlie is a year and 7 months now and Ripley only 7 months and they love walking together (thanks to gentle leaders!).
Quick update and thanks for the advice to just let them work it out. We were so worried we made a mistake with #2.
It’s been a month of pure joy watching them become the best of friends. We hear an occasional yelp when someone gets too rough, but after about 20 minutes of play, they pass out right next to each other.
Thank you all! They are full of surprises each and every day.
Ripley’s Houdini is Gone with the Wind 12/7/21 is our little girl.
Her pop is Reddy’s Ragnar and mom is Katie Scarlett O’Hara Witte.
We welcomed our first Basenji in February 2021 (Charlie’s pic is in member intros from last year), and it was time to get him a sister.
This is Ripley at 14 weeks. She is everything we hoped she would be helping our other Basenji adjust to life alone when working from home was no longer an option. She loves food, using her crate as a potty ( ), and is extremely vocal (makes us laugh every time). We were so worried getting a second, but don’t regret it for an instant.
And here are our 2 together.
All I can say is have patience. We never thought our Basenji would stop biting, and thought we were the only ones with a bitey little land shark. We tried everything, but he matured and now suffers being bitten by his new sister lol.
Just be consistent and even if you don’t think what you are doing is working, as someone mentioned it won’t stop overnight so just stick with it.
So glad to hear! He is relentless, but she holds her own even if she is on her back biting away at him.
We have a 14 month old male Basenji (Charlie) and we recently added a 10 week old female Basenji (Ripley) puppy to our home. Charlie seemed very excited from day 1, but plays very aggressively. They run around the house, but it turns into a wrestling match with him grabbing her neck, leg, you name it. She of course does the same and has started to grab anything of his she can bite onto, but the size difference makes it very scary. She is 13 weeks old now, but we are not sure if we should be worried about him or if this will work itself out where they teach each other when to stop. Any advice or thoughts would be so very helpful.
I agree, but it does take time and patience for some dogs to understand. My basenji, Charlie knows now his crate is his “home”, but from 8 weeks to now at 12 weeks, focused first on making sure he felt safe in it. This meant a Charlie proofed area that ended in his crate if he wanted to be with me while I worked.
We are now introducing away time, but as mentioned, it’s building up from a mere few seconds to hours.