New update: Tika is no longer in heat! Yay! Remy got neutered and is doing great! We got a dog trainer to come in assess the situation and she thinks it is starting to improve compared to how I described it when I booked her to come. Only Maia seems to need the muzzle, she seems to be very unsure of the puppy. We are working with her to build her confidence. The puppy doesn’t seem to have any stress with Maia around and won’t start anything. The muzzle is on just in case when I am home alone as I don’t want anything bad to happen when if I can’t separate them. The puppy is getting lots of training time to help her learn how to behave properly. With 2 people here we can have the girls on short leashes and they are fine together. They did have a small altercation of snarling but no biting and no one got hurt. The older female backed down and walked away. As much as I want her to be the top dog it seems that the puppy has a much more dominant personality. If they figure out the pack hierchy hopefully everything will settle down. The trainer says there are no pack instincts in domesticated dogs, but after having 6 basenjis I can’t agree with that in regards to basenjis. We can walk the girls together without muzzles now so I think things are more positive and they seem to be improving every day. When Remy is healed from his neuter I will get the puppy spayed and hope that calms things down even further. So far there is a lot more peace in the house. Please anyone let me know if there is anything else I should be doing to keep these girls on track. Thank you for all your advice and guidance! I am so grateful for this forum as what is normal for other dogs is not so much with these guys!
What do you feed your Basenji?
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We've been using Blue Buffalo chicken and rice. As far as treats go we've been using milk bones meaty flavors.
Curious as to what other Basenjis have been munching!
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Paul Newmans dog food.
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taste of the wild and some home made muttloaf with dinner
treats are a LONG list. -
I would change to a better quality biscuit…milk bones are not very healthly....
For regular food I use different ones all the time, all meat only, no grains. And there are a number of good "cookies"... I like Natural Balance ones.... they have a number of different kinds.
Oh and AMEN to Mutt Loaf...ggg... my girls love it...
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We also switch things around a lot. For kibble, we hop back and forth between a "cheap" grain-free formula like Taste of the Wild and a pricey one like Orijen or Timberwolf. I just bought a bag of Acana that falls on the $$ side, and that's next up in the rotation.
But we also do raw and home-cooked. Lately we've also been trying Vital refrigerated food rolls (grain-free, cooked with no preservatives) and it's been a big hit.
Pretty much all Zuke's treats are well liked in this house.
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for kibble, i mix it up as well. i've fed wellness, nutro natural choice, evo red meat, and eukanuba. for treats, suki is partial to bil-jac liver treats and dehydrated chicken strips.
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Kipawa eats Taste of the Wild (Buffalo).
Treats are Natural Balance, organic dehydrated chicken breast (like chicken jerky) and a few others that are usually organic and grain free.
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Isis is also using the Blue Buffalo puppy formula. When is it a good idea to switch things up? I too could not imagine eating the same thing day in and day out, but I am concerned with changing her diet. I have started to use the cowhide bones as treats, ( and to help with the teething). My socks are thanking me… LOL.
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For most dogs it is better to switch slowly, start with 1/4 new food and 3/4 old food, gradually over a few days change out, depending on their digestive system. Mine loved EVO and Orijen but never had good firm poop so we are back to plain old Innova, they like it and poop is no longer mushy.
Some folks switch around all the time, or mix 2 or 3 foods together. There is no one perfect food, or way to feed, but what works for you and your dog. Mine have 'rejected' excellent foods, they have to like it and it has to like them (no vomiting or mushy stools). And mine seem to love their kibble, they are always happy to get it and they get plenty, so it's not that they are just hungry, so don't worry about boredom! -
Dolce started with Blue Buffalo but would not eat the black pellets which contained a lot of the "good stuff." Ultimately she stopped eating all of it. We switched her to Taste of the Wild Bison. She nibbled on it, but only ate a little. In the past two weeks, I started feeding her a raw diet along with the kibble. Wow, what a difference. She loves the raw meat and now gobbles down the kibble as well. I really think the raw did something great for her digestive system.
I was squeamish about the raw food, but asked a lot of questions and read a lot. I'm not fully there, yet, but with the great results I have seen, I plan to stick with it. -
Innova and tripe:eek:
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Here is another on the list for Taste of the Wild, Cairo loves it. I got him on a big bag of smoked salmon TotW right now, I'll switch to a different flavor on the next bag. Treats are a different story, anything REAL he likes. Piggie ears, dried beef lung, etc. He has a HUGE variety of "rewards".
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Been using Nature's Variety grain-free kibble, specifically the chicken formula. I'll probably start looking to integrate a different grain-free kibble as this one doesn't seem to result in firm bowel movements for him, although he loves this food.
I had him on raw food for awhile and I think I'm going to transition him back at some point. He never had any issues on that food.
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Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Orijen, and Eukanuba along with some raw mixed in. Treats include Sammy's treats, Iams biscuits, and those little cookies shaped like gingerbread men.
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We feed Taste of the Wild kibble and red barn meat rolls and natures variety raw. I order most of my stuff from pet food direct as its a 2 hour drive for us to get to a place that sells dog food. Fortunatley I am now able to get Taste of the Wild locally, so I just order Red Barn and charlee bear treats online. We dehydrate 15 lbs of raw chicken tenders every 2 weeks for treats.
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We dehydrate 15 lbs of raw chicken tenders every 2 weeks for treats.
That's a great idea. I really should look into doing that to make my own treats. Simple and effective.
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Does anyone else have a Basenji that likes to eat grass? When we hang out in the front yard he always eats the grass!!! I have read on other websites that some B.'s do eat it and it's not harmful to them- anyone know if this is true?
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@Mojo's:
Does anyone else have a Basenji that likes to eat grass? When we hang out in the front yard he always eats the grass!!! I have read on other websites that some B.'s do eat it and it's not harmful to them- anyone know if this is true?
Kipawa eats grass every now and then. Sometimes it goes through him fine, but other times he will bring it up (liquid looks light green). If he does bring it up, my silly boy sometimes wants to eat it back up! I have to be fast with the paper towels!
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Paco has eaten grass, but I almost think it's purposeful to make himself vomit, because it happens every time, and seems to happen after he's eaten our neighbor's Pedigree dog food…
Paco eats Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul; it's the only thing besides Pedigree we can find on St. Thomas. He occasionally gets raw or cooked chicken or beef if we don't finish what we've prepared for dinner, and also will sometimes get scrambled eggs in the morning if we're feeling generous.
For treats, mostly hot dog pieces, bits of cheese, or maybe bits of cold cuts.
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Most all dogs will eat grass now and again…. nothing to worry about unless they are consuming very large amounts with lots of vomitting
