Vicious Attack

[laaine50]

My pregnant femal basenji viciously attacked my older female boston terrier, they never did have great love for on another, but also had no confrontations. She was relentless and i could not break her off, it stopped when she was to tired to continue, my boston was seriously injured, is this type of agression instinctive to a female basenji while pregnant. will she become more agressive with pups, will she attack her male mate that she is constantly with if he is in the same area or does she need complete isolation from others after having the pups, forlorded, lorraine

[DebraDownSouth]

Lorraine, I am sick right now, so I am not going to ask you about your breeding with so little experience, ask about bloodlines, testing, etc. I am going to just answer your question and hope that others here can help guide you in other areas you aren't asking about but need help with.

Yes, it is common… hormonal changes can make for pretty nasty, very protective females.

Yes, you need to keep her separated from the boston, and YES, she might attack the male!

No, her aggression is not likely to be toward the puppies... she will be more aggressive PROTECTING them.

ANY bitch, of ANY BREED, should be generally afforded safe areas where no other adult dog has access to them OR their puppies. Period. With a lot of experience you can tell who and what is safe for them to be around. heck, I had a bitch who would let her GRANDDAM in the whelping box with her puppies from the time they were born! But no other dog was allowed to LOOK toward the whelping box.

But for the safety of your animals, please, keep her separated.

[Quercus]

<<does she="" need="" complete="" isolation="" from="" others="" after="" having="" the="" pups="">>

Yes, at least in the first few weeks with the puppies. There are a lot of really great books about whelping puppies.
Here are a couple of my favorites:

DOG BREEDING - THE THEORY & PRACTICEby Frank Jackson
Book of the Bitch: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Caring for Bitches
by J. M. Evans, Kay White, Kay White

You can find these books on Amazon, or www.dogwise.com

And then ditto everything that Debra said. Hopefully you have homes all lined up for your puppies-to-be. IMO, breeding dogs is a very serious undertaking….I hope everything goes well for you.</does>

[laaine50]

I sincerely thank all of you who have replied to my delima. I would like to respond individually but one of my emails was inadvertenly deleted so i shall explain myself as you all seem I should do,
I got a beautiful tricolored Basenji male when he was 9 months old and was not given the attention he needed to socialize, we did have a "transitional phase" I was very aware that their temperment is not like other dogs. I was convenced that he needed a companion, My niece in PA did her best time and effort to get me a compatable female. I did ask the breeder to research the bloodline and was satisfied. Her only reward was to give her a pup so I decided to breed if only for one litter, I have not decided yet. I am a very responsible person although I admit I am not knowlegable about the breed. I came to this forum because the Basenji is a breed all its own that only lovers of this breed would be able to express their complete understanding of. That is what I am asking of this forum. Your help will be greatly appreciated,
My Sincere Thanks, Lorraine Munger

[DebraDownSouth]

Lorraine, you are where many start… not knowing, trusting a "breeder" to be responsible, and ending up doing an irresponsibly bred litter. Hopefully you will stay here, learn, and help educate others. I am sure that others can give you a lot of info, but here are a few things to start reading.

The basenji Health ones

http://www.basenji.org/fanconiprotocol2003.pdf

Strip testing your basenji for Fanconi disease
http://www.barkless.com/guide/strip.htm

Fanconi Disease Management Protocol for Veterinarians
http://www.voyuz.net/fanconi.html

VetGen, Basenji Pyruvate Kinase deficiency
http://www.vetgen.com/basenji.html

BCOA Basenji Health Information
http://www.basenji.org/?q=node/17
(which includes
Fanconi Syndrome
IPSID (Immunoproliferative small intestinal disease, malabsorption, immunoproliferative enteropathy of Basenjis, IPEB, etc.)
Progressive Retinal Atrophy
Hemolytic Anemia
Hip Dysplasia
Coloboma, Cataract, Corneal Dystrophy, and other eye anomalies
Thyroid problems
Persistent Pupillary Membrane (PPM)
Umbilical and Inguinal Hernias)

Basenji Buyers Guide - Health
http://www.barkless.com/guide/noframe/health.htm

General important ones
http://www.bluegrace.com/virtualbreeding.html

http://hometown.aol.com/debradownsth/myhomepagerespbrd.html

http://hometown.aol.com/gelet1447/Breeding.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/de2/readbeforeyoubreed/

http://www.phi-vestavia.com/whelplist.htm

http://www.vetinfo.com/dogrepro.html

http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/fading.html

[Quercus]

<>
I don't understand, I thought your bitch was already pregnant?
You can be a responsible person, and not understand what makes a person a responsible breeder. And you can get bad advice from someone who is already breeding puppies for profit. It is a very complex process to do it right...particularly in a breed with as many challenges as basenjis.

[laaine50]

yes she is pregnant, my concern is if this agression will subside

[lvoss]

How far along is your dog? What is her due date?

My female is very territorial about her "whelping space" with other animals in the house and will chase them from the room. Setting up the whelping pen and setting aside a quiet area for her whelping space helps to relieve anxiety and everyone seems happier.

Do you have a whelping pen or box? Getting that set up and gathering your whelping supplies so they are all on hand for when they are needed is a good way to be prepared and to help your girl feel more comfortable.

Also, have you planned on getting a pregnancy x-ray about 5 days before the pups are due. This will let you know how many puppies to expect so you know if there is a problem when she is whelping. Also, if any of the the puppies are too large, they can see that on the x-ray so you can plan for a c-section.