@Saving thank you very much for the suggestions!
I cant take it anymore!
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And I also agree with the other posts here, this might not be the breed of dog for you especially with a baby…. Sounds like he didn't have much early social training, as if I am reading this right, you got him at about 7 months old? Have you talk to the breeder? As Andrea said a responsible breeder will take their dogs back if they don't work out.... and if not then BRAT is a great choice to find him a suitable home.
For the "baby" puppy (10wks) what you describe is typical puppy... attention span, nil..... nada.... empty!!!!! LOL
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You have the wrong breed. Sighthounds and herd dogs should not be around kids. Kids run around like crotch goblins. Sighthounds, like the Basenji, will chase and trip up your kid and friends. This is how Basenjis hunt. Herd dogs have a genetic disposition to round up and confine moving things, like cows, sheep or kids.
I can only forsee disaster for you and your Basenji. As you have a new kid, your attention will be devoted there. Your Basenji will pick up on these cues and start hanging around your kid and probably become aggressive towards you. Please contact BRAT. They will find a good home for your Basenji.
Basenjis are alot of work. They require alot of exercise and attention. You are already in a losing battle. And now a kid? You should reevaluate your situation. My recommendation would be a gun dog. They are trainable and behave more like a dog. This is what you seem to want. Don't buy a water dog. They have more oil in their body than most breeds. This oil insulates them from cold weather. Unless you are an avid water fowl hunter the oil is not a problem. If you don't hunt the oil will be all over your house along with a rancid doggie oder.
Bruce Fogel, DVM has published an encyclopedia of dog breeds. He devotes a page per breed. This includes a photo of the breed along with icons denoting items such as trainability, grooming, exercise requirements and socialbility. Do your research.
Narrow your feild to 4 or 5 breeds. Then talk to breeders. They will inform you if the breed is good for your situation. If they don't think the breed is good for your situation they will recommend a bred that is.
You probably got a Basenji based on size and grooming requirments. Should this be the case, look towards gun dogs. They typically average 20-30 inches at the shoulder and 40 to 60#. A little bigger than you want, but the personality is more akin to what you want.
Talk to a BRAT Rep. They are better equipt to analyse your situation and provide you with a resolution.
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That is just not true. Sighthounds and herding dogs can live perfectly well with children. And I don't even know what a 'crotch goblin' is, but personally I find that term offensive. -
If you do stick it out you'll have to change your life a little. Certain things seem second nature to me. I know to pick up my drink when I leave the room. I know to scoot everything back at least 8 inches from the edge of any counter. I know to look behind me as I'm walking out the door, and to grab dogs when guests are leaving. I know that I will never be patient enough to train any basenji to stay out of a trash can, so it is under the sink with hidden child-proof locks so the basenjis don't open the cabinets.
You need as much training as he does. Don't beat him–it will not work, and is counter-productive. He will learn nothing but spite, and fear from being beat. It will almost never correct the behavior that you do not like.
He is in his "terrible twos" right now. If you stick it WILL PAY OFF. You've got another challenging year ahead of you.
I encourage you to keep educating yourselves on the nature of the breed. Whoever sold him to you did you a major disservice by not telling you about the breed.
It sounds like he's taken your baby up as a littermate, and is treating him as such. That's not good. He's not going to hurt the baby bad, but he's also going to respect him or uh...disrespect him as another puppy, instead of respect him...uh...er uh...disrespect him as one of his humans.
I encourage you to check out all of this site: www.basenjicompanions.com
Listen to Quercus–She knows her stuff.
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You have the wrong breed. Sighthounds and herd dogs should not be around kids. Kids run around like crotch goblins. Sighthounds, like the Basenji, will chase and trip up your kid and friends. This is how Basenjis hunt. Herd dogs have a genetic disposition to round up and confine moving things, like cows, sheep or kids.
I disagree with what you posted. Basenjis get along great with children IF trained well. I am sure everyone has a difference of opinion when it comes to children and dogs. BRAT is a great altrnative if you find that a basenji just isn't the dog for you. This forum offers wonderful advice from people who know this breed inside and out.
