We just introduced our new puppy to our 2 existing basenjis and we did everything wrong! Unfortunately I flew in late and it’s winter so no introduction was possible at a park. My breeder lives in Seattle so no scent blanket available. We had to do it the hard way, ta da! Here’s a new puppy! My girl I was worried would be grumpy and she was great the first day, my boy who I thought it would be fine was all sorts of put out. In the next couple of days it reversed and Maia was pretty cranky and Remy was fine. They growled at this annoying little brat a bit but that’s all. They are all from the same breeder so she smelled like home. They are also all very mild mannered so that helped a lot. It hasn’t been a week yet and we have had full blown basenji 500(once you get one and watch it run you’ll get the reference) and they are all sleeping together on the couch and in bed. It was a pretty easy transition thank goodness!she has settled right in and seems pretty happy with her new digs. She also really loves our dogs and they are all playing like puppies. Potty training is going well but it is our only struggle at the moment, the cold and the snow is not helping. I hope when you bring your girl home it goes as well as ours did. I can’t wait to see a picture of your new fur baby!

I have a puppy who just came out of heat too and she is less playful and more defensive and aggressive with my other dogs. From what I read a female dog may be out of heat but her hormones don’t really go back to normal for a few months. You might not want to push the dog park for a couple of months so she doesn’t develop a negative connotation to the dog park. Apparently she could still trigger aggression from male dogs as well as she smells hormonal to them. Good luck!

My b’s never took to toys. Stuffy squeaker toys are fun to kill and desqueak. Toys that can’t be killed or have no food reward are a waste of time. Pieces of paper towel are super fun to shred. Small animals to chase are fun. Another basenji to rough house with or another breed of dog that can make them feel superior is good. 0-3 they like to wreck stuff, after that they like to walk, chew on bones, nap and cuddle. They also really like to watch for intruders. So I nice front window is a plus. I’m excited for you! I can’t wait for you to get your new baby!

She is beautiful! All dogs are lovely but basenjis do tend to grab those heart strings. I hope you can find some answers, it’s so hard to miss them so much!

My husband was allergic to everything, dogs, cats, birds, horses trees, grass. Really he should live in a bubble! I needed something furry to love and he just wasn’t cutting it. We like you guys discovered the basenji, but as Debra states no dog is 100% hypoallergenic. So we found a breeders dogs that were living near us and we went to meet them. I had my hubby rub his face on the dogs and sniff her carpets and couches. I made him pet her dogs and intentionally rub his eyes. No reaction. He was good! We were elated! Fast forward a million years, we have since had 5 basenjis. We went to the allergist after having had our first one for a year and low and behold he was no longer allergic to dogs! Over the years we have had 3 people react to our dogs. Mostly they would get hives where the hair would poke the skin. See if you can find some basenjis to sniff and rub on. Good luck!

I use liver bites. It’s freeze dried liver chunks. The reason I like them is they are one ingredient, so I have more control over what they are taking in. Also, they are really easy to break into tiny little chunks which is great for training. They are also really smelly and tasty. My dogs will do anything for them. If your dog isn’t crazy about your food you can throw them in a blender and grind them down to dust and sprinkle it on their food. Good luck with your new baby! It’s so exciting to get your new puppy!

She’s adorable! She looks part basenji. Have fun with your new fur baby. They do like attention but they will love you like no other dog.

I currently have 3 basenjis and I have had 6 over the last 17 years. They all have unique personalities but they all have similar things in common as well. I’ve had some that can never go off leash and I have had others that are great at an off leash park. I choose one that is fenced and away from any roads just to be safe. I knew a lady that took hers for years and one day her dog ran onto the highway and was killed. So that prey drive can rear its head anytime! I have baby gates everywhere! They just aren’t trustworthy. Some love to chew plastic some like to chew sheets and pillows. You just don’t know until you get your pup. Some don’t like to be alone ever, some don’t like other dogs, so you have to be willing to figure it out when you get your dog home. I had one that was a jumper so I had to get a super high gate to keep her in the kitchen. They have all loved to cuddle and sleep in the sun. They have all loved to chase squirrels and be chased around the yard. My newest puppy even plays fetch which is super unusual for a basenji! Keeping your house tidy and keeping them away from roads is a big must. They are super sneaky and will even trick you to get what you want. They don’t really do well at home alone for long periods, they typically need some company a cat or another dog, but if you get an adult basenji be careful with cats or other small animals as their prey drive can make that not work either. No matter what I’ve done or learned every dog is unique and special. If this is the breed for you, you will fall hard for them and no other dog will be quite what a basenji is to you. Good luck! If you are committed to this you will make it work, and it will be so rewarding!

