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Growling basenji - aggression towards male roommate

Behavioral Issues
  • I've had my basenji for about a year now, he recently just turned 3 years old and ever since his "birthday" he's different.
    I recently went to the vet for his health check up and he's completely healthy.

    But his behavior is on a downhill spiral.

    I need advice, please. This is the background story …

    I moved in with my male roommate (I'm female) in December, which has been about 5 months .. Sherlock (my basenji) has only recently started growling as my roommate when he enters the living room, or kitchen .. any room the dog is in, really.
    Until last night, my roommate would just carry on with his business and ignore this behavior.

    But last night, my roommate came home, simply walked past my dog and Sherlock snipped at him! This has never happened before and I need to know how to fix it ...

    When we aren't home, Sherlock isn't crated - he has free range of the apartment (except for my roommate's room - blocked off by baby gate)
    meaning, he sleeps on the couch and hangs out there all day ...

    for today i blocked him into my room and will not allow him back on my bed or couch unless invited but how can i correct this behavior properly?
    My roommate never feeds or walks the dog as he is mine .. should he get more involved in the dog's life/activities or??

    I know you cannot treat aggression with aggression so when Sherlock growls, we take him off the couch by looping a leash around his neck ... he doesn't like it but we have to show who's alpha ..

    Any suggestions will help, please and thank you.

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    @DebraDownSouth Thanks Debra, you've given me a lot to think about. I think I'll start immediately with the "leave it" training at home and then get in touch with some trainers/behaviorists in my area. I'm not expecting any miracles here but, like you said, even just learning to ignore other dogs would make such a difference.
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    That this arose at home but not on the street sounds like property protectiveness, and should dissipate once your dog figures out he lives there too, but you need to work on it if you want to avoid issues with other visitors. Can you remove yourself from the equation and allow the roommate to just "be" there, ignoring the dog until things settle down? Then, treats and food can reward more settled behaviour. IMO it would be a mistake to try to force the relationship in any way. A calm, matter of fact attitude should facilitate things. Definitely no approaching the dog or pushing attention on him. Let the dog set the pace. When he stops feeling threatened he will likely approach on his own. Any aggressive approach should be ignored if possible as long as it doesn't turn into an outright attack. (maybe leave a trailing leash on the dog as a way to take control if things really deteriorate, but I doubt that they will).
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    Hi Dawn, my names Colleen and i'm from Melbourne! I'm really interested to hear peoples thoughts on this as my 6 almost 7 month old male basenji who isnt desex as yet is displaying quite a lot of seemingly random aggression toward my other dog who he lives with. Food is the main trigger, but more and more i think it's his testosterone really kicking in, i think hes trying to test out my other dog too see how much he can get away with and how much he can boss him around. Its making life a bit edgy for myself and my dog who cops the outbursts! I'm a vet nurse and it is well know that desexing a male will definitely drop hormone levels significantly and therefore any hormonal aggression along with it. It usually calms them and dog/territorial related aggression can be helped by neutering. I think that if you really want to keep Cougar the best way to go is to desex him. If it becomes unbearable, then its not going to harm anyone by getting him desexed. And to be honest i think the breeder should think twice about breeding from a basenji who has bitten people… but basenjis will be basenjis. No doubt desexing will help, but no doubt the aggression wont be 'cured'... i think then you need to do your bit by training him in conjunction. Best of luck, sounds like we both need it!
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