Sid is def a rare breed as are all basenjis. He is not my first, the reason I ended up with him is because I took my dog Bailey (now deceased) to Sylvania Vet a few years back. Dr. Bob rescued Sid with me in mind and I saw it as a sign from Bailey that I should help this dog, so hear we are. We will continue to work with him and take into consideration everything he has been through. At the same time he has greatly progressed and attached to my girlfriend, just not me. Only time will tell.
You may want to look around for a fun type of postive class. Around here I'd suggest a friend's Relationship Building class or a Control Unleashed class. Even an agility class might be helpful in building confidence, but for that I might suggest your partner taking him for the first round of classes and you taking him through the same class a second time. She handles him for the scary/hard stuff, you get to ask him to do the fun stuff. Just thinking out loud, but I think the Relationship class would be a great find for you and him.
Kim, we don't have any classes like that in our area, unfortunately. The one positive training 'school' we had in the area that offered lots of different classes closed a few years ago (that is where I worked)…now, we just have a bunch of trainers trying to offer people what they need, each on a really small scale.
It sounds like Sid loves other dogs, so getting HIM a puppy may help his anxiety. He may bond to a new pup more than to you, Sid may just be your girlfriend's dog and the pup may be yours, who knows. Sometimes a dog (of any breed) will bond with one human more than another…and...like cats, they seem to sense when you REALLY want them to like you, and hold back!
I know of several single dogs who had issues who were helped by the addition of another basenji, it takes the pressure off them!
Good luck with Sid. If he was Vickie's dog, I'm sure he was well loved and "snatched" up from a wonderful life for one of uncertainty, so it may just take a long time to completely trust and relax.
Kim, we don't have any classes like that in our area, unfortunately. The one positive training 'school' we had in the area that offered lots of different classes closed a few years ago (that is where I worked)…now, we just have a bunch of trainers trying to offer people what they need, each on a really small scale.
Bummer. Of course that's how I got started teaching my CU classes. There was a void and I got sucked up by that vaccuum. Not a bad thing really. I have the classes when I have enough people asking me for it. As soon as the wind dies down and Old Man Winter leaves, I'll start another. Find a place to rent and look into it!!!! There's an agility center here that I rent for my winter classes. And it is very hard to find a night open. And she has a wait list for people to take classes. Just my 2 pennies worth of thoughts.
Bummer. Of course that's how I got started teaching my CU classes. There was a void and I got sucked up by that vaccuum. Not a bad thing really. I have the classes when I have enough people asking me for it. As soon as the wind dies down and Old Man Winter leaves, I'll start another. Find a place to rent and look into it!!!! There's an agility center here that I rent for my winter classes. And it is very hard to find a night open. And she has a wait list for people to take classes. Just my 2 pennies worth of thoughts.
That is a great idea…I have been trying to think of ways to build the business, and space sharing might be a great way to do it.
Heck, I even know of some indoor horse arenas that can be rented. You can pm me if you need to bounce ideas around. I think the Family dog and Relationship classes are great for the average pet owner. I'd love to take a nosework class.
Someone asked for pics of my tiny babies…I mean kitties. Hudson and Hailey
And then there's Veda…talk about a rare breed 
Christy, I just have a question, in the looks dept, are you dark or fair, large or small, wear glasses-I guess I'm asking how different looking from your girlfriend and Vicky are you? This could be a factor, as well as if you smoke or smell different. I know it's weird, but it happens that just because you look a certain way, move a certain way, or smell different, some dogs just have a thing about it.
I am medium height, fair skin, no glasses, petite, do not smoke, drink, very soft voice, I never yell. My girlfriend has the authority! Lol, not saying she is in charge, but when it comes to the animals she is the one who disciplines.
Do you ever get involved in the disciplining of Sid? How much? Is it possible that because your girlfriend is the one who disciplines, that your basenji just doesn't know what to make of you, causing him to be cautious around you? Are you apprehensive at all around Sid? I believe that dogs do like discipline because it gives them a guidance that they then feel comfortable with. If you are apprehensive around Sid he may be picking that up and not feel confident enough to be around you as much. Just my thoughts.
No, I am not to apprehensive around him. He isn't a bad dog and doesn't really do anything to be disciplined truth be told. I have yelled at him once when he nipped at the cats when we first got him though. Any other time he has gotten into trouble (getting into the litter boxes when we are gone) my girlfriend disciplines him. But it's not even like he knows, she just bring him in there and says bad boy. He is a good dog and very well mannered so we have never really discipline him. After hearing some of the history of Sid from Andrea, I think that he just may be a one person dog. She might come help out and give us some more suggestions. In the mean time I have been feeding him from my hand as much as possible to bond with him and continue to give him his favorite treats and what not. I have faith that in time he will improve, especially when we bring home new puppy.
Sid likes buried treasure, huh? No matter how well bred they are, they are still just dogs. I haven't met a dog yet who doesn't like kitty treats. I had to lock my cat's litter box on the enclosed front porch and install a kitty door to keep the dog out of it. (The dog at the time was Australian Cattle Dog.) Sumi (the cat) loved it, though, because it gave her some space of her own where she could be away from the dog when she wanted. He never chased her, but cats enjoy their alone time. It didn't hurt that the porch had huge windows all around and she could catch some rays too.
BTW: Your cats are gorgeous! Mine was very small black short-hair. I think she had some Abyssinian in her someplace. Her dad was a traveling salesman.
Haha, yeah he def enjoys getting in there and then rolling around in it and embedding it into the carpet! Good times. We got a gate and put it up in front of that room, if he really wanted he could jump it but that poses too much effort and he is lazy! Lol. I'm glad other dogs do it, we just allowed it to add to his rareness.
Beautiful Kitties, Christy.
I'm sure Andrea will help you, she's quite good. I'll let her deal with it, since we're all not there and she will be, she knows her stuff!
As for the kitties, sorry, I didn't comment! I was so involved in the issue. Very nice kitties. The one I had like your stripe, dissappeared one day. Is the other one a Himi? I have a ragdoll. Dumbest cat in existence, but she's beautiful-so she doesn't have to be smart! I swear the pretty ones look at the sky, shake their heads and say-Aren't I pretty?
Yes, our 2 'pretty' cats are exactly that. They like to be touched when THEY like to be touched, cuddle when THEY want to cuddle and if it isn't on their time then you my as well forget they exist! They are beautiful cats and you just want to scoop them up and love on them but they hate it! Lol
