The Basenjis of Australia and New Zealand Facebook page is quite active and run by the breeder of my basenji. I'm fairly confident she'd be happy for you to post a link there.

I'm also happy to fill it out if you wanted to shoot me the link directly (although Hugo has never made a single sound outside his yawns).

It gets so much easier. I was convinced I'd ruined both my life and Hugo's (also a tri, also my first dog) for the first two months. I also live alone and if not for the support of family and friends living nearby I doubt I'd have got through it.

But we've now been together a little over six months and while I still have little issues here and there he's fit into my lifestyle amazingly well. I'd suggest taking every opportunity you can to teach Zola. Enroll in every class you can, but also make every interaction a learning opportunity. Ask her to follow a few commands before feeding, teach her how to get on and off the furniture she's allowed on, get her into morning and bedtime routines.

I also found that Hugo became a lot easier to live with when I stopped letting puppy hell shape my routine and just got back to ordinary life. Once you start living the way you intend to for the next fifteen years, your routine will become her routine and a source of comfort to her.

Hugo will now come in from his morning walk, have breakfast and about ten minutes before I normally start work will go to his bed next to my desk and sleep until he gets his afternoon treat.

Hang in there. It's hard at first but I've laughed more in the last six months than I did in the six dog-free years before Hugo.

Hi all,

My basenji Hugo is 8.5 months old and after the initial puppy nightmare passed has been pretty easy so far.

Recently though he's taken to absolutely obliterating his soft toys within seconds of being given them. My general approach has been to supervise and take them away once the destruction begins, but now it seems he's realised that the couch is soft too, and begun to attack that.

I'd like to nip this in the bud as quickly as I can. I have some bitter spray that I apply to any furniture he takes a shine to but it doesn't seem to last. Are there any other approaches I could take?

He gets two hourlong walks a day. Usually he'll come in from the first, we'll have a little training session and then he'll sleep until about 2 pm. At that stage I usually give him something meaty to chew or a feeding toy that will keep him occupied until walk number 2. I've read a lot about destructive behaviour arising from boredom, but his routine hasn't changed lately.

I work from home so he's semi-supervised throughout the day. Should I just be making sure he stays in the same room as me?

Thanks for your help!

Thank you all for your replies. And it's always good to hear different views.

Longer term I certainly don't intend to crate him when I'm home but I can see the value in (a) getting him comfortable in there for when I do need to crate him when I'm out and (b) using it to get myself a little breathing room while he's settling in, so training for a dog who's happy in his crate is definitely a priority even if I hope not to have to do it all that often.

Once he's had all his shots and is close to adult size, I intend to run with him in the mornings (I usually do about 10 km) and give him a hourlong evening walk which I hope will give him enough exercise and entertainment to keep him settled during the work day. That feels like it might be close to a year before he's up to that kind of exercise load though so it's great to have some strategies for his puppy phase.

Thank you! Hugo is my first dog and I'm a little overwhelmed. I've spent so much time with dogs over my life but never raised a puppy and I have to confess I was ignorant of how much work it is. It's nice to have found a friendly community here to help me get through it.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Rather than start a whole new topic for what I'm sure will be the second of many, many questions I have I was hoping I could ask you all here.

Hugo sleeps very well during the night, and often goes all the way through from 10 to 6 without needing a break. He also very calmly lets me know when he does need to go during the night which is great.

The trouble I have during the day is that like a human child he really doesn't seem to know when he needs rest. Often he'll come and ask for a cuddle and then go to sleep on my lap but I don't think I'm doing him any favours training him to need me to sleep.

When I think he's tired I often just put him in his crate and try to ignore him if he whinges, but he's had a few accidents in there. I have trouble distinguishing between general "I'd prefer to get out of this crate and be with you" which I don't want to reward, and genuine need to go out and toilet.

Does anyone have any tips to help him self regulate his sleep a bit better?

I'm mostly talking about how to help him not go stir crazy if he can't get out for a walk. I have undercover toilet options to use in a pinch.

It's just that the last few summers there have been stretches of days at a time with more or less unbroken rain. I'm not particularly minded to walk in the rain either but if it's day three without a walk I imagine Hugo's behaviour is going to slip.

Sounds like the solution is to introduce some wet weather walks during very light rain or in the wet after rainfall as a first step. Thanks!

Hi all.

I'm a recent new basenji owner. Hugo is coming up to 12 weeks old and going great. Still some issues with chewing and nipping but improving quickly.

We're about to enter a third, unseasonably wet summer here on the east coast of Australia and as I believe is common for basenjis, Hugo won't countenance a walk in the rain. Do folks have any suggestions for how to help him get some exercise when he won't go out?

Thanks!