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New Girl in Town

Behavioral Issues
  • O

    My basenji mix (photograph on my profile) comes from a home that seemed to spoil her tremendously.

    1. Roxy only has interest in eating if it's people food. I would like to transition her to high-end kibble. I have been able to get her to eat dehydrated lamb and potatoes. But, honestly, I will not be able to afford this on a regular basis. Any suggestions?

    2. Roxy jumps on people. I know (or have read in various dog training manuals) this is her trying to be the alpha, and I am not okay with it. How do I break her of the habit? I have had all of my other basenjis and basenji mixes from puppyhood, so I am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of breaking a 2 year old dog of bad behaviors.

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  • lvossL

    @ouidah:

    2. Roxy jumps on people. I know this is her trying to be the alpha, and I am not okay with it. How do I break her of the habit? I have had all of my other basenjis and basenji mixes from puppyhood, so I am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of breaking a 2 year old dog of bad behaviors.

    This is not her trying to be alpha, it is a lack of impulse control and a long reinforcement history for doing it.

    I recommend doing some It's Yer Choice to start gaining some impulse control, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc

    Also, see what she knows, sit, down, etc and start asking for an incompatible behavior in the situations that she is jumping up on people.

    Dr. Sophia Yin has some great video in her library for these sort of situations. Check out Say Please By Sitting, http://drsophiayin.com/resources/videos/

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  • tanzaT

    @ouidah:

    My basenji mix (photograph on my profile) comes from a home that seemed to spoil her tremendously.

    1. Roxy only has interest in eating if it's people food. I would like to transition her to high-end kibble. I have been able to get her to eat dehydrated lamb and potatoes. But, honestly, I will not be able to afford this on a regular basis. Any suggestions?

    2. Roxy jumps on people. I know this is her trying to be the alpha, and I am not okay with it. How do I break her of the habit? I have had all of my other basenjis and basenji mixes from puppyhood, so I am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of breaking a 2 year old dog of bad behaviors.

    About food, only give her the food you want her to eat… all dogs will eat when they are hungry, they will not starve themselves (of course making sure that they are in good health first). Put the food down for her... give her 15 minutes to eat, if she doesn't eat or finish it, pick it up till it is the next scheduled time to eat.

    About jumping.... does she know sit and/or down? Before you pet her or let people into the house, put her is a sit stay or down stay. No one acknowledges her until she is in a sit/down stay and remains calm. And jumping on people is not always a way of being alpha...

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

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  • B

    Few issues with our new addition to the family….

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    B
    @Basenji420: We just recently got our new bundle of joy Nala… 8 weeks old. Shes such a sweet heart.... Loves to snuggle up to you and keep warm....plays around and is so much fun. We are having a few i say minor problems. First off... She keeps pooping everywhere in the house. When we take her out to eliminate she only goes to pee. She seems to only poop in the house in the corners of rooms. She pooped outside this morning and we gave her praise and a treat. The breeder had a "kitty litter" type thing in the corner which is why she still thinks she should pee in corners i believe. She keeps nipping at us even though she is a puppy. She takes it too far. We have been consistant with when she does nip or try to bite us we yell out like if it hurt tell her no and even stop playing at that moment and ignore her for a while... She stops for a min but then is back at it again or just keeps doing it right after. She hates the leash...we got her a collar nothing special and we just even tried to put it around her neck and she just keeps scratcing at it...... She always pulls away and resist to even getting use to it. We tried giving her treats and sniffing it to get use to it but to no avail. Any help would be great as we do not want to have to deal with issues that can be corrected to get worse in the future. Thanks, MM Ok well yes we spoke to the breeder and she gave some tips about it. THey didnt use a collar on her before we got her She is also doing much better with going outside and letting us know. GUess it just takes time. I guess i just thought she needed to be walked. She has so much energy sometimes after a good nap but we are not walking her as of yet. I did not use a kitty litter cause i did not want her to get use to this. Why use a kitty litter if we dont plan on using it. THe nipping is still happening but i guess we cant really do much we just stuff a toy in her mouth and tell her chew so she knows to chew/nip on her toys. Anyone have any tips on crate training their basenji.. She absoulutely hates the crate in the day..unless she is super tired and will nap on us then we will take her and put her in the crate.. She HATES being away from us and being along. Has no issues sleeping in the crate at night too. Goes in with ease.
  • O

    New Girl in Town – Part 2

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    listemeL
    That's definitely progress, I agree. If Agatha is hopping up, I predict one of these nights she'll stay. You could rig it a little and turn down the heat to encourage it, haha. You know, it really sounds like you're dealing with their conflicting needs in a very balanced way. They both are needy at this point. I'm glad you are looking out for them both :) P.S. I love the detective names for the cats.
  • VanessaV

    Can this girl TRI any harder?

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    @Vanessa: Update So last night I decided to try another tactic. The ever famous squirt bottle. Just the pure sight of it stops both our B's and it worked! I only had to use it 3 times and she got the clue. It was great. :) At 7am when it was time to get up I let her know it was ok to sit on the bed and cuddle with us for a few minutes. We have always allowed Chance to do that in the mornings as a reward for sleeping on his bed the whole night. Kiya was really pleased when I told her it was ok to join us (for a few minutes only) before it was time to get up. I just have to sleep with the squirt bottle now. Fun Fun! Glad to hear that that worked for you. Be sure to find a way to wean her off the presence of the squirt bottle, or you really will have to sleep with it forever!! I just want to point out, that it sounds kind of confusing from Kiya's point of view, that Chance is allowed up on the bed in the morning and she may not be. Keep in mind that dogs CANNOT understand consequences that don't immediately follow a behavior. So, if she is not allowed on the bed because she didn't stay on her bed all night, there is NO way she can put all that together. Keep it really simple for her…good behavior equals reward immediately...if you are going to use consequences they have to happen immediately. Good luck, and good sleep :)
  • KebasmomK

    Tough Girl

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    Yep, girls rule…usually!
  • L

    How do we integrate a new dog

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    L
    Thank you so much for the advice! We have never kenneled our dogs before,,,,,,,,,I think that is why we are so hesitant to do that but like you said,,,,,it could be very very stressful taking our two then adding a third at the inlaws where the only animals they have around are a few feral cats that hang around the shed in the back yard. ARRRGGGGGGG!!!!!! Who knew you could stress and worry so much about furbabies!!!!!!!! I swear they ARE just like children!!!!
  • G

    Brand New Puppy… HELP!?!

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    "garlic deters fleas" Also works on my wife. Either everyone has to eat it or no one. Dogs don't seem too fond of garlic breath either, this should be for the foot & kissing thread?