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Aww.. thanks Vegas. I learned a lot form my mentors and lists and forums like this
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Aww.. thanks Vegas. I learned a lot form my mentors and lists and forums like thisI second that!
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@Vanessa626:
I second that!
I'll third that!
We are very lucky to have some people on the forum willing to share their long time experience with this breed.
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I'll third that!
I quadruple!!!
LOLIf you do stick it out you'll have to change your life a little. Certain things seem second nature to me. I know to pick up my drink when I leave the room. I know to scoot everything back at least 8 inches from the edge of any counter. I know to look behind me as I'm walking out the door, and to grab dogs when guests are leaving. I know that I will never be patient enough to train any basenji to stay out of a trash can, so it is under the sink with hidden child-proof locks so the basenjis don't open the cabinets.
This is so true..I dont even think about some things anymore & it's only been a few months…isn't it great how well we are TRAINED!! LOL
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any news or updates?
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I think that Basenji's are not for everyone and they are like having a child for their whole life span. I personally could not imagin having a baby and a Basenji at the same time. Since I have had Sada, I have said that the dog runs my life I don't run hers. I know most people would say this is wrong but I am ok with this. I enjoy my basenji she make my day everyday. It sounds like you have alot on your plate with a new baby and a high energy dog. Don't think you are a failure if you can not keep up with you basenji because they need a lot of attention and excersise. If you do decide not to keep your basenji I do agree with some of the other comments. You should look into the BRAT rescue group. I fostered for them and they are wonderful and dedicated people who will find a good home for you dog. If you do decide to keep your boy, be patient and consistent. When Sada was younger I just excepted and learned to laugh at alot of things she did and she had turned out to be a wonderful dog. GOOD LUCK!!!!
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Hey guys, I talked with lovemybaroo and she is still sticking in there…..
Please post your favorite tips to gain peace in your home for her.
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from lovemybaroo
Thanks for replying. To answer your question, yes, I do still have Baroo, and yes we are definatly fighting the daily battle, but now I actually feel like I win sometimes. I think somehow he realized that I was threatening to get rid of him, because after that he starting coming around. He is still bad with the cats and the trash, and a few other things, like chewing things up, but that is occasional. For the most part he is better, so we have decided to give him another chance, and now we are getting too attatched him to give him up, behavior problems and all. We are working with him as much as possible, and have made some changes, which for the most part seem to be working. After reading some other posts, I have gotten a baby gate, which works great (I don't know why he hasnt figured out that he could easily jump over it, but he doesn't) and we also now use a squirt bottle which also seems to do the trick, but you have to catch him in the act, and he is pretty sneeky, so that only works sometimes. I have also used a bungee cord to tie up the trash can so he can't tip it over. So now he just pulls things from the top whenever he gets a chance, which is not great, but I have learned to pick my battles. As far as walking him goes, I got him a harness, which has made such a big difference. It is so much easier to walk him now. I tried running him on my bike, but after a few close calls with me almost doing a nose dive because of him running after other dogs, I dont know that I will try that again, although it did wear him out. Im just not sure it is worth the risk. I have also looked in to getting him a backpack to help tire him out on our walks. I have heard that does the job pretty well.
There is still several things that need to change with him, and we are working on the major stuff, but in the mean time we have just tolerated the rest just to save our sanity. He has his problems, but he is one of that family now, (even if my cats still hate him.) I guess we have just adjusted to the fact that that is just how the breed is, and we will have to work around it and try to outsmart him. I would be very interested in hearing any other tricks that worked for you though. I am always willing to try something new. -
The backpack is a GREAT HELP!! I use it every morning & I think it even calms my dog down as far as pulling goes. I put two water bottles about 1lb each.
Try putting Vicks Vapor Rub on the things that you don't want chewed. The bitter apple does NOTHING for our dogs but this Vicks vapor rub stuff is like a horrible odor for them. The second they see the bottle it's OFF to the living room
and will also help your sinuses too ha ha :eek:good luck!
