Socializing the puppy
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Cairo was fixed last week and is 6months old. He has been a handful at home so I have brought him to work with me this week. At lunch we went to the dog park to begin his socialization.
We first went in with the small dogs. He immediately submitted, on his back and began peeing he was so excited. Wagging his tail and wanting to play. Not much action happening in the fu fu side so we went to the empty big dog pen.
Cairo and I ran around a bit and a german shepard and a lab came in. Cairo ran over to them. They ran towards him. He spins running tail down at mach speed to me and screaming like a little girl. LOL, both big dogs were completely friendly and gentle by nature. It was just funny.
Anyone else have any funny stories?
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I fear Keoki won't be as submissive. He hasn't seen other dogs for a while, other than my own. Last week a neighbor had a little dog out in the yard, and as soon as Keoki saw it, his back bristled up and he started making very unpleasant noises.
Sigh. It's going to be a while before I can get him into a class, and I am concerned that he will be the puppy that doesn't play well with others.
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It sounds like both little guys are scared :eek: :eek:…you may want to try socializing in a controlled environment with a calm dog that will allow the pup to let him sniff and investigate without charging the little ones. And making the pup feel safe with you & reassuring that you're there to protect them. And a whole lotta treats & good calm praises will help them feel good about meeting new dogs :) :)
It's so critical that they have positive experiences at this stage & that they experience often.
Otherwise you wind up with adults like mine who are terrified of unfamiliar dogs & just don't know how to react. It's not their fault but now we're having to work on reconditioning them to other dogs.
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Oh Cairo has been going to the dog part for a while now and usually has Caesar to follow. He was just with ole mom this time and wanted to play with the fun dogs, but they were SO BIG!!
I did choose that park because I knew at 1pm the dog park would have only 1 or 2 dogs so Cairo could begin to understand sniffing.
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Cairo and I ran around a bit and a german shepard and a lab came in. Cairo ran over to them. They ran towards him. He spins running tail down at mach speed to me and screaming like a little girl. LOL, both big dogs were completely friendly and gentle by nature. It was just funny.
Anyone else have any funny stories?
I have a visual of Cairo doing this. I bet it was unusual behavior. I have Daisy in a puppy class at PetSmart. We just finished 5 of 8 classes. We have covered "polite" dog greetings on leash in a controlled environment. (dog park isn't controlled) Pups learn to earn the privilege to greet/smell each others noses after they sit for a treat. Then they sniff and we continue with our walk. The butt sniffing is a rude 1st meeting behavior and some dogs don't like it until they are familiar with each other. Think of meeting your neighbor for the first time with a hand shake, not a hug. Maybe Cairo got a "hug" and was offended. :D
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Cairo will be beginning his Basic training class soon. If you have a basenji that seems difficult, basic training will be a savior for you. I cannot express how important it is. It helps you communicate with your dog. It helps your dog communicate well with stranger and other dogs!
Cairo has been going to an extremely large and populated dog park several times with his basenji pack before he was fixed (14weeks to 17 weeks old). This is not something that I would suggest for a puppy owner if you dont have experience with dog parks or have a regular pack that you meet with.
The basenji pack accepts him and as a puppy and he recognizes that he cant run with the boys out into the park. He has been hanging with the girls who stay near the owners.
I have been taking him to this other dog park at lunch so he can meet one or two big dogs on his own and learn how to communicate without running into a dangerous situation at the other park.
He typically sticks to Caesar like glue at the park when we are at the huge park, but I want him to know that big dogs are okay too. And, build some independence away from Caesar. I am worried that he will develop seperation anxiety from Caesar always being around.
I strongly recommend taking your basenji to the small dog pen if it is your basenji's first experience at the park. Smaller dogs play differently and it is easy to control any behaviors in your pup that need to be addressed.
When Caesar was a pup (my first basenji), I didnt want to take him to a dog park until I finishsed basic training so I could be sure he would listen to me in a populated park with strange dogs.
It is also very bad form to take an unfixed dog into a dog park when they are at that heat stage or manly stage because they will try to hump or over sniff which may cause conflict with other dogs. If you plan on not fixing your basenji, basic training will be important before a dog park so your basenji knows what conduct is not ok at the park.
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Dog Park basenji
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3YihpHn4Wg
