Boarding prep

[wizard]

Need some suggestions on getting EL D acclimated to a boarding situation coming up next spring/summer. He's a retired showdog so he's been around others but he gets somewhat aggressive towards other dogs when we go for walks (not unusual). My previous beastie used to stay at my brother's when I had to go out of town (he had a decent sized kennel in the yard). But EL D doesn't like the lab puppy my brother has and has attacked her (no blood and guts thank goodness), especially when she exhibits typical puppy bonker behavior. So I've found a boarding kennel that offers lots of outside time for all the dogs to play together instead of just being cramped in the cage all day. I'm just a little concerned about EL D not getting along (perhaps unnecessarily so). ANy suggestions on getting him more socialized ahead of time?

[Quercus]

@wizard:

Need some suggestions on getting EL D acclimated to a boarding situation coming up next spring/summer. He's a retired showdog so he's been around others but he gets somewhat aggressive towards other dogs when we go for walks (not unusual). My previous beastie used to stay at my brother's when I had to go out of town (he had a decent sized kennel in the yard). But EL D doesn't like the lab puppy my brother has and has attacked her (no blood and guts thank goodness), especially when she exhibits typical puppy bonker behavior. So I've found a boarding kennel that offers lots of outside time for all the dogs to play together instead of just being cramped in the cage all day. I'm just a little concerned about EL D not getting along (perhaps unnecessarily so). ANy suggestions on getting him more socialized ahead of time?

Well, if you are concerned that he is attacking a puppy…it is pretty unlikely that he would want to play with a bunch of unknown, adult dogs. But I suppose it is possible. Hopefully the kennel would do some screening of the dogs before they put them together, and maybe would have an idea of which dogs would go well together.

On the other hand, his behavior with the puppy sounds pretty normal. And I don't know if I would rule out his opportunity to stay with her. It is normal and expected for adult dogs to put puppies in their place when they get out of hand. If it is occuring with no injury, I would encourage letting them work it out. Dogs have to be able to sort out their status with each other, and ideally they do it without hurting each other. But sometimes it is noisy and scary.

Personally...there is NO WAY I would let a kennel run my adult Basenjis with other dogs, particularly if it was the first time my dog had had exposure like this. I don't trust other people enough to know when a serious fight is about to erupt. I don't trust other people enough to have any kind of control over my dogs.

The kind of prep you might be thinking about is akin to training a reactive dog not to react when being surrounded by other dogs...and while that IS possible, probably not in the time frame you are thinking, and it is rarely 100%effective, as every situation where a dog meets another dog is different, and you can't control the behavior of the other dogs.

So, to actually answer your question if you wanted to know for sure if it might work, I would try to find a rarely used dog park, and/or have a few friends who have nice dogs come over. Try to talk to the people first, and make sure that if El D reacts badly to their dog it won't totally traumatize the dog. Just to see how El D reacts to being off lead with unknown adult dogs. Be prepared that it won't be pretty though..and then be pleased if he does fine!

[wizard]

I certainly have time yet and I plan on continuing to take EL D over to my brother in the hope he will get along with the puppy. I know there are some dog parks in the metro area here (not near me) so I will look into that idea as well. Thanks.

[WBL]

Another option is doggy day care maybe see how he does at that

[TuckerVA]

I was going to mention the doggy daycare as I was reading this. I was lucky enough to find a kennel that allows you to pay a lil' extra for a pamper package and they let your dog run on his own, and they also take them on an extra solo walk through their forest trails every day.

I'm actually surprised they took him because the previous owner told me they were booted out of 3 kennels (after just one visit) before they gave up. Tucker apparently has a history of orneriness towards other dogs (as well as people)…

[wizard]

I like the day care idea - both of the kennels I liked offered this - why didn't I think of that and starring me in the face too. :p
Good idea.

[luvsmy2bs]

We will be taking our b's to a kennel for the first time next week (we have to go back to IL for Thanksgiving) and I was wondering if any of you had any suggetions for us to help the "kids" cope with us leaving for 5 days. They are pretty well socialized but I worry about our newest who is a BRAT dog with some issues as far as anxiety – I am especially worried because he has made leaps and bounds the past couple weeks. I dont want him to regress.

[wizard]

That was always a problem when I had to leave my previous beastie while I was out of town. It was tough to ask others to follow our exact schedule (so I tried not to), especially morning potty. I would always take an extra day or two when I got back to try and get things back to our normal. I haven't had EL D long enough to know how he'll react to my leaving for a few days - although it didn't take much time to acclimate when I first acquired him anyway.