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Hey guys, I talked with lovemybaroo and she is still sticking in there…..
Please post your favorite tips to gain peace in your home for her.
One thing I've learned is the idea of managing rather than trying to eliminate a behavior. For example, my boy does not like to be moved when sleeping (wakes up growling and snarking); however, his nighty-nights are spent in my and my husband's bed, and he's usually in bed before us, and almost always in one of "our" spots. Because we like him to sleep with us, we started to manage his snarky behavior by calling his name, demanding an "off" (the bed) and a "sit" and rewarding him for the off-n-sit with a tiny treat. He's become so used to it that he now just does it, without us saying a word.
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Try putting Vicks Vapor Rub on the things that you don't want chewed. The bitter apple does NOTHING for our dogs but this Vicks vapor rub stuff is like a horrible odor for them. The second they see the bottle it's OFF to the living room
and will also help your sinuses too ha ha :eek:good luck!
Vicks does the trick. All I have to do is open the bottle and our little guy knows its nasty. I don't even want to imagine what it tasts like :rolleyes:
You really have to choose your battles with Basenji's. I have come to learn that some days are better than others. One day he can be the sweetest little guy and the next, pure evil!
It can be really tough at times. To the point that I need to leave the house to regain my sanity :o But all in all..just look at that face. Im a sucker for those wrinkles. -
I think managing B issues is a good thing. Some things can be helped with training, but there are some B behaviors that just seem to be inherent. We have a hallway that, for reasons we cannot fathom, the dog likes to poo in. We've tried about everything under the sun both chemical and environmental (longer walks, timing his food intake and so on) with no luck. It's like he was saving a little just for that hallway. Brown carpet + dog poo = glad I wasn't barefoot. Anyhoo, we finally just put up a baby gate and eliminated (no pun intended) his access to the area.
It seems like we adjust our behavior to suit his more than the other way around -
to keep the peace in my house I rely on our training… daily. Literally, not a day goes by that my dog isn't asked to work a bit. we will run through some drills for dinner, treats, play time, affection, a walk, etc.
there are a few things that I adjusted - i.e. trash is kept in a closed closet, toys are kept on the top shelf in another closed closet, cat food, treats and toys are kept on a high table and pushed wayyyy back, etc...
but mostly we use our words to control the dog. down, wait, leave it, give, on your blanket, touch, come, stay, off, etc... are all part of our daily vocabulary and routine.
that's not to say we haven't had some funny yet trying moments, where something got shredded, the cat got pounced on, or he's jumped a fence to run through horse poo only to come in and jump on my kitchen counters....
sometimes, you just have to laugh.
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I'd like to start by expressing to you how happy I am that you decided to keep your B and tough it out. I must admit there are times I want to throw in the towel, especially when I'm cleaning poo and pee after a long day of work with a pile of dishes, laundry and dinner to keep me busy for the following hours but even while I'm on my hands and knees and using not such lady like language I turn to him and he's looking at me like are you done being mad can I get a kiss now and yes after a short time of venting to my husband on the phone I end up admitting that I could never give our Champ away. I agree with the other members about proper training and getting info on our B's. And yes it is my fault that I leave the closet open and my food and drinks so close to the edge because I have not done my part in telling him and conditioning him to listen and behave. And I don't know about you but I've noticed that eventhough my B is very hyper and jumps on my face at times, he is also gentle and so cuddly at others. It's a long battle but knowing we are not fighting this alone and alot of owners have been able to work with their B's to live happily does give hope and helps move forward, together, one day at a time.
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With proper training, (us and them) the living together part is so much easier. You almost forget how difficult it once was. If Duke didn't crave forgiveness with his hugs and kisses like he did when he was a pup - I don't know where he would be. I just couldn't give up all his loving. So we toughed it out, found this forum and went to a dog training class at Petsmart. I still have to get back for more training and especially with our new puppy. See? I got another one - wasn't so bad, the rewards are the best.
