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Coat Blowing behavioral changes

Behavioral Issues
  • Hey I had a question for everyoine,
    My little Zaire is currently blowing coat. I have noticed that as she has started this she has become ALOT more aggresive towards Charlie. She will be sitting minding her own buisness and he will walk by her and she picks a fight. I haven't been sure if this is just her getting older and trying to vie for her pack position, or if it is related to loosing hair. Has anyone else experienced behavior changes with their Bs durring coat blowing?

  • How old is she? Is she spayed? I have never notice behavior changes just from blowing coat… coming in season, yes for sure... and breeding season is so in-grained in Basenjis that many time even a spayed bitch will exhibit behavior changes during breeding season... certainly it is true for the males (neutered males), my boys even after being fixed certainly knew when breeding season was, even with no in-tact bitches in the house.

  • I agree with Pat, behavioral changes because it is that time of year could be an explanation. The only other examples I know of where coat changes and behavioral changes are linked is if the dog may be hypothyroid. Both coat changes and irritability are symptoms of hypothyroidism.

  • Hmm…well she is fixed 8 months old now, I guess she may be reacting to the season. I am doubting hyperthyroid at this time as their has been no change in water or food intake, and she is still gaining weight, as well her coat is not dulling, just her first coat blow. I am wondering if it may be that she is just finaly trying to take the full alpha position from Charlie, She is finaly taller than he is now, and he was a little mean at times when she was very young. I will keep an eye on her water and food intake, as well as her weight. If she starts intaking more, and looses any weight I will take her in.

    One other thing...it appears to be only aggression towards Charlie (Fixed male Parson Russell), not to people or the other dog (A fixed male min-pin)

  • Water and/or food intact would not typically be noticed by Thyroid…. Weight is a key, both over and under weight.

    And it very well could be just her wanting to change the pack order....

  • Yea I was thinking that might be the case…I should mention that the min-pin is a new addition as we are moving into a house. He is owned by a very good friend of mine who is moving with us and staying at the townhome for the next 2 weeks untill we close on the house. They have all played together at both his old place and the townhouse....It may be that she wants the boys to know who is in control. :)

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2 Aug 2008, 17:15

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    Behavioral Issues 21 Oct 2016, 18:22
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    First, yeah they do the flip and butt in face. I see it as invitation to play/chase mostly. Kind of shaking my head here over the rest. You already have a breed known for dominance and protectiveness of property/family with the Boerboel. Basenjis (I assume you mean 6.5 not 65 years old :) ) are not known for tolerating same sex. Sometimes they do, but not a sure bet. Plus, your Boerboel is still a puppy. By age 2 or 3, that compliance with the Basenji being alpha can go down the drain at a drop of a hat. That happens, and he hasn't killed the basenji... you have to keep 2 packs running, ensuring they never have contact. Then you bring in a mixed breed... which is all a Mastador is. No way on earth to know how much it will take after the lab side or the Mastiff. AND it's another male. So now you have potentially 3 dog aggressive male dogs, with 2 of them large enough to inhale the basenji. I am not sure about the breeders who placed the Boerboel, certainly not the owners letting you bring in the Mastador. I want my male dogs to have a chance of a peaceful, unstressful life. I think the chances in your home are already approaching really low numbers, and the Mastador is going to bring that closer to zero. The safety of that poor basenji is beyond precarious. I wouldn't want those 3 males in the most experienced of homes, one already fully ready to and experienced in running separate packs. I sincerely hope you reconsider the Mastador. And no, getting a female won't help. Until the Boerboel is fully mature and you have a handle on what your pack is, adding any dog is going to up the risk of issues.
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    Behavioral Issues 26 Sept 2013, 02:08
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    This is an interesting thread. Any afghan owners notice this in their dogs as well? When Beo was younger, back when I was using the crate with him, when he would have a 'poop' accident he would take a blanket and use his nose to encircle said accident, didn't do the same thing with pee accidents….I don't know if it's the same thing or not, honestly I think he just wanted it as far away from him as possible. He still does this mounding behavior with like bones and the like; he'll use his nose and push a blanket or something on top of it, and then further us his nose to bunch it up into a relatively good looking circle shape. He won't have anything to do with dog feces now though ....he prefers to go in the bushiest/covered area he can find, and then wants absolutely nothing to do with it afterwards (I have to literally drag him through public areas where there's a lot of dog poop lying around).... It is kind of funny to see his "wide-eyed, EW! ICK!" reaction when he accidentally steps in some. Seems like it's more common for basenjis to half halfheartedly attempt to bury it, as opposed to take the time to cover it up with their noses?
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    Behavioral Issues 6 Dec 2010, 06:59
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    @DebraDownSouth: Fran, there are times when I might mean to be condescending, but I assure you that it won't be "a little" or usually any question. That you could take my comment above as condescending… I can only suggest you may simply want to block my posts because it is entirely unlikely I will write 100 words to say what I said in under 20 because SOMEONE might see my observation as insulting. Now if I had said it condescending, such as: How could you THINK it could be that? Don't you think any dog living with females would already have reacted? How silly! The person threw out the idea of periods, which sometimes could be it .. and btw, pregnancy hormones set some dogs off… but it hit me he had lived with them too long for that to be probably. It wasn't an insult to the OP, just a response. People contradict my ideas daily on here, doesn't make them condescending or insulting. THEN, I could see it. I simply tossed out a quick response addressing that logically it probably wasn't that. If you read that as condescending instead of my own view, I am sorry. One helpful rule for forums is that you look at any post and see if there is another TONE than the one you ascribed. If there is, take the other. Like your post. I COULD think you are a jerk, not at all "friendly," addressing this here and hijacking the thread instead of sending me a private message. Instead, because I see you post a lot and like you :), I took it exactly at face value... you simply are expressing your view and trying to be helpful. So please remove any tones you might ascribe to the answer. The tone in my head is simply factual, that I am not responsible for your taking that as condescending and probably won't be able to stop you seeing other posts that way. Now if I actually say something you cannot take any way than as an insult, feel free to let me know. But the above... sorry, Fran, it was simply a logical observation. LOL, and in fact, let me now be "condescending" to my post. (I am joking while making a point.) SOMEONE (but it will be me, since it just hit me where I could easily be wrong...) could have responded to my post and said: Yeah, but dds, you are wrong because maybe she has an infection or urinary tract infection also with a period, that might do it. See? Debra, not a problem. Thank you.
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    Behavioral Issues 30 Apr 2007, 13:37
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