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First Attack

Behavioral Issues

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12 Dec 2007, 16:37

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  • 1 Votes
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    @rugosab said in First signs of aggression? Should I be concerned?: must be considered ALPHA, as are all my family. Exactly !!! The only way to run a pack is to be the Alpha at all times.
  • 0 Votes
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    I'm no Basenji expert since I've only had one. And, I don't want to start a dog park argument. I'll just share my experience. Jengo LOVED running free, but he's a Basenji. Can't do that cause... cars. The dog park near our house is HUGE. A big completely enclosed lawn area the size of a football field with towering oak trees. We were OCD about keeping Jengo's vaccinations up to date. He was chipped and wore a collar with contact and rabies tags 24/7. He loved the dog park, but not all the dogs there. He hated any dog of any size that would try to dominate him in any way. He rarely instigated it, but he never tolerated it meaning regardless of size... he wouldn't back down. He also hated if another dog approached him from behind and would snap immediately. My solution was to stay near him and to keep moving. We would walk laps around the perimeter and by about the second or third lap he'd been or had checked out all the other dogs. Then things were good. If I saw that he was getting anxious I'd usually catch it before he reacted and would tell him "Easy". 9 times out 10 that was enough. I'd also make sure that he was aware of dogs in our vicinity so that he wouldn't be surprised if they came from behind. We went to the park for years. He never caught anything that I was aware of. I did pick him up and leave if there was another dog he and/or I weren't comfortable with. And, I also recall walking away before ever entering the park if there was a dog we didn't like already there. I guess my point is that part of protecting your dog and others is knowing and focusing on them without over-reacting at the same time. I don't want to set him off. But, I want to know what he's going to do before he does. You have to read him. All dogs give signals one way or another. Tune in to your dog, not the other people at the park. I liked the other people at the park, but I wasn't there for them. My focus was always on Jengo.
  • Face, thread and attack

    Behavioral Issues 4 Aug 2017, 07:19
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    Lots more information needed here. As Debra asked, how old? How long have you had this dog? Is this a new behaviour and if so how recently has it appeared? What training have you done with this dog? IMO, it isn't unusual for a Basenji to object to doing something it doesn't want to do (or when asked to cease doing something it does want to do!), but usually this will be only a grumble and if it has escalated to biting or threatening to bite you need to deal with it, and if you aren't confident then you need help from a qualified trainer.
  • 0 Votes
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    @nikikob - Wish you luck, but I fear to say that things are going to go badly. When bitches fight, 99.9% of the time you will never get them back together and while it might work for a while, when the "mood" hits... the fights become worse and worse.
  • 0 Votes
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    @Quercus: …I can't imagine a dog in a real fight taking the chance of turning his back on the attacker. Though, I am used to seeing girl, girl fights...where neither girl is willing to surrender...it could be that a dog who really doesn't want to fight will try to protect his head and neck by offering other 'parts'...it would definitely indicate that the other dog wasn't reading his signs correctly...either by the dog offering surrender, or running away...it isn't really appropriate for the attacking dog to continue attacking... This is probably what may have happened. I don't think anyone actually saw the fight… So it's hard to tell, but my friend now thinks it is a part of male dominance fighting! I told them I would ask on here and see if it is common or not...
  • 0 Votes
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    The very day I responded to this thread we had a visiter that evening at our new home. The visiter was unexpected and when he banged on the door Hollie jumped up, stretched out her body to see out the window, hair up on her back, barking & growling. She continued this behavior until the person went away (we didn't answer the door - unknown visiter). She is constantly leery of situations, things and people. Having rescued her from a shelter that picked her up as a stray, we know NOTHING about what happened to her before she joined our family. I believe I have a pretty good "Watch Dog!"