Behavioral Issues

Hi Dawn, my names Colleen and i'm from Melbourne! I'm really interested to hear peoples thoughts on this as my 6 almost 7 month old male basenji who isnt desex as yet is displaying quite a lot of seemingly random aggression toward my other dog who he lives with. Food is the main trigger, but more and more i think it's his testosterone really kicking in, i think hes trying to test out my other dog too see how much he can get away with and how much he can boss him around. Its making life a bit edgy for myself and my dog who cops the outbursts! I'm a vet nurse and it is well know that desexing a male will definitely drop hormone levels significantly and therefore any hormonal aggression along with it. It usually calms them and dog/territorial related aggression can be helped by neutering. I think that if you really want to keep Cougar the best way to go is to desex him. If it becomes unbearable, then its not going to harm anyone by getting him desexed. And to be honest i think the breeder should think twice about breeding from a basenji who has bitten people… but basenjis will be basenjis. No doubt desexing will help, but no doubt the aggression wont be 'cured'... i think then you need to do your bit by training him in conjunction. Best of luck, sounds like we both need it!

I can wear Oakley out physically but if I don't work his mind he will still chase his tail! Definitely a point that mental stimulation is very important , and the exercise you do to stimulate the mid will help build trust as well so that's just a bonus!

Regardless if it is body language, visual cue or a verbal cue, what is important is the clarity of the message you are trying to communicate to the dog. Clay visit BCOA on Facebook. http://facebook.com/basenji.org

i do not crate him. just have the pee pads where he likes to pee. he always has hated being crated and at 16, i'm not going to. I do have 1/2 the hall way blocked off, so he has the den, the kitchen and 1/2 the hall when we're out. Of course we're also looking to scrap this house and build sometime in the near future, so i don't really care too much about the carpets here. if i did, i think i'd try an xpen or limit his area even more. and i don't have 2 legged kids.

A way to do what Debra is suggesting in a game format is Crate Games, which you can get on DVD. You said this happens when you are getting ready to leave. Pay attention to exactly what you are doing before you leave and then see how your dog is reacting. You should be able to pick up on the cues that your dog is picking up on. You can try changing the pattern of how you get ready and potentially remove the cue to lessen the behavior until you can build the good associations others described. visit BCOA on Facebook. http://facebook.com/basenji.org

My Basenji Kobi gets along with all dogs she has met except one particular one in our sub. For some reason they just dont like each other, and he is just as growly with her as she is with him. Now I took her to my brothers house and she met his dog for the first time, a huge boxer pitbull mix. And they were a little snarky with each other at first, but the minute they got off the leash and were running around the yard they had a blast. But in the house his dog was very domineering and they got into it a little. But we watched them and they seemed to work it out. His dog was definitely the dominant one in the house, but my little girl ran circles around her outside. She was definitely the leader outside. His poor girl could not keep up with her. lol.

Thank you all for the responses. We haven't had any more incidents of late and have been working hard on the recall command. I have been combining the whistle and verbal command which is working well. Other members of my family are not really involved in the training process so hopefully my smarty-pants will contiue to respond to the whistle even in the absence of my voice. They are continuing to do well when on the trail with me and my horses. We had our first snow which they enjoyed too. I do keep my eyes on them for sure.

I agree. It upsets me to see people walking with Flexis and their dog attacks some other dog because they're not paying attention, or don't know how to work the trigger mechanism properly. I've come to think that maybe people in cities just shouldn't use them because errors will inevitably occur…humans will be humans. I live in the country though, and there's no one around where I walk my dog. The long Flexi is the best choice for me because I like to let my dog explore some on her own when we're on walks, and she can run here and there while still not being able to take off. Not every situation is the same for everyone. If I were in the city or around people and congestion I'd probably use a 5 or 6 ft. fixed lead.

Our Lilly digs up dandelion roots which she loves to eat. She also likes the bitter tasting dandelion leaves and people eat them in salad as well so I let her eat them. She doesn't have any stomach problems after eating them and it may provide certain nutrients which are good for her. IDK.

