I love my Basenji mix, but ohhh myyyy she has anxiety.. It comes with the breed. You combine that with their intelligence, proneness to getting bored, and if they're a chewer; you're gonna have a rough time being gone all the time..

Basenji's are not just a dog, or a pet, they are your pack. They have a pack mentality and like a pack you gotta stay together (as much as you realistically can). For me it's perfect because I love to just be at home, and have my B at my side...

Speak of the lil bugger, she's next to me right now as I type this. :)

There are so many breeds out there, do some research and find one that fits your lifestyle.. (My other resscue thats a rhodesian ridgeback/lab/shepard mix (I think) is hella chill, doesn't chew a thing, no anxiety, and doesn't mind when I'm out of the house.)

THANK YOU for taking the time to really consider a Basenji before making a decision, hope this helps, good luck!

@theoriginaldev , don't take what's been said personally. There is a big mix of basenji owners here, all with their opinions, advice, and experiences. If you've never owned a basenji, then you're in for a real treat. They are extremely unique which is one of the many reasons why the basenji community is so protective. There are so many people that buy or adopt them with no clue what they are getting in to. The fact that you're here asking questions says a lot, and I'm sure you and your pup will be just fine. I've been in this community for a little over a year since I rescued my B/mix; and I'll try and clarify their concerns.

In regards to breeders, the reason we ask is to prevent further spread of fanconi disease among basenji. There have been a few breeders out there that have had loads of unhealthy pups which puts the health of the breed in danger.

Reasons not to ship a pup by plane; If you've done your homework and found a reputable, and humane way to fly your pup that you trust to take care of you new family member, then by all means go for it. However, most get shipped like cargo with no AC, noise, and other hazards. My cousin lost her pup in the back of a plane, it was pretty gruesome as another item being shipped wasn't strapped properly and pinned it and it suffocated.

As for training, I think its a great idea to get/do training. However there is always the risk of your pup getting sick before being vaccinated.

And as for the age 8-12 months. If you've never owned a basenji then you'll pick up on their very unique personality pretty quick. They learn a lot of social cues from their mother and litter-mates in that 12 months. If they don't learn them, they need to learn them from you, and if you're not an experienced in training stubborn breeds you'll have a tough time.

Bottom line is, its not personal. This same advice is given out almost daily here. Mostly to people who have no clue what their doing or how to do it; they get in over their head and then we see a post about them wanted to get rid of the pup. I came here a little over a year ago with questions and got the whole talk too; really made me reconsider adopting, instead I just did more research, continued to talk to people here, and I'm happy to report I have a very healthy, happy, and well trained B/mix. All of us here really do wish you the best of luck! And please feel welcome to come back if you ever have questions OR ADVICE!, there really is a vast amount of knowledge here (If you can put up with the tone in which its provided) ;) .. GL!

Holy crap! looks so much like my Finely who we think is a basenji mix. How old is your baby?

My female B mix LOVES to bury herself in things... she crawls under, then curls into a ball... its the cutest darn thing.... Don't worry, this is really normal.
:]

Don’t take it personally I think it’s pretty normal for basenji to lock their focus onto something and then get tunnel vision; in the process forgetting about training, manners, or who they love. My basenji mix does this A LOT; I don’t train them in moment I don’t have class plate control simple because things happen so fast and I don’t want to support bad habits. My approach was training her in a controlled environment while avoiding those situations at all cost until I had basic commands trained). For example; when she see’s other dogs she wants to run over to them. So at first I trained her to follow my stay, sit, down, come, etc. commands; things you can do at home in a controlled environment. To introduce the training in uncontrolled environments I would randomly give her a command on her potty walks. Now when she see’s other dogs I command “sit”, “stay” and she listens. From there I started training her to approach slowly with me once I start moving; when she darts ahead we stop, she sits and stays. It can be a long daunting process; just be patient and don’t reinforce bad habits. The point of all this is to understand the stepping stone process of training. You want your dog to not be aggressive and not go for other dogs. Start with simple commands in a controlled environment; when you can command your dog at home, slowly start to introduce it outside a controlled environment. Once you’re Confident You have absolute control of them try introducing them to another dog but not letting them engage them with “sit” or “stay”. From there you can try introducing them. At the very least you might have more control over whether or not you engage in an encounter. The aggression however is a different story; idk if you socialized them when they were younger. It could be a territorial thing. My basenji guards our house like crazy, but step outside and she recognizes she’s no longer in a place she “needs” to protect. I hope this is helpful.