I know the key to crating your pup is consistency. I know lots of basenjis get crated over night. My first basenji would howl and cry in his crate and after months he never did like his crate, he had separation anxiety. He only ever settled down in his crate when we brought home his sister. So needless to say he slept in bed with us, we couldn’t stay the course. You could try bringing the crate in your room so he can see you, it might help. My guy never could be alone. He would panic and destroy whatever he could find. Good luck!

Unfortunately for us Maia has never done well with chicken, she loves it and eats it but it gives her diarrhea and seems to mess up her over all health. We did blood work again and her liver enzymes decreased by 30% which is great! Her actual health though is not so good so that is bad. We can get her to eat which is good, but the food control is not great salmon, ham(boiled a few times to remove the salt), breaded cauliflower, Mac and cheese. Whatever we can get her to eat. It’s crazy! We have her booked with a chiropractor to check her nerve function and we are ready to get prednisone going if it is ibd. We are working closely with our vet daily, she currently is on metronidazole and amoxicillin and gabapentin. Thursday I thought we were going to lose her and she has rallied. I hate optimism as I don’t do well with a broken heart but I am hoping for the best right now. She is on 2 billion probiotic per day as well. Every bite of food I can get into her I think, ok 1 more day at least. If I have to spend all day hand feeding her, I will. She is finally sleeping and twitching a little less! She is going up and down stairs ok, not great but ok and she is no longer falling over. We are far from out of the woods but I have seen some small improvements. Thank you all for your words, encouragement, advice and stories of what you have gone through. It is tremendous to me how kind you are. Thank you for taking some time out of your day and trying to help! We so appreciate it. Mai Mai means the entire world to us and every word, suggestion, or story we take into account and thank you so much for being such a loving wonderful community. With lock down and a sick pup we feel quite overwhelmed, so thank you!

Unfortunately for us Maia has never done well with chicken, she loves it and eats it but it gives her diarrhea and seems to mess up her over all health. We did blood work again and her liver enzymes decreased by 30% which is great! Her actual health though is not so good so that is bad. We can get her to eat which is good, but the food control is not great salmon, ham(boiled a few times to remove the salt), breaded cauliflower, Mac and cheese. Whatever we can get her to eat. It’s crazy! We have her booked with a chiropractor to check her nerve function and we are ready to get prednisone going if it is ibd. We are working closely with our vet daily, she currently is on metronidazole and amoxicillin and gabapentin. Thursday I thought we were going to lose her and she has rallied. I hate optimism as I don’t do well with a broken heart but I am hoping for the best right now. She is on 2 billion probiotic per day as well. Every bite of food I can get into her I think, ok 1 more day at least. If I have to spend all day hand feeding her, I will. She is finally sleeping and twitching a little less! She is going up and down stairs ok, not great but ok and she is no longer falling over. We are far from out of the woods but I have seen some small improvements. Thank you all for your words, encouragement, advice and stories of what you have gone through. It is tremendous to me how kind you are. Thank you for taking some time out of your day and trying to help! We so appreciate it. Mai Mai means the entire world to us and every word, suggestion, or story we take into account and thank you so much for being such a loving wonderful community. With lock down and a sick pup we feel quite overwhelmed, so thank you!

