Behavioral Issues

Have Michelle hand feed Olimar, at least one of his meals each day. At first, she shouldn't ask him to really do anything but should feed each kibble by hand with the only criteria being that he is not mouthing her or jumping up on her. After a couple of feedings, she can start to use mealtimes as an opportunity to ask Olimar for a sit, down, or even just calling his name and giving a kibble when he turns toward her or rewarding him for holding himself still while watching her. Doing this should help raise Michelle's value to Olimar and she should find that he pays more attention to her.

thanks for the info on the MD BRAT!!! ill look into it! maybe we can set up a playdate :)

It will be a wonderful day in you home when the conehead is gone. Hugs.

You know, my boyz like dogs the same color as they are. Jet LOVES tri colored dogs - Berners, tri Aussies, etc. And last time they were at Anne's dog park, poor Digital was the only brindle basenji. Jet played with the basenjis and Diggie went and hung out with a brindle greyhound. Remember that Anne?

@sharronhurlbut: Crating a dog when your at work and then when you sleep is way too much. I am not saying this is the case…but imo, if your home, have the dog with you. I agree… mostly. a dog should be with it's family but, young pups who do not yet know the rules of the house, should be crated IMO, mostly for their own safety. You can't very well supervise a pup when you're sleeping. however, I do think there is a middle ground to it... I crated my dog at night until he was about 7mths old, and 100% reliable in the house (no accidents). I always kept the crate right next to the bed though. with the exception of night hours, our dog was never crated for longer than 4 hrs at a time. our goal was always to achieve no need for the crate.. which we reached when he was around 2 yrs old. I think a crate is a wonderful TOOL, but it's just that, a tool, not a way of life. We still have one of our crates set up, and occasionally our dog will choose to use it, but the door is never shut.

Yea I was thinking that might be the case…I should mention that the min-pin is a new addition as we are moving into a house. He is owned by a very good friend of mine who is moving with us and staying at the townhome for the next 2 weeks untill we close on the house. They have all played together at both his old place and the townhouse....It may be that she wants the boys to know who is in control. :)

Your right, Terry, sometimes they do break the rules… or some breeders are willing to ship... I am just not one of them...

Zenu holds grudges like crazy too! is this a common basenji behaviour? She used to play with great danes all the time, totally fearless, until one stepped on her accidentally. After that whenever danes came around her she'd tell them off very noisily! Another time, a lab-mix at the dog park jumped up onto the picnic table where she was napping and stepped on her and scared her good. She let out a terrible banshee scream-growl and drove the dog away, and now even a month later, whenever she sees that dog she'll go up to her and growl a bit just to say she still remembers, and the lab better be careful! Its hilarious to see a little <20lb dog scaring off a big lab mix! But I give her a little poke in the neck if she gets too aggressive and isnt listening to my command to come to me and leave the offending dog alone. That calms her down. I always let her say her piece (and she has a lot to say to dogs she holds a grudge against) but I draw the line at her actively trying to drive them out of the dog park. She could get hurt. Its funny how long they can remember an incident, though.

Fiji and I are in…:D

I'd suggest getting the book Control Unleashed. Available from dogwise.com or cleanrun.com Maybe amazon. Check around for the best deal. I've done a bit of training with my baesnjis and I've been doing the CU protocol with my youngest and I am so impressed! This is one of the best books out there on how to deal with a dog that is distractive or reactive. There's also a list (HIGH volume!) that may help you find someone in your area to do some of the CU exercises.

Also, I hear satin balls are good for weight issues. Here's a link to a thread about putting on weight, albeit on an elder, where the second post has the recipe plus a couple other links. If you try them let us know how it goes. http://basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=2694&highlight=satin+balls

@tanza: So you think…ggg.... I will be waiting to here what happens when you put panties on your girl.... go out and come home.... Tea Tree Oil or not...:rolleyes: LOL, took the words right out of my mouth…we want pictures of how the panties look after you leave her with them on and you're not around to watch her. :D :D :D With Ruby, anyone I talked to about the panties said, skip it because they'll get shredded and clean up after her...so that was what I did. Wasn't really a big deal. I have wood floors, area rugs that are easily washed, and blankets I put on the furniture. :D And with Ruby, I know exactly how it would have gone w/panties (not good) just based on how she was about me checking that area to see if she was bleeding.

I like that… "senior moments"...ggg that is it exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She-Ra gets snarky but only if the cat moves too close to her in the night. I can usually move her no problem.

Yup… that is a typical Basenjis.... running full tilt one minute... dead to the world the next.... only two speeds... On and Off....

I had the same problem with the easy walk harness… Don't worry about the spelling....it just gave me a REALLY humorous image...

@Jylly18: The only bad thing about the "trade" strategy, is that Tosca learned that everytime she takes something she shouldn't (DVD, Remote, etc) she will get a treat to give it back to me. This has actually reinforced the behavior more! So manipulative :) There are days I'd be happy for anyone to find the remote in this house! Just put it on a "find the remote" cue. (Or just put it up when you're finished with it. - nah)

We have a special litter box we had made so the cats could hid from her but the problem is our older cat is about the same size as the dog. So she still gets in the cat poop!:(

@Andrew: We just said he was speaking African Haha! Love it.

Thanks for the advice foschatt! As I mentioned, my family went out of town for two weeks to Sweden. While they were away Dallas continues to sleep in my room while the other two dogs slept in my parent's room. Dallas' behavior greatly diminished during the two weeks. The first 3 mornings or so he would whine & pace. However, as he realized that the other dogs were not being fed until I got up either, he started sleeping in more. I really do think he wakes up & wants out when he hears my step dad getting up for work. My stepdad feeds the other two dogs [we tried having him not feed Dallas] around 5 AM when he is getting ready for work. Therefore, it is someone being up that has been causing him to wake up & whine to be let out. There is still a chance I may start putting him back in his crate to sleep. Problem is, he is kept crated during the day so I don't really find it fair for him to do both. I'm still working on it I suppose… He's gotten better but now that they are back in town he has already begun to regress. sigh Around 2 AM my stepdad let our family dogs out & in the process Dallas woke up & basically wouldn't go back to bed afterwards. I let him outside to pee for like 15 minutes. However, when we came back into the house he kept whining & pacing again. He didn't end up finally falling back asleep until after 3 AM! I am quite tired this AM I must say...