A Bark? Say It Isn’t So…
Basenjis are known as the “Barkless Dog”, and it’s true, for the most part. They don’t bark. In fact, my dogs are silent most of the time.
I get a lot of questions about this “no barking” thing. Are they mute? No…they can growl, whine, and make a sound unique to the breed called a “baroo”. Baroos are reserved for really happy, excited situations.
One person even asked me this question, “When they want to bark do they do this?” (She proceeded to open and close her mouth in an impersonation of a fish.) No. They don’t do that. That wouldn’t be dignified.
So, what does a Basenji sound like?
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I’ve captured two sounds, thanks to Lou and Abe in this little movie.
Lou is barooing, but gagging at the end of it. (He is fine. I don’t know why he does this.) Abe lets loose one solitary “arf”. He has broken Basenji Law. |
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Some weekend knitting…
Knitting two sleeves at a time is a great idea, unless you are totally SCREWING IT UP. Memo to myself: I am unable to watch Parole Board on the Biography Channel and follow a knitting pattern. Rrrrrrrrrrriiiiip. At least I caught it early. |
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Here’s something interesting…Basenjis are considered the second least-intelligent dog breed, based on ability (willingness!) to obey commands.
In my opinion, the smarter dog doesn’t always obey. The smarter dog thinks for himself, wouldn’t you agree? Basenjis are so freakin’ smart. The fact that they are on this list is just funny. |
September 24th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I cannot stop laughing at that gagging sound Lou makes at the end! It’s so goofy!
September 24th, 2007 at 9:09 am
hahaha too cute! do your boys do what we call the “grodel”- the low growl/semi yodel all rolled into one? mine do it when they are excited but don’t feel you warrent a full yodel. you should put that up on you-tube, there are a bunch of great baroo/yodel videos on there.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:13 am
oops i’m still asleep- it’s obvioulsy already on there
September 24th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Love the video!
Also really enjoyed the picture last week of all the red dogs on the couch. They are so cute!
September 24th, 2007 at 11:00 am
My Basenji TinkerBelle had a vocabulary of over 70 words, and could identify 20 different toys by name. They are VERY smart… they are just not always “obedient” in the dog sense. The books do say that they don’t bark.. but they can, when under stress, make a sound like a hyena that can be heard for miles. Especially late at night, when the police come to your door asking who’s being killed. Basenjis are wonderful, affectionate, exasperatingly smart (smarter than ME), can be difficult but rewarding to train and utterly adorable. On the down side, they don’t like being alone and can turn pretty destructive when unhappy or bored. For an attentive, companionable caretaker, an excellent pet. For an absentee “pet owner” not so much.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Oh yes, that was definitely a bark from Abe. Both of them are too cute and I agree about smarter dogs being less obedient and therefore thinking for themselves. Also dogs with a bit of an attitude tend to do what they want, when they want and sometimes they just don’t want to act or look smart–I have one dog with a LOT of attitude. The other is just smart and more “willing” shall we say.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:06 am
My dogs are quiet for the most part as well, except for when the phone rings and they are in a different room. Oh dear, it’s so traumatic for them!
September 24th, 2007 at 11:31 am
so adorable, as usual! We have decided it is time to get a dog. We already have two cats, and it’s being quite a struggle to decide what breed to go with. What is your experience with Basenji’s and cats? We would be getting a puppy, so that the cats have a little bit of the upper hand at first, after all, they have been around longer. Any opinions?
September 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Hm, I’ve never quite heard a canine song such as that. Very interesting. They are too cute!
September 24th, 2007 at 11:53 am
The smartest dog I ever had (Australian shepherd mix)could problem-solve out the wazoo but only learned a few commands. Obedience and intelligence will overlap at times but one does not go hand-in-paw with the other….Loved the video.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
That is one of the strangest doggie noises that I have ever heard! I love that Abe barked in response to it with a look of confusion and concern. Too funny!
September 24th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I almost don’t want to tell you how many times I watched the video.
My favorite part was at the end and your surprised, “What? Did you just bark?!” at Abe!
Lou and his baroo/gag is pretty funny though.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Oh Abe is so busted. That was a total bark! He’s been hiding his barking talents all this time. They probably all bark up a storm whenever you leave the house. “Yay, Mom’s gone we can BARK!”
September 24th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I watched it 4 times too. Never heard a Basenji bark before. Too cute!
Staci, it was really nice to hear your voice too. A voice & a face of a knitter far far away.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
That gag at the end of Louie’s baroo sounds like a human in the back ground making fun of him. Does he do that everytime?
Abe sneaking in a bark much to your surprise was hysterically funny! Perfect ending to the video.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Great video! Kona’s baroo is very similar to Lou’s but he adds a trumpet at the end and he does it almost every time you reach for the dog food. Jubilee on the other hand who is a small dainty pretty girl sounds like a chainsaw when she baroo’s. She doesn’t do it often but one of these days I’ll catch her.