Note: I’m not a professional trainer, I have a degree in psychology and im a teacher; a dog is like a 2-4 year old. Every dog is different though, maybe I’ve just gotten lucky, but what I’ve been doing has been working for me; maybe it will for you.

So we just adopted a "Basenji Mix" from a local shelter this week; (last night was our first night together). We were worried (like all first parents) about the whole thing; but after the first half day/night together we couldn't be happier. She definitely has some Basenji traits, but I'm convinced she is mixed (maybe some pit and/or some lab).

But anyway! We named her Finley, she just turned 8months old, and hails from the Tampa Bay area!

Her temperament is fantastic, extremely gentle (even when playing); she has the Basenji ADD I've read tons about, but always regains focus when called. Her intelligence is insane, and its so exciting to watch her explore and "learn".

Ok so first cute story: She is extremely curious; after a few hours at our house I went up stairs to grab something (The stairs in our town-home are really steep); she tried to follow but only made it half way up before kinda freezing because of the height. I came back down and step by step we went down together. No more then 5 minutes later she started going up and down the stairs. She started with 3 steps up, then back down, then 5 up and 5 down, then half way, then all the way to the top. Once she reached the top, she went up and down the full length a few times before returning to me and my girlfriend for some love. Now she goes up and down them like a champ.

Here are some pictures if anyone has any idea what she might be mixed with based on looks, (or if she looks basenji at all). I'll be sharing more as we get to know her, thanks everyone!

When we first got her home

Finley loves to walk! She rarely pulls and constantly looks back to make sure we are still with her.

Finley loves her bed and new blankie.... along with the pants I picked her up from the shelter in. She is really insecure, so I guess she likes to be close to the smells? I'll give it a few days and slowly move em away.

Thanks for reading! Please share any advice or feedback!!

I adopted a Basenji mix at 8months old with this issue. Try and remember that they are like a child and can't always make the connection between what they are doing wrong and what you want them to do.

From a psychology stand point for my dog she was clearly raised away from her mother and litter-mates so the rough play thing was a huge issue. I did two things to work on it and I can't guarantee it'll work for you, but reading this might help your perspective on how you may need approach training a behavior. 1st) I worked on other things like the command "leave it" (when she would take a sock, i'd say a firm "leave it", and then take it and put it where she couldn't get it) I'd also add in a verbal "app!" right before "leave it" (the reason for this is i can apply "app" to any new or old command to get her attention that she is doing something wrong.). The idea is that when you pup hears "app" they should stop what their doing and pay attention, be it your arm if she is biting you. From there you make a new command "app" "no bite".. after awhile "no bite" become the command to not bite... To approach the squealing and the sympathy reaction exposing her to other dogs when age appropriate might help learn those social ques. This was one of the hardest thing my 8month old basenji mix had to learn having NEVER being exposed to another dog prior to her 1 week stay at a kill shelter before adoption when she was already 8 months old.

LASTLY and probably the most important thing is, IT TAKES TIME, and you're doing great! You didn't learn to read, walk, use a phone, or ride a bike in one day or afternoon. It takes days, weeks, and sometimes months of routine for it to stick, and even after they "get it" you have to continue to reinforce it. You'll make mistakes and sometimes a training method doesn't work so you have to change it up.

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask this forum anything, its a great bunch of people with A LOT of combined knowledge.

Thanks for all the great feedback! The more we get to know Finley the more we love her. The shelter we got her from was not a rescue for basenjis, It was the Hillsborough Count Pet Resource Center; basically a pound. They weighed her in at 37lb's on arrival at 7months of age. However they had her listed as shiba inu mix on her kennel, and then Basenji mix on her paperwork so the weight could be as off as that. Once she gets comfortable we will do a DNA test to determine her mix.

@Pawla Once she gets comfortable, We'd love to have a puppy playdate!
@Donc The tip of her tail curls upward when she is really happy (Which is almost all the time right now); But it does seem rather long and not bushy like other basenji
@pawla & @DebraDownSouth not sure if she would be directly from the incident (being only 8mo), but maybe a puppy from one that was?

Interesting bit, whenever someone new approaches me or my girlfriend she gets defensive; not aggressive but she definitely stands her ground between my girlfriend and myself, and the other person approaching; If we encourage her she will go sniff them out if they knee down and don't look her in the eyes. During that initial stand her ground reflex though all the hair on her neck, shoulders and spin stand up; my golden retriever growing up use to do the exact same thing.

OH!..and she can bark...she doesn't do it often, but she definitely "can" bark.

I would like to know when a good time to test for fanconi's though. Whats a good age/time to do that?

Thanks again everyone! I hope she is Basenji so I can continue to hang out at the "cool kids table"(this forum).. :]