I made sure when my girl did it, I con tinued to pick her up and say stop being so snarky and she would stop imedietely and lick me. I have a very
unusual Basenji who loves to kiss and maybe that is because we kissed on her all the time from the day we got her, and whenever she got grumpy
and than stopped she got loved on and kissed on. She rarely gets annoyed now because we follow through and never let her think she is
the boss. So just follow through and tell her no and dont stop what you already started or she will think she is in control. I was literally
a nervous owner with mine because I had heard so many stories about Basenjis and how difficult they can be, and I always had Whippets which are so laid back it is not even funny. But now I have totally gotten over it. I would get another Basenji in a minute and not think twice about it.
She is the most entertaining awesome dog we have ever had. Just make sure she knows her place in the pack and love on her alot. It has worked with ours.
Growling Alpha issues...
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So i have 2 basenji pups (6 yrs old)
I had Milosh since a puppy- and later adopted Zeus at 2yrs from BRAT. now they are both 6.
and well, my issue is Milosh is very vocal.
he just thinks that everyone should be in their place. if we walk down the stairs and Zeus is also coming down the stairs he growls- i know they respect each others space - and there are no fights that break out. - he DOES NOT attempt to bite.
Zeus is very mellow and calm- and ignores his growls. i just want Milosh to respect and understand that Zeus is entitled todo as he pleases without Milosh approval.
is this normal having 2 basenjis?
1- they are not from the same liter.
2- they are both males
3- they dont dog fight./ they play with one another when they like. -
In my experience, intervening will escalate the issue. As long as there is no fighting, I really would ignore it.
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that they are two males, yes, it will happen, but not just because they are males. One may be the 'alpha' but look into Resource Guarding. a resource can be a toy, food, person, couch, a space, bed....anything that one dog deems of high value. and yes, letting them have a hierarchy of who is higher is normal in any pack of animals (humans...hehehe!) great that they don't fight, so leaving them alone is ok. I had a similar problem with the personality conflict between my current B and older male who was here. A behaviorist told me to sing out in a high pitched mini-mouse voice when they would pass each other and whale eye and growl. It worked all the time to distract and redirect them and prevent further escalation. (they never fought either and actually sat close to each other a few months later) You can try this or leave it alone....
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Unless there is true fighting leave them alone. They will work things out - the resource guarding may be behind it - but one simply doesn't want the other to be so close or whatever.