On the smart/dumb dog topic I agree intelligence and obedience are not the same thing. Jubilee spent 6 months having private obedience lessons and would never even sit reliably on command. The trainer had some Basenji experience and suggested we do an intelligence test. They hide a treat through a series of obstacles and time how the long the dog takes to retrieve it. A smart dog was supposed to take around 2 minutes. Jubilee had the treat in 30 seconds. We decided sitting on command was over rated.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Ha! Love the video! I agree, maybe they just exercise their free will more often than other dogs : ) For example, Abe may have “barked” because he thought you were showing red-dog favoritism — “Yo! I’m cute, too! Film me!” he was saying.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Uhhh yeah…WILLINGNESS is the key term in that statement!! Our girls are a pain in the butt most of the time…BUT will do ANYTHING for candy corn!!!
Bella barks too…but just like Abe did….a little “woof” and that is it. She only does it when we are opening her crate.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Okay, I have to admit that I’ve watched that video about 10 times, and it still makes me laugh. Louie’s gagging sounds just like a human! And I love how you question the other dog about barking! HILARIOUS! Going back to watch it again. lol
September 24th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
re baroos: i love my basenji’s baroo (and occasional barkaroos).
re dog intelligence: humans are stupid.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I never realized how smart the Westie we had when I was growing up was until we got June. She’s very sweet and adorable, but she’s not the brightest doggie in the park. Our Westie knew the names of all his toys (we’d say, “Go get your ______,” and he’d choose the right toy from the pile), was an expert at figuring out how to get through/past the various gates we tried… He showed his intelligence by saying no sometimes too. If something didn’t fit into his plan, he figured a way around it. My mom used to say he was too smart for his own good. June, well, I think if we hung a blanket in the doorway she wouldn’t be able to get to the other side.
Your dogs always look like they’re thinking about something in pictures, like there’s something going on in there.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:03 am
A-ha-haaaa! That video is hilarious. I really wasn’t expecting Lou’s gag to sound so human-like! Weird! And I agree with some of the other VeryPink peeps, my favorite part is when you’re all, “What? Did you just bark?” I TOTALLY talk to my pets like that, too! In fact, I just got done telling my cats they’d better be grateful for having a nice home because there’s a poor kitty outside who would LOVE to come in. They just sulked. (I keep feeding this gray and white cat who sleeps on my building’s doorstep. I can’t help it! S/He looks sad! If this goes on much longer, I may ask around to see if someone owns him/her.)
Ha, I love that you say Abe “has broken Basenji law.” It sounds so strict–like the Taliban! “He has broken Basenji law. All Basenjis shall now shun him until he has atoned.” LOL!
September 25th, 2007 at 5:56 am
That was great! I had to watch it more than once. Kinda wish my “non barking, non jumping” dog had lived up to her title!
September 25th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Staci, the only time I miss having sound is when you put up a file like this. Guess I’ll have to break down and spend $10 on speakers.
(Of course I know the basenji “boof!”, and Ruby sometimes makes a gagging sound at the end of her crows, so I can imagine Lou’s and Abe’s sounds.)
Marlene, take a look at my webpage for pictures of Ruby and his cat buddy Larry. They were the best of friends for 9 years; we brought Ruby in as a puppy when Larry was about 7. Jennifer Liang, above, has a cat (Chukka Pukka?) with her basenji and a sheltie, I think. It can be done.
Staci, be sure to post this sweater when you’re done. Is the lacy part the cuff? You make it all look so easy!
September 25th, 2007 at 10:01 am
“baroorooroo-glagah…” “arf.”
translation: “ooh mom’s got the camera again, glagah.” “dude, seriously? you just gagged on camera. you know she’s putting this on the net now. sheesh.”
i wish cody was half intelligent and/or obedient as the boys are. *sigh* rocks occupy my dogs head. and i think the rocks are smarter than cody sometimes.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Man, what a crappy definition of “intelligence” on that site. And I love, love, love the barooing.
September 27th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for including the video, that’s so sweet! A lady that used to board my dogs was a Basenji breeder - she always said they ‘yodeled’. I wouldn’t say they were ‘less intelligent’. I agree - they are very smart pooches - I’d definitely name many others as lesser intelligent.
I too, loved your surpise at the end.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
when i was in grade school, we had a lab that made that same noise, minus the gag at the end. it’s funny to hear a different breed do it. but maybe our dog didn’t know she wasn’t a basenji! she was slightly confused most of the time.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Well, it seems to me that if an animal is smart enough to figure out how to get what he wants, that’s intelligent enough.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Oops, I pressed send prematurely. The video was great. I tried to imagine what the basenji might sound like, but now I know.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
HI I had a friend who had Basenjis and they are extremely SMART !!!!!!!!!!!! Lily “ate” everything she could get her little teeth into when Paula went to work and left her home alone. It was a tearful time when she had to be “put to sleep”. I was rather attached to her. My ex stepdd was knitting her a sweater.
hugs and give the dogs a hug from me,
susanmark
October 30th, 2007 at 2:53 am
hello…
exellent…
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
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