I am so sorry to hear about your b! We went through the same thing years ago with our 7 year old boy. I was hoping someone would have some new treatment that would give us a miracle. It’s torture to know they need help and there isn’t anything you can do. We are never ready to say goodbye, when Whiskey passed I would have given anything for a few more years, I got that with Maia buts it’s never enough! I will check out your post, maybe there is something in there that can help. Thank you for reaching out, we appreciate it!

How did you get her to recover? Maia is weak and has lost a lot of muscle mass very quickly. I am getting her to eat small amounts but I just see her continuing to decline.

Back in the day our first B of hers she was shipped. She was $1200 us plus around $350 CD to ship plus customs around $130. The last 2 I flew in to pick up. I paid $1400 us for our Tika puppy, $600 CD to fly there but no customs. They never asked. I just had to show a vaccination record. Good luck! I hope she has one available. She has lovely dogs!

She wasn’t treated with prednisone. My first 2 b’s had protein losing enteropathy. That’s what they died of at 6 and 7. They were from a terrible breeder here in Canada. This dog Maitai has been super healthy until this past March. She got into some tomato fertilizer and then had her colitis attack. Now her poops are perfect but she is just getting thinner and she won’t eat. She is acting hungry but puts her nose up at everything I give her. Yet she will drink my tea as soon as my back is turned. She is glued to me all day! I’m feeling a bit defeated. This happened last time and there was nothing that worked even though we tried everything! We spent $35,000 at the vet on those 2 pups but nothing helped.

I have an 11 year old girl that I have posted about before. In March she had a colitis attack that we got under control. Then a few months ago she started losing weight and lost her interest in food. Since the colitis she has been eating a homemade dog food. We did a full blood panel and urinalysis. She came back with slightly higher reticulocytes and slightly higher platelets. The vet wants me to give her homeopathic liver pills but if I do she looks nauseous and she won’t eat. Now we are giving her appetite stimulants but she will only eat sometimes. We are starting to get really worried. We went through this years ago with another basenji and we lost him at 7 years old. It was horrible watching him fade away. She’s pretty lumpy and bumpy in her older age and she has a fatty tissue mass on her tummy. Any help will be appreciated! Right now she will sometimes eat gluten free spaghetti noodles, pork tenderloin, a scrambled egg, cottage cheese, shrimp, turkey, fish, gravy. What she will eat for one meal she will not eat for a second meal. The carbs are less likely and I can’t get her to eat any veggies. If I add any additives it’s a no go, she is on probiotics daily. Thanks for any advice!

I’m in Calgary and we always get our dogs from Rita Webb near Seattle. I have to fly there to get them but it is worth it. She has puppies right now. You can check her out on Facebook. Good luck!

I have had a similar issue with 2 female basenjis. It was awful as they actually got into a terrible fight and I had little to no hope of them getting along. The older spayed female tried to kill the younger puppy who came into her first heat. We kept the dogs muzzled, crated, swapped from room to room and this worked in the short term. We waited until the heat was long done and then tried to reintroduce them but no go. Finally we got the younger one spayed, waited 2 months for all the hormones to settle, keep in mind the older one was already spayed, ta da! They are now fine. Basenjis are growls as they get older, especially females, when being woken, surprised or over a high reward item but it usually is nothing. Also, my basenjis have always run at other dogs by a fence or go crazy at the window over a cat or squirrel. They have an intense prey drive or hunting instinct. I have had 6 basenjis and I have never been able to break it, the girls are always more into the hunting or chasing then my males. A baby gate keeping the dog away from the door might help. I understand your upset as I went through this myself. It took us 8 months to get everyone settled back to normal with lots of positive training.good luck!

Basenjis are typically born in December and puppies are usually ready to go to their new homes in February or March. It’s pretty rare for a mid season heat and a mid season litter. Your best bet will be an older puppy and those can be hard to find since basenjis are rare to find nearby at the best of times. Good luck!

My breeder is in Seattle, her name is Rita Webb and I have had 4 of her dogs. I can’t say enough about how happy I am with them. Her kennel is No Ka Oi basenjis and she can be found on Facebook if you would like to see her dogs, litters and contact her. Good luck! It can be really tough to find a good breeder!