She's likely cooling off for a while. Lovely pictures.
God answered my prayers. Pic overload
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Sometimes you have to make hard choices. Since you spend time with your BF and it is not his or your house, you have to make some tough decisions. And as far as the rabbits at your Mom's house, that could be a real problem. And keep in mind, he was not being bad… he was doing what comes natural. Dogs are hunters, rabbits are prey... dogs don't know that they are someones pet....
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Yes I guess i did not show enough commitment that night maybe I should find him a better and more suited home.
I have to say that I am a fierce advocate for animals, and I would not be being honest if I didn't suggest to you that it might be better to find this sweet dog a new home. In the future when you can make all the rules regarding fencing, where the dog sleeps, how many (and type) of other animals are around, and how much is spent for vet bill$ (and where that money is coming from), you will be in a better position to further research basenjis, find a great breeder and go into everything with eyes wide open.
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Bart is a little sweetheart. I have a golden rule if my dogs are not welcome you are also saying that my kids and I are not welcome. Tell the boyfriend to learn to come to your house. Good luck. Bart needs that special love and home you can do it just make some changes.
Rita Jesn
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@Rita:
Tell the boyfriend to learn to come to your house.
I second this.
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lol the boyfriend does need to come over once and awhile. My parents find it kind of off putting. But as far as being ready for a Basenji I felt i was. Just not one this young. He is still a puppy being only one year. Brat also felt I was ready after they came to my house to do the home check. They knew I had rabbits and I was very honest with everything. I thought that I could talk Erics mom into letting the dog in the house. The crate will just have to get its use, i guess it's a good thing i bought it lol. I was really expecting an older dog and being that the BRAT dogs have already been personality evaluated I was really going into this little man blindly. He is such a darling boy sometimes though and a great homework distraction LOL.
I guess I didn't factor in that I do spend a lot of my free time at my boyfriends. And luckily vet bills aren't a factor just yet plus the 40% employee discount is nice.I was thinking of trying a spray bottle with the rabbits and see if it helps. I'll just take it day by day. No calls about claiming him and no emails from my ad posted on craigslist.
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you can do this! just be flexible about your expectations. dogs spend a huge part of their day sleeping, anyway, so don't sweat it. take him out for some long walks with the b/f, hang out in the yard while the dogs have some good play time, and then put him in his crate after he is already tired. he will very soon see that this is the routine and will be fine with it. good luck and hang in there!
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Well, I'm wondering what's happening with Bart?
Psst: see user name….can't help myself....
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Not sure if this is a possibility, depending on yard or neighborhood, but could you and BF get a little tent and "camp out" in his backyard? Then you could have BART with you and enjoy the great outdoors and be with your BF. Air mattresses are very comfortable, especially when you have your dog in the tent with you.
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Update
Bart visited the Duck Park in town and had much fun but wished if he could only get a little closer too bad mom was worried about him having to explain to Dante how he got his butt kicked by a goose lol.One of my favorites from his first days that i forgot to put up
He kept trying to jump on a ledge with ducks. they couldnt see him though
turtleee
I had to get a picture of the wrinkles so yall could see lol
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Looking at the latest pics, Bart looks so like a Basenji, albeit a mismarked one. What makes me think that maybe he's not though is the pic of his paw, in a basenji the top two pads are joined at the botton, like a heart shape. Either way he's lovely and i do hope things work out for you.
You could try a spray bottle re your rabbits, i use one to keep mine of my cats, however as Pat has already said i would have serious doubts about whether this would work due to the very strong prey drive. Basenjis certainly see rabbits as prey and you would be devastated if Bart killed one of your rabbits.
Yesterday we were in a pet shop and Malaika was near to a cage of Gerbils, she was positively quivering with excitment and licking her lips
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oh yes i would be devastated also considering some of these rabbits prices vary from 50 to 100 dollars. That is why i must seriously think about what will i do if he can't at least stop nipping.
I knew there was something to do with a Basenji Paw. Does any one have a picture so I can see what yall are explaining -
yes, his new pics look verrrry basenji. maybe he is from a basenji mix and a pb basenji, so he is like 3/4 basenji?!?
anyway, here is a diagram of the paw:
you can see how the two middle 'toes' have pads that are connected at the bottom - not two separate pads.
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He really looks at least 90% basenji to me. especially the face.
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yes, his new pics look verrrry basenji. maybe he is from a basenji mix and a pb basenji, so he is like 3/4 basenji?!?
anyway, here is a diagram of the paw:
you can see how the two middle 'toes' have pads that are connected at the bottom - not two separate pads.
I never knew this!
Bart is a cutie pie.
You might try coating the area around the rabbits with Bitter Apple. Something that tastes nasty to make him think the rabbits taste nasty as well?
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^i didn't really know, either, and when i got suki i was afraid she deformed, so i got online to try and find out. lo and behold, it's normal and expected!
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as for the rabbits, can you post a pic of the setup to try and get more suggestions? maybe put some gates around the area, or raise the cages up higher - more like chest level? seems like there should be a pretty simple fix. -
Of course. Here is the pvc hutch me and my dad built. Bart can easily jump on the sides and scare the bunnies
A kind of closer picture showing how the cages hang on the pvc
And these are the hutches on the side of the house. A little higher but he learned to get away by getting as close to the house and nipping from underneath. I had to literally pull him through the poop to get him out from under there. The house is on the left (you can barely see the brown brick through the cage) And our 6ft new wooden fence is on the right
A fence could easily be added on the side of the house if we moved the end cage on the seesaws.
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very cool setup!
i would say your best bet is a fence about 3' outside of/around the bunny cages. i doubt there would ever be a time that bart is not totally 'interested' in them. you could probably do a cheap fence with chicken wire or hardware cloth. and a sure bet is to just make sure you're outside with him when he's outside.
another way could be an underground fence/collar scenario around the bunnies, but that's a little pricey, and there's no guarantee that little zap would be a deterrent. -
Well I do have a shock collar i can borrow if i really need to. Ill try the bitter apple on the bottom of the wire but im not sure how well that will hold since the rabbits will just pee over it. And ill try the spray bottle.
Also for Erics short fence I was thinking wouldnt the Fence Rollers be PERFECT
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i didn't mean the shock collar alone, an underground fence would have a wire you bury in the ground and the collar would beep if bart got too close, like within 3', and then if the beep didn't deter him, he would get a static shock (similar to when we get shocked after walking on carpet in wool socks - not painful). hopefully the shock would distract him and send his mind elsewhere, however, it may not work and he may just proceed as planned. i think a small fence is probably the best scenario.
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im sorry i misunderstood you. I don't think my mom would go for an underground fence. And the construction would probably freak out the rabbits. I will look around to get ideas for a fence. And keep everyone posted.
Yesterday I came home from class to find him laying on the window sill behind the loveseat! He loves people watching lol. Lately he has been extra mischievous I wish he would get over this kennel cough so I can properly exercise him at the dog park. For now walks will have to do. (Im not much of a runner) He also has a fondness for crawling on the floor he has been doing it more and more. It is just adorable