Do you know her history? Is she afraid of certain noises? If she had always lived in a cage/crate and never went out, she could be afraid of the grass/floor, etc. It sounds as if she has never been socialized to the outside world. Do you leave a leash on her when she is away from you? I have had to do this with unsocialized dogs so I could get to the leash without getting too close to them so they run from me. Since she is older, it will take more time than usual. The first tests I have done on a dog like this is a complete thyroid and an eye exam. Jennifer

Both my girls will try whatever they can to get to a cat, squirrel, other dog, whatever they see that they think they can chase - the only thing I can do is keep their leash short and keep on walking. It slowly changes from pulling on their hind legs to walking with their heads turned backward to finally giving up and continuing the walk. Not a lot of fun at first though. I have tried teaching them to sit on command during the walk when there's nothing there, and turning to walk the other way so they are concentrating on which way I want to go, and other methods I've heard about, but in the end, when there's something to try to get at it's all for nothing. Mostly I pray they don't see the kitty - and it's probably not a great idea to call their attention by saying "kitty." If we are in the house and talk to our cat by saying "kitty," the girls are up and looking out windows and running form room to room to see if there's a kitty they can chase. They do know better than chasing "their" cat - and have scars on their noses from when they tried.

Alfie is now 10 months old and still as naughty as hell. Yesterday evening, he was kept in the hall as the covers that we normally put over the leather sofa were being cleaned. This was not to his liking so he promptly found a way into my Son's bedroom and pee'd all over his bed. This is about the fifth or sixth time he's done this. Not impressed!!

I got a big 'good' and 'unpredictable' surprise this morning: Binti was chased from view by a german shepherd and didn't come back. Usually they will walk around until we find each other again. This time she went all the way back to the car park, where she sat down next to our car, whining and moaning. I had no idea she knows which car is ours…

I can only comment on my experiences with Kipawa, my first basenji, who is just shy of 2 years old. @viv58: 1. OBS #1: they were only affectionate on their terms and didnt like to be petted or picked up.Is this more common than not. They wanted to be by you, but hands off for the most part. 2. OBS#2: Off the leash - they are unpredictable and may not come when called. Had some wild roaming experiences at the off-leash beach. Always kept treats -and 95% of the timeit worked.Can you train them to counter this? or is this a stretch ? 3. OBS#3: Not snuggly 4. OBS#4: Only looked me in the eye when I had food- everything was a distraction. 1. Kipawa is just an extremely affectionate dog. His affection for me is special, but he recognizes all family members and care aides who come into the house and enjoys their attention and gives it back. He loves being petted and adores being massaged, but has a preference for it being from someone in his 'pack' (family members and care aides). He will tolerate being picked up by anyone, but prefers it when I do it. He is a little uncomfortable when turned on his back, however, we practice this quite a bit and he's getting better at it, especially if tummy rubs are included. 2. The only areas Kipawa is off leash is in our backyard or dog parks that are fully fenced. For these places, he is predictable, because he is very used to them. He usually comes when called, but if it doesn't work, I carry the squeaker part of a squeaker toy with me, and that most always brings him back. If he needs to come to me based on an emergency situation (say he got onto a street by accident), I have a word/sound that I only use in emergency situations. He is excellent at responding to that. All this said, if he spotted a bunny in the dog park, I don't think the emergency recall would work. Based on his breeders seeing him this summer, they have indicated he has a very high prey drive. 3. Kipawa is super snuggly all the time and is also a 'velcro dog'. We are tightly bonded. He is on my lap when I watch TV, or at least laying against me. He sleeps under the blankets on my side of the bed. 4. He easily looks me in the eye. If I am talking to him, we have full eye contact. He enjoys when we give each other 'soft eyes' - the slow blinking a person/dog might do when fully relaxed or before settling down for a nap. If he is distracted (only happens outside) I use the command 'watch me' to get eye contact. Usually 95% success rate, but that would go down to zero should he see a bunny. I can't answer your other questions. Kipawa will be a solo dog in our home. As for the breeders, his breeders were Therese and Kevin Leimback (FoPaws Basenjis) from Washington state. We researched for a year before selecting them. Their breeding program concentrates a great deal on temperament. Hope this helps.

I've always had less issues when I have one rather than two, but OTOH, if I was out a lot I would want the second one as a companion. I don't think it is fair to leave them alone for hours every day. (Basenjis are smart enough to figure out that when they do something all they have to do is act cute and let you think it was the other one that did the deed!) :)

@Jacquieoutwest: I just switched all three of my dogs to Martingale collars. Any suggestions?? Hey Jacquieoutwest! How's it going?? what have you tried and did it work????

This I always my "rule of thumb" and only based on my experience but frequent long urinations= possible UTI and several quick squirts=marking….but every dog is different, even so my mind still automatically looks for those signals