im waiting for a lab bitch to come into season, her last season was in august, how long is it roughly between seasons??

Depends of the bitch how long was it between her 3 or 4 seasons - most, not all, bitches follow much the same timing with the odd suprise early or late one, usualy when you are wanting to go on holiday.

Sorry meant to say it is likely to be between 5 months and 10 months unless she is a Basenji which she isn't.

At the extremes, between every 3 months (a GSD I know) and every 15 months (A BC I know)! It's usually somewhere between 6 and 10 months.

Regards, John

Are Basenji's different?

Hi Chaliepud.
As the canine genome is slowly unravelled it has become a proven fact that all domestic dogs, no matter what breed or where the breed was formed, decend from the same original dog. There is a common gene in all dogs which could not be there any other way! So the answer to your question is no, Basenji’s are no different to any other breed.

Breeds have been influenced over the years by selective breeding which is what gives each and every breed its individuality. Also, hereditary problems, caused by a mutated gene or series of genes can be particular to a breed.

Regards, John

hi you said her last season was in august how many seasons has she had in total

Basenjis only have one season a year

They may have been the same originaly John but they only have one season a year and although they make a horrid noise, sometimes very loud, they don't bark either, so IMO yes, they are different. May be it is the rest who have changed and the Basenji has remained nearer the original dog.

It is the rest who would have changed Jackie. Animals in the wild have their season at a time that the babies would arrive at a suitable time of plenty from point of view of feeding and looking after the young, most arriving in late spring to early season. This would have been determined by the servival of the fittest, the best equiped to servive. It's generally accepted that the shorter season interval is the effect of the domesticated environment they now find themselves in. Why the Basenji would be any different I don't know but the fact remains that they do originate from the same dog.

Regards, John

i dont think that jackie is bringing that into dispute she is just saying that they are indeed different... my first ever breed of dog was a rough collie bitch she only came into season once every twelve months ...i had every test under the sun done ... it turned out that there was nothing at all wrong with her she was just different. sometimes things are just indeed different to others and time has a way of changing everything in its path.

Can only assume that the harsh conditions of Africa meant that the Basenjis optimum time for breeding was kept to the minimum time. There seems to be quite a bit about Basenjis which still keep them different from most breeds. I do know that although they are quite small and look very inoffensive, they are not for the novice owner, and are quite difficult to handle.

It is something that has always interested me, the Basenji is an ancient dog but my own breed is even older, yet in most things mine conforms to the norm for the domesticated dog. True the Basenji has probable descended from the same sort of ancestry as many if not all the other African dogs, domesticated or wild where as mine is a artic dog and one would assume that my breed was descended from the artic wolf type dog. When one starts to look into this it is surprising how the outward appearance of a dog gives little clue to the background of the dogs origin. When the genetic make up of a particular breed is looked at it is sometimes surprising to find it is not as one may think a close relative to the breed it most resembles but to something that 'looks' very different. The make up and back ground of our modern dogs is a huge subject and it is surprising how quickly the story is now being unravelled. Like all evolution the physical build up of an organism is suited to the environment in which it finds it's self, it is us who have moved the dog and many other organisms about the world and caused so much confusion to those who until the ability to read DNA was based on theory and the belief of those doing the research.

I'm not sure if the same thing aplies to the African Running dog but I'll ask the question and let you know. My guess is that they might hold some commom ancesters.

As to Basenji's, yes, they can be a handful. I remember watching a friend of mine, sadly no longer around, judging them at Crufts in the mid 70's, I remember her trying to go over one but the dog was having none of it. She went over the next dog then had another attempt at the first dog but again no joy. After finishing going over the class she went back to the first dog and this time it bit her! Needless to say it did not get placed!!!

Best wishes, John

Good reading! I'll just toss in that my Golden only comes into season once a year. She didn't even have her first heat until she was about 16 months old. This was her shortest span between seasons, and it was about 10 months. Usually she goes about 12-14. She also has very long seasons and bleeds the whole way through (even when in standing heat she was bleeding heavily). I think they are like people....they are all different :)

Tibetan Mastiff as a rule also only have one season a year this is between the end of october and early January, this is thought to be to tye in with the movement of the nomad tribes and traders, as there are only certain times that they rest in one place, if the pup's were born at any other time they would be left on the trail and could not be raised

Would expect there are other breeds where the marjority of bitches only have one season a year but think the Golden is just one bitch showing that in nature nothing is certain, as far as I know it is not a breed trait in the Goldie.