Behavioral Issues

@agilebasenji: wow - thanks so much for sharing that link. I'll start testing my pups tomorrow! I think it would be a very useful test when choosing a pup for eventual performance dog competition; might be a good test for choosing show dogs too in that it would weed out the pups that wouldn't cut it on the campaign trail.

She has a Kong and a chewy squeaker in there with her… Most of the time she has is tired out by the time we put her in there... It's weird b/c all of the times we've had incidents she had plenty of play time before the crate... our weekly morning routine is that i feed her and take her our before work and she gets back in bed with zack and sleeps another hour or so before he goes to work... She never chews anything during this type of routine... Seems to be happening on weekends on days off from work.

Thank you I will.

My 9.5 months old does that too. He rub his face in the carpet, and roll around there with his face and putting his paws up behind his ears after eating.

LOL, okay baby marking. Just cause he can't hike his leg yet, doesn't mean the pee isn't for the same purpose– to say HRRMPFTH to that OTHER DOG and let it know it might SLEEP there but the bed is his. LOL, gotta love attitude.

@Rocky1: Basenjis chew,this s a fact of life. It might sound like a crazy thing to do,but I bite my pups back. It teaches them that I'M THE BOSS ! It has worked for me for the almost 36 years that I've lived with the little beastys. You can call me crazy,or wrong I don't care Works for me,and my dogs all respect me,and love me. Kathryn Wow, Kathryn - that's funny! I'm sure you just nibble a little. Their feet smell like Tostitos, so just wondering -does the rest of the dog taste like a snack??? LOL

Hello, One of our B's had similar biting issues - she had been raised in a pack with a lot of competition, and she had never learned that a treat or a toy must be released on command. I applied Cesar Millan's approach and it worked beautifully, the first time and within 15 minutes! 1. Show the dog the treat, make her sit and stay, and make eye-contact. 2. As she calms, bring the treat closer and stay in eye contact - she must stay calm-submissive throughout. 3. Put the treat on the ground in front of her - use your posture, body language and voice to keep her calm-subm. 4. Then release her to get the treat. 5. After a minute or so, order her to release. If she doesn't, a little Cesar-prod to the side will help to snap her out of her state of mind. 6. Repeat the whole process, until she releases the treat at first command. 7. Repeat the next day. Be patient and follow through all the way to the end - Binti got it really fast that we wouldn't let up and she changed accordingly. I'm sure you can find videos on Cesar's site or National Geographic with similar episodes - it works! All the best, Kees-Jan Donkers, The Netherlands

Is the Rat Terrier teaching her bad habits that she did not have before? I have found some JRTs/RTs at the dog parks to be very barky and so playful that sometimes they will not leave the other dogs alone-keep bothering them to play. Jennifer

@dmcarty: Since they are so young I would assume it is each trying to figure out where they fit in the scheme of things and you may be overreacting. I will however tell you that the one breed of dogs that my basenjis have never liked is ****zu. LOL ….. you know it is all about the hair!

I have an extremely expensive long shearling coat (not short cropped shearling, but long fluffy shearling). The only way I can get out of the house with that coat is to carry it over my head and put it on outdoors. When any of my 4 basenjis see the coat, it is like they go into a whole other zone - they will even try to jump up in the air to get it when I'm carrying it over my head. I am not even slightly exaggerating. The basenjis have never seen which closet in the house the coat lives in - and I'm vigilant about that. My Ugg boots suffered the attack of basenjis so needed to be replaced with something "less appealing" this year. So I would say fluff loving is genetic…

I've put into place everyone's good suggestions… thank you so much! These new ideas, along with the fact that it is not the weekend (when Darrel did not have regular care aides here) has made all the difference. I think until Darrel is up and out of bed, we'll have care aides in on the weekend. Yes, I also believe that basenjis like routine, as do I. I am sure Kipawa knows that I work best with a certain daily routine. Thinking about this now, I can imagine how the weekend must have felt for him. I wonder if basenji owners are the dog owners that use the most dog/breed psychology. :)

You aren't likely to find a Basenji specific trainer. You need to look for someone in your area. Perhaps some other forum members know of someone. Any good trainer can probably help you, but it would be advantageous if they have worked with the breed. Best way to find out is by referral from someone else with a Basenji, but otherwise check out what you see on line, and phone them and ask. Whereabouts in Michigan are you located? Ah, Pat, you beat me to it! :)

the licking cant answer but our girl talks to us all the time welcomes us home talks to us when she gets up talks to us when she wants to play in that raaarr rraaarr kinda sound gentle and not loud and seems very happy as the little curl is wagging :)

When do you put the Kong in the crate? If just before you will lock her in, I would change the procedure. Put the Kong and perhaps a couple of other treats inside the crate and lock her OUT awhile before you plan on leaving. Let her know it is there, let her want to get at it. Then open the door and let her have the treats, but remove the Kong. Don't lock her in, but play with her for a moment or so, then put her in with the Kong. Hopefully this will help with the "hiding". Also, have you trained a "kennel" command? If not, do so and ask her to go in fairly often, not locking her in but instead just giving her a treat. Don't initially ask her to "kennel" when you are going to lock the door, only when you aren't. Eventually…..and with patience.....you will work up to sometimes locking it and sometimes not, but always rewarding her for going in. At least, that is the way I would proceed. If the above doesn't work for you and she continues to hide, I wouldn't give her the opportunity. I'd arrange things so I didn't let her loose after returning to the house from the walk. No point in "practicing" a bad behaviour.

Helena, we still have a long way to go with Kwame but i feel more relaxed about him now. The support from people has helped along with the advice. It was such a relief not to go to classes with him on saturday, i felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. I guess i felt we should keep going because Malaika has done so well with them. It took a while to become apparent that the enviroment was wrong for him. Kwame and Malaika do try to avoid having the leaders on and occasionaly on the walk will try to wipe them off on our legs ;) however i feel they are worth persevering with as the effect is so dramatic and our walks are transformed. I am keeping the harness in mind though if neccasary, it's good to know there are options.

Waffles is doing really well! @Patty M, she started Baroo-ing! I was so startled at first it scared me! Now she does it in the morning when one of us wakes up, and she realized we are up for good to play with her and feed her, she lets out a loud baroo, almost like a puppy-rooster. Crate training is going much better- she rarely cries (at least that we know of) she does try and hide in the morning when when she senses we are going to leave for work. she eventually succumbs to the deliciousness of cream cheese , but its definitely an ordeal! We're just taking it one day at a time. She is evening sleeping through the night about 25% of the time. There is nothing so glorious as 6 hours of sleep!!

Completely agree with you thunderbird! I'm glad to here that Malaika is doing well–there is hope!! :) . Control Unleashed has a lot of strategies (e.g. the Look At That game & hand targets) that I hope will make an impact. Keep us updated on your efforts!

Basenjis are known for chewing and even my older/elderly dogs must be crated because of it. I was hoping it would lessen as they got older-it has somewhat but not totally. They like to chew the cover on the sofa and chair! Jennifer

Always remember if there is an accident in the house, it is your fault…. not the puppies. And also keep in mind that during teething, I have found that there can be a set back when they totally forget about house training. Why that is, I don't have a clue, but I have had it happen with a few of my bitch puppies.