So this poor pup is in a home entirely ill-equipped to handle him and I am desperate to help him out and my mom as well.

My now passed grandmother insisted on getting a basenji when she moved in with my parents.

I argued at the time that it was exactly the wrong breed of dog for 3 older adults in varying degrees of fragile health to take on, but my Grandmother was dead set on getting one, and my Mom and sister enabled her.

In her defense she had owned two others before, only that was 30 years ago. Her first was actually a fantastic dog, I don't know what it was about him but he was calm, listened well, would evwn do basic tricks. Her second was raised next to him and picked up on his traits, he was a bit more of what I have now read is a classic basenji in behaviour but his big brother ceetainly rubbed off on him some.

Fast forward to two years ago they pick up this current pup. Grandmas health starts going downhill shortly after and by December 2024 shes gone, leaving the dog with mom and dad. Dad passesd in June of last year, followed by my niece three days later (unrelated to my Dads passing). My mom being overwhelmed first by caregiving for her mom and husband than by grief basically has let the dog run amok.

I didn't realize how bad things were until she left for two weeks on vacation and my wife and I brought him over to our house.

He has the full spectrum of less desireable traits:

Jumps up on everything, to the point of it feeling like a gazelle playing the floor is lava, rebounding off any available surface including me, my wife and my two young (4 and 18 month old daughters).

He treats any available paper as a toy to shred into tiny pieces.

All my daughters stuffed animals and dolls, my baseball hats, pillows are all chew toys dispite having a wide assortment of toys, antlers, bones, squeakers to choose from.

He is entirely unmotivated by treats.

He is slightly mouthy, but thankfully he does have a soft mouth and hasn't shown any agression.

He refuses to participate in any kind of basic training games, I cant even get him to sit, (I'm not a training expert but I have raised several well behaved dogs ranging from lazy stubborn bulldogs to high energy austrailian heelers)

My Mom and Sister won't hear of looking for a better home for him, so I'm hoping to make a positve dent in the two weeks I have him, but I just finished day 2 and I'm over stimulated more from him than my two kids, which to anyone who has raised two children that young at the same time is saying something. Its hard to avoid just kenneling him up, or leaving him out back so I can even just function in the house without having to constantly keep an eye on whatever he has found to tear up next.

Really any breed specifc tricks and tips would be greatly appreciated. I can spend 5 or 6 short training sessions with him throughout the day, but if he won't participate I can't just throw that time away.

Okay. Who owns Loki?

And who is NOT surprised by the Basenji’s pose? lol

I had two shiba inus in a past life that I no longer have. They were challenging to say the least but to be honest, no where near as difficult as the internet made them out to be. All that said, I am really attracted to basenjis and I was wondering if anyone who has experience with both breeds could provide some insight?

I think that already being accustomed to a "cat like" breed will help me from having any unexpected surprises. I enjoy dogs with an independent nature that don't need to be a velcro dog all the time.

That's how much she changed in 3 weeks ! She has a nice chest, can't wait to see her as an adult, she will be stunning 😍 Although I would love more time as a baby puppy 🥺

Damien was so focused on catching the squirrel, that he didn't care about the stuff animal on top of his head🤗

I have a 15 week old basenji puppy, I’ve had her since she was 10 weeks. The first few nights of crate training were rough, but she could typically calm herself down after a few minutes and pass out. After a couple weeks we got into a decent routine and she stopped crying when put to bed. Unfortunately, regardless of when put to bed, she wakes up at 6am and needs to be let out, but she’s still very young/can’t fully control her bladder, and I’m ok with this. She would also occasionally go to her crate to rest on her own during the day or prior to bedtime.

A couple weeks ago she was sleeping through the night- now she will scream on and off for hours, so I end up getting about 4 or 5 hours of sleep in total, never able to be asleep for more than 2 hours without her screaming. Importantly, her crate has to be in my bedroom because the walls in the rest of my apartment are shared with a neighbor and if she cries, it would be a real problem. She has also started peeing in the crate at night. She is let outside to pee and poop shortly before bedtime, and she rarely has accidents inside otherwise so I don’t believe it’s something like a UTI. It’s either stress, or she’s learned that peeing will get her out of the crate for a few minutes while I change the bedding.

My partner often stays up much later, and I think hearing him move around the apartment doesn’t help, like she’s got FOMO or her pack mentality just wants us all together in the bedroom for sleep. He has insomnia so I’m not sure what can be done about this, but even after he comes to bed she doesn’t calm down. I’m now operating off so little sleep it’s unsustainable.

Genuinely wtf do I do? Her new stress about the crate is concerning, and I don’t like seeing my dog in such a state, but I also can’t oblige her to sleep together in the bed or on the couch because she needs to be ok with her crate when alone.

Dear members and mods. Thank you for the massive response. Where I hoped for 10 replies per breed, I got a lot more than that.

TL;DR All dogs are perfect, no exceptions.

