My Basenji training
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I am reading all the aggression & destruction threads and thought it would be easier to write what I have learned. I have an Alpha Male and the scared female. Both are the worst litter dogs you could get. The male has high aggression issues and will not hesitate to bite & draw blood! He chased the vet when they tried to trim his nails! This is what works for us right or wrong this is what we learned
1. Crate training is essential. A treat needs to be given evey time they go in their crate. You can't pick them up and put them in or you will be chasing them all over. They need to WANT to go in.
2. You are the boss and act like it. They can smell a weak human a mile away. If your dog is aggressive, he thinks he is in charge. You need to show them you are the boss. You do this by feeding him after you eat first, never let them sleep with you, you enter & leave places first. You decide what games to play, where to go on walks and so on. He gets to make NO decisions about anything!
3. Positive training works wonders, negative only escalates bad behavior. Never hit or beat ANY dog. They will not back down; only turn it up a notch!
4. NO means nothing to them. Again you need to divert them with something positive. They care little about what you think or want. The world revolves around them; if you can't accept that, get a lab or golden retriever. You have the wrong dog!
5. A tired basenji is a happy Basenji. If your dog is destructive it's because you’re not exercising your dog enough. They are not happy to sit around all day. Our dogs need constant walking or training to keep at an even keel. If you tire him out when he gets free time it will be sleeping.
6. The squirt bottle does wonders to discourage bad behavior, just don't let them see your doing it.
7. We don't get fooled again! Basenjis will learn if you try to trick them, like a muzzle for nail trimming. We use treats to get them to do just about anything but Nail Trimming (I need help!) I just take them to the vet and let them deal with them.
8. Trim their nails everyday when you get them as puppies or else suffer the agony!
9. If your dog has ANY aggression, keep them out of trouble and in their crate when people come over, or any other situation that can lead to disaster. Don't give them a chance to be bad.
10. Aggression of any kind can't be tolerated. They go to their crate for a long time out.
11. Basenji's are people dogs and love to be with you. You need to spend as much time as you can with them.
12. Pets are not disposable, if you get any pet it becomes a family member, you just can't turn away from it when thinga are bad, or wash your hands of it. If you not 100 comitted to this pet, DONT GET ONE.
13. If you do decicide to part with your pet give it to Basenji rescue.
14. never let a basenji off it's leash or unattended in your yard. I built a 5' wood fence and buried boards at the bottom to be sure. Think of your house like a submarine. You have to keep the air locks closed and have several door chambers, all closed after you go in or out. You need to double check the chamber doors or you will get flooded!
My neihbor called me one day to tell me my dog was in his yard. I go out and find I left the gate open, I walked back in telling him I don't see the dog anywhere. I look down and he was at my feet. He snuck back in while I went in his yard looking for him. Sneeky dog! -
Good advice, Barklessdog!
The only thing I would change is this: <>
Not the case if your dog is fear aggressive. If a dog is fear aggressive, the only thing that will help is desensitizing them to the things that scare them.
If they are just grumpy or pushy, or haven't learned their boundaries, then absolutely one has to put some rules in place. And some aggression just can't be fixed by NILIF (nothing in life is free technique)
I especially love #9 and #7!
Thanks for your input! -
Our female is fear aggressive. She bites out of fear. I donty worry about her because she has never drawn blood and pretend bites you. Not even grabbing in anyway. She's all bluff. No one that knows her is afraid of her.
The male on the hand is aggresive to inflict bloodletting. I don't ever want to have him put down because I was stupid enough to give him a chance to bite someone.
I just can't trust him. I love him too much to even think of allowing people with him unsupervised. He's always been fine with people and some dogs, but if he does bite, why chance it?
When he does go near people in the house or outside I watch him like a hawk for -
The evil stripe- the hair standing up on his back-
The frozen errect pose- stand errect ready to strike
The evil Eye-
All lead to this-
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Yep…he look serious!
Just out of curiousity, have you ever had his thyroid checked? Full panel?
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He was fine till he matured, then he can't tolerate any othe male and he was neutered!
We have his aggression under control, because we all are on the same page as to RESPECTING him, but also not tolerating his aggression. Also it helps that he backs down from the water bottle. He is pretty mellow now, but I still do not trust him AT ALL.
He really mellowed when we showed him WE are in charge and not him. But he tests us all the time. Baenji's are always testing you, pushing the rules bit by bit. Agression has no place in our family and he knows it.
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Yeah we had his thyroid checked he was normal. He does have a wheat aggergy though (breaks out in as rash on his tummy)
This is how he normaly looks. My aggression pics are against our other dog, who he never hurts, it's just show.
His playing Mr Tough Guy face
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WOW!!!..Words to live by!! I commend you for all the effort it sounds like you've put into your dogs. I wish people were more like you…and your mantra should be placed on every B owner's refrigerator door :D :D
It's all about knowing your dog & KNOWING their limitations. Respect is key and so is a no tolerance policy. At least that's how it is at our house! :)
BTW-I went to a Basenji Fun Match...and A LOT of B's are bitchy snarky little fur balls. Rest assured yours are not the exception. Mine are exactly the same way but we work with them every day on this!
