Posts made by Shaye's Mom

I think it was really cool that the basenji's were there - at the beginning of the dog story, so to speak.

Pay heed to everyone's suggestion to just make it impossible for your pup to get into your clothes - my 5 year old never stopped teaching me to take proper care of laundry, prior and post wash! Finally learned to keep everything totally inaccessible. Even visitors have been told right away to keep their clothes in drawers or hampers, and have paid the price of not believing me, resulting in me having to replace underwear, slacks, shorts, socks, etc.

Both my girls bite their nails - then ignore them until they are long again. The only ones needing care are the dew claws, which they ignore.

Amen to that! A bored basenji is very creative in its destructiveness, although the dog only thinks he's having fun.

I don't see basenji in your rescue - she is a very cute doggie, and there very well may be feist in her. A DNA test would tell you everything and it's a good investment; it would help you know her personality traits and identify her behavior as well.

That pictures says it all - "I know I look like a pile of rags but I don't care - it's COLD!" Yah, the boots would have been good too.

The "too heavy" basenji on the Eukenuba bag looks like my basenji/sheltie/collie mix - the body shape for sure! Incidentally, the Freshpet is wonderful food, I mix a small slice of the beef, bison, cranberry blueberry in with Gemma's Nutro Lite at each meal - she has a sensitive stomach and used to vomit quite a lot, but has not in months!

Love her outdoor clothes - tried to put booties on mine once - she tore those off faster than I could get them on - forget trying to walk in them, simply laid down and started chewing - off they came, one two three - before four was on!

I had a grown cat when I got Shaye as a puppy; she quickly learned to respect the claws and stayed away. When I got Gemma at 14 months, she'd never seen a cat, and definitely approached it as if it were prey, and got a very quick lesson in cat claws in the nose; she never did really stop trying to sneak up on the cat and do it harm, but the cat always turned quickly enough to nail Gemma. My cat died last year of old age and a stroke which disabled her, and although I love cats, I now have Gemma alone, and I would not dare introduce a new cat to this house so long as she is here. Basenjis, even the mixes, are hunters; cats and squirrels and the like are prey, hard to change their nature…........

Lovely dogs, all three of them - I'm beginning to think B's don't really care about Christmas trees one way or the other - Shaye usually liked the velvet tree skirt best, and slept on it.

Anne, I am so sorry to learn of Nicky's passing. She certainly was a special girl and so easy to love. I am sure she and Topper are frolicking like puppies again at the Bridge. Losing our furbabies is like losing a part of our heart, and I know you will keep her in yours forever.

Who cares what she is - she's gorgeous and you should get her. Have her DNA tested later if you really need to know…..I did that for my basenji/collie/sheltie mix, who is the nicest dog you ever want to meet, unless you are a kid, because she is afraid of them.

The type of food she is eating will go a long way toward clearing up the anal gland issue too. The ultimate goal is winding up with very firm poop, because when they do that, the glands secrete some of that nasty smelling stuff and it helps keep the glands clear. Otherwise, a visit to the vet to have the glands cleared is in order.

@krunzer:

Keep them separate in their own crates. The older one may not want to put up with puppy play in a big crate. When crated mine are always separate unless they are at the kennel, then they are in the same pen because Becca is not fond of the kennel.

PS, basenjis don't like being woken up much, and one dog annoying another who wants to stay asleep might result in a fracas in a confined space; never a good thing.

My girl does most of the above listed things except that she does neck grab other dogs, but when she once caught and killed a squirrel, she grabbed and shook it, killing it immediately. Thereafter she was not at all interested in the prey and walked off. Another dog, a labradoodle, went over to grab the squirrel and started playing all over the field with it till its owner got it away from him. Shaye had no interest at all in this exchange because she did what she set out to do - catch and kill.

I have two females; a PB basenji and a basenji/sheltie/collie mix. From the time we added the mixed girl when the PB was 7 months, they have been joined at the hip. I was warned two females would never work, but ours definitely love each other. They argue once in a while, but my PB is definitely top dog, while the mix, even though almost double the weight, easily accepts she is not the boss. They are both about 5 now, so if there's been no teeth involved to this point, I feel pretty safe. You never know - each dog is different.

In addition to all of the above posts, there are definitely basenjis who will not be crated. I have one. Went through all the correct procedures trying to crate Shaye as a new puppy. We got her a wire crate, the right size, put a soft piece of our clothing in it, put it next to our bed at first so we could touch her through the bars - she screamed all the time she was in there, did her business wih her butt against the side so it would go outside, peed all over the place and sat in it, even though we were very slow and careful with it. The eventual result was she broke nearly all her baby teeth biting the crate, never calmed down in it, would not go in to eat, get treats or anything else. Her personality has never changed; she still backs off if she even sees crates other dogs are sleeping in. She is now nearly five, and she does not act like that when she needs to be kenneled at a daycare place, she seems to know it's different there, although if possible she will try to climb her way out at first. When she cannot, she will calm down and rest for the hour they put her in there during the day. Be patient, but if it just never works, so be it. Once Shaye got a little older and we got her a companion, she has been totally trustworthy while we are gone.

Very pretty. Quite normal taking over the cat tree too. PS I adore your cats!!!

With a basenji it doesn't necessarily need to be separation anxiety. They do this stuff out of boredom too. Taking him for a long walk or doing something else to tire him out could help a lot…....a tired basenji is a good basenji. On saying that, our little one didn't get better about all this chewing, tearing, etc. until we got her a companion when she was 9 months old. Worked like a charm to have another dog in the house.

Congratulations, the announcement is so "on point." Better get ready to find a way to hide those diapers!