My husband and I just laugh at people who say basenjis are dumber than labs. They are the ignorant ones who obviously don't know much at all about the breed. Corky is the smartest dog either of us have ever known let alone owned. He knows exactly how to get away with things and he knows how to charm us when he doesn't. What lab can do that?

Thanks everyone! I'm still trying to get a picture of them playing. Corky had him around the neck last night and he was so gentle about it that Mickey was able to squirm out and run off again so Corky could chace him.

AJ, yes, that is Corky on my avatar. Thank you very much! We think he's kinda cute too.

Thanks! I will try to get some pictures. They move pretty quick so it may take me a few days. hehe

Hello Everyone

It has been a while since I've been here. I hope some people remember me a little.

Anyway, we had a baby boy 2 years ago and our basenji is great with him.

What has really impressed us is the fact that we adopted a 7 month old kitten for our son a few weeks ago and I swear our basenji thinks Mickey was intended specifically and only for him. These two are constantly playing and having a total blast together. If we would have know that a kitten would have made Corky this happy we would have gotten one right away after our previous cat passed two years ago.

We really are very proud of Corky and how gentle he is with Mickey. We were so worried it wouldn't work out and the fact that it did makes our family even more complete than it was.

Lucky!
It's gorgeous!

Congrats!!!
I know you will find fostering one of the most rewarding things you have ever done.

@basi:

They do feel it but it doesn't last long.
IMO it is much kinder for them at 3 days to have them removed rather them tear them while an adult and have them removed and try to heal.

Amen to that!

Our dog Buddy who is an all American mutt kept ripping his nails off of his dew claws and the vet finally said 'let's just remove them'. Not only were all those incidents painful for him, having them removed was very hard on him. It was painful and after the bandages came off you could tell that he was a very sad that his toes were gone.

Corky on the other hand came from a pet shop who got him from a byb, still has his.

Before anyone slams me, we are reformed and have fostered puppies and made up for our pet shop buying mistakes.

It's very easy to teach a dog not to be a door runner. Take her to the door with treats, tell her to sit, open the door and when she gets up put her in the sit possition and then tell her good and give her a treat. Do this every day for about 5 or 10 minutes and she will eventually stop running the door. None of our dogs are door runners unless one of their favorite people is at the door.

We got Corky a Puppia Harness and although he does not heel, he does not pull anymore.

I'm so sorry that you and your dog are not getting along right now and that you got bit. Corky had an addiction to my shoes for a couple of months. He ate every pair of my favorite shoes. I was furious at one point. But, looking back I know that I do not miss any of those shoes half as much as I would Corky.

He has also growled at me on a couple of occations. I just picked him up by the scruff and put him in his crate. Then, I decided to teach him to submit peacefully so that I can have a 'talk' with him. I taught him to 'show me his belly' by repeatedly putting him on his back very gently saying "Show me your belly." and then giving him massive love when he did it. Now when he's bad he rolls over, gets a talking to and then he's on his way.

It's OK to be mad for a little bit and it may take a little while for you to get over your anger. But remember, it wasn't a personal attack against you. It's just was some basenjis do. Corky is never left home alone uncrated. We barely leave him on one floor of the house alone. One good thing about this is that he has pretty good recall for a basenji. I don't think he would EVER run away unless he was chasing something.

Good luck getting over this. I promise you will and your relationship will be back to the way it was.

PS: Doesn't it just get your goat when your basenji wags his tail when he/she is in trouble????