@jengosmonkey
LOL this is a really important convo to be having! I'm honored that it takes place on my thread 😆 and yes, I absolutely agree with the points y'all are making.
People do need to know where their pups are coming from and whether they were responsibly bred. To think of it coldly, I wouldn't buy a house without looking into its history and possible problems, or I might face ridiculous stress, expense, and emotional trauma from subsequent issues that come up later. As a consumer, one should do their homework not only on the breed but on the breeder.
A breeder who produces puppies carelessly is basically a horrible human being in my book. It was a huge, thoroughly thought out moral decision for me not to adopt but to buy a purebred puppy, as I've worked with rescues before. I took this step with the possible goal of being a custodian. If a breeder is irresponsible in all the aforementioned ways, not only are they producing dogs with a higher possibility of suffering, muddying this ancient breed, and swindling people, they are needlessly taking potential homes away from dogs that need one AND frequently causing dogs to be abandoned! If there weren't any PMs or BYBs, imagine how many people would get schooled by rescue folk and responsible breeders into taking dog-parenting seriously before they ever took one home!
Sorry for the rant; I COMPLETELY understand the internal screaming that happens within some of you when you find out a pup is from a mill or crap breeder. If people like you and I keep yelling about it, we will change a few minds, which make all the difference to a few dogs which is better than no dogs 🙂
Hello from Wyoming… wtf yeah, I didn't studder... but I do sometimes.
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We've got Senji home and things get better by the hour.
Here's a couple more photos
Here's a classy sleeping position…
He's been great with people, less great with dogs a bit bigger than him, he think's hes some sort of bully and pretty unpredictably gets ferocious… Whats your thought on curbing this behavior?
He's possessive of rawhides and pretty snap aggressive with other dogs, I've been trying to get a hold of him quickly and get his attention from the aggressive activity. Any Basenji specific ideas?
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He looks totally content! Congrats on him finding a new home.
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He looks like he is making himself at home
I can not remember is he living with another dog or just the kitties?
I would only give high value items like chews when the dogs are separated and can eat in peace. We feed in the crates here…it just makes it easier to avoid potential trouble that way. So I would not allow rawhides to be available if there are other dogs around
You can try to do some training and desensitization to see if you can get him to be less dog reactive...bear in mind though that some dogs are just not good with other dogs. Basenjis seem to like some dogs and take instant dislike to others... Don't make him meet other dogs if he is showing signs of getting snarky. He may do better with females by the way
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He's got a mini dachshund living with him, they get along pretty good, Moose feels like the little man out when I'm playing tug o war with Senji, but Moose has no actual desire to play tug of war so he's just jealous.
Senji gets a few seconds in to the sniffing process and then snaps into aggression, he is a lot better if they can have that moment and then go play. But not many people let their dog come play after that.
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Yeah, they can be snarky… I always watch Watson and any dog we meet with eagle eyes. He is okay as long as the other dog is a polite dog. He is a very polite greeter himself.
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Sadly Senji is not so far
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Senji gets a few seconds in to the sniffing process and then snaps into aggression, he is a lot better if they can have that moment and then go play.
My Perry is like that. His idea of "greeting" is to try to nip (or bite!) the other dog in the face! If you can get past that initial reaction, and if the other party is female, then things are fine. He met his match in my girlfriend's Jack Russell bitch, who put him in his place in 10 seconds flat. But mostly we don't see a lot of other dogs, and I have no plans to take him to dog parks and the like, so it is a non issue for me, other than to pay attention when we are out walking.
If I needed him to be more social, I would take the time to try to sort this out, but there aren't a lot of opportunities to interact with other dogs where I live.
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I live in an extremely dog friendly apartment complex. Senji has plenty of time to meet other dogs and I do feel he's getting better slowly, as I catch him before he goes into a full dominance stance and get him to calm down and just look at the other dog and see he's not threatening him.
Senji is a big Basenji at 27 pounds and he thinks he's alpha a lot.
I'm trying to use positive reinforcement when he's good and just leaving the situation when he's bad. He's starting to learn he only gets the opportunity to go meet other dogs when he stays calm on the way over.
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Does he do this to all dogs or just dogs who charge up to him?
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Does he do this to all dogs or just dogs who charge up to him?
LOL which would mean that the other dogs are in "his" space….. and he has every right to protect "his" space. At least IMO
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None of the dogs he does it do display to me any aggression. They sit there as Senji walks up to him, they start sniffing, Senji's mohawk raises and then he growls a tiny growl and then raises up and then both dogs are pissed.
He gets a lot better quickly if they can work it out a little bit. Then Senji acts like the better dog, except his throat bites, I know they are play bites, but nobody likes my dog playing like he's trying to kill their dog.
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Have you read Control Unleashed? There was a blind basenji that would go up to sniff a human and then would nip. So they taught this pup a sniff then retreat type of behavior. The Look at That game, whiplash recall, mat work, off switch game are great for this sort thing. I think the basenji was talked about a lot on the CU list about a year or two ago, you may want to join and check the archieves.