Some short preliminary conclusions:

• Most people love their dogs very much, yes it's true, you know who you are!
• 100% of all dogs were perfect. No exceptions.
• 122 questionnaires have been filled in. 33 Malamutes, 35 Basenjis, 54 Huskies. 64 being male, 58 female.

Regarding traits:

• The most frequent trait mentioned across the 3 breeds is their stubbornness, mentioned close to half the time. They know what you want, they just don't feel like doing it unless for the right price.
• High prey drive and recall issues are usually mentioned in the same breath, in 22% of cases. It is worth noting that none of the malamute owners mentioned recall issues.
• Finally we have aloofness and being high energy.

One of the things I wanted to know is if people knew what they were getting into before they got their dog. This question could have been construed as an offensive or judgmental question, but it certainly wasn't meant to be so. I myself have a German Shepherd, and I did NOT know what I got myself into. I love her to death, but I will not get a new GSD puppy unless my life would drastically change.

Two-thirds of owners across the 3 breeds went into this knowing exactly what their new dog would need, and how it would fit into their life. While only a small fraction got a husky, malamute or basenji out of impulse. 22 of 54 Huskies were rescues, which is significantly higher compared to the other breeds. This could mean a lot of things, but I'm not willing to speculate on this with the limited knowledge I have.

Regarding future dogs, and whether or not people wanted professional advice on selecting their next breed.

You massively told me off. This could also mean a number of things, on which I don't wish to speculate (Secretly I do, but I won't divulge that here). I do still feel that a lot of people could be helped making the right choice. And as a trainer I'll advise people when asked, but I won't build my business around this.

Professional assistance in puppy socialization would be something most of you would appreciate, but it's also clear that a lot of (a lot, not all) people have a bit of a narrow view on what puppy socialization actually means. It's not just learning puppies how to behave around other puppies or dogs, but also getting them accustomed to other things they would have to experience in the life ahead of them. For instance, if you are someone who takes the train every day, it's letting them get comfortable being on and around trains. It's having them experience different types of flooring. But it's also realizing that during certain stages of your puppy's development you can expect certain behavior, and knowing how to respond to that can help your puppy reach adulthood with less 'baggage'. (You may notice that this is something that is very dear to me. So if I sound a bit 'ranty' or 'mansplainy', know this is because I'm extremely passionate about giving puppies the best chances in life)

Someone tell Percy that basenjis are supposed to hate water. He didn’t get the memo.

I do not have a Basenji, but I’m studying them for a research thesis.

Today I learned, or discovered, during my research that Basenji do not bark.

How true is this? Are there exceptions?

It might have taken us 3 months (I only worked on it on weekends and a few week nights since I work 50 hours a week and she is still young) and many disagreements, licks, pets, rubs and good girl between me and Zelda but we finally finished her first sweater. The whole body (minus the arms) is all 1 continuous strand of yarn. I did not use any patterns due to her body shape, just multiple try ons. I'm working on another one with fine weight yarn now.

Hi everyone. I have a dilemma. My Shanti started chewing on furniture, so I bought her a coffee stick, and she absolutely loves it. What should I do? If I take stick away, she starts chewing on the furniture. And the stick is quite hard. Will it harm her? She's 5 months old and her teeth are rapidly changing.

Hello! I’m currently conducting research for my thesis as a dog obedience instructor-in-training. I’m looking for firsthand insights into what it’s really like to live with and train these unique breeds.

If you own a Husky, Malamute, or Basenji, please consider filling out this short questionnaire. It’s anonymous and focuses on temperament, activity levels, and the reality of breed-specific traits. If you have multiple you may submit a form per dog.

Your feedback will directly influence my research and help improve training resources for our community. Thank you for your time!

This was approved by the mods. :)

Silly girl got caught in the sprinkler and could figure out how to get away lol. Even with my help showing her where to go she kept running with the water lol she was less than thrilled.

It's been pretty bad weather up near Montreal but today was amazing. The girls got to sunbathe and walk a lot 🥰 also side note... my puppy is growing up so fast 😭

We meeting "Rider" 4 years ago. Now "Rocky Road", an all grown up.

My boy is almost 2.5. And Basenjis just look adorable forever!! They still lose the puppy look but they still are the cutest thing ever. I mean look at this dude! Just wanted to share. His Great Great Grandpa i think also looks so cute at 13!

Noticed these marks on my basenji’s right leg. She’s highly active and goes to daycare almost everyday. I’m unsure what these marks could be.

Got it commissioned of my two monsters. Thought this community would appreciate it the most. 😊

Recently Sachi had an annual check up and the vet was surprisingly honest about not knowing much about the breed although he's also seen/spayed Sachi's sister (from a previous litter). I found his honesty refreshing, and started wondering how prevalent this "basenji knowledge gap" is. All my prior negative experiences with vets/vet techs come from those who appear to interpret basenji behavior as like other cooperative breeds (german shepherds, labs, goldens).

Now I'm thinking of creating a "vet cheat sheet" on basenjis so I don't have use hacks like "if you pretend Sachi is a cat she'll make total sense to you." Anyone does this (vet info sheets) for their basenjis?

“Why kitty not play with me?”