Great article. And I love the quote from another article : As a Dog World magazine article put it several years ago: "Modern basenjis are living antiquities that will make your home their jungle, your furniture their monkey bars, and every walk a safari."
I don't know what to do :(
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I'm being threatened by the other people I live with as well saying that if it doesn't change soon "one day when i come home he might not be here anymore".
This is a terrible threat to make especially if you are making efforts to handle him. You need to move or they do.
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That sounds like an unnerving environment to live in…not knowing if your dog will be there when you get home. Maybe you need to see if you can get everybody in the household onboard with "the program". It is much easier to get any results if all parties know/do the same thing, for you and for the B...and it would be more fair for the B. Mixed messages are very confusing..
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Can you give us more info Basenjiboy? Do you leave him during the day while you are at work? Is he loose in the house? Do these people deal with him while you're not there? Either he has a health problem or these other people are doing something or handling him badly while you're not there.
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Is he fixed? If I can find someone in Minn to come over, who is basenji smart, to see just what is happening…would that be something you would consider?
Could it be someone who is visiting one of our housemates is not kind to him?
Just somethings that came to mind. -
The vet may not have done a through test like Dr. Dodds on the thyroid panel. Total T4 or T3 measurement alone, or T3 & T4 alone, are not accurate for diagnosing HT. You need to have results for T3, T4, Free T3, Free T4, T3 AA, and T4 AA.
with a sudden behavior change, the health issue bells go off.
Be sure to send samples to Dr. Dodds, because she takes breed, age and diet into account in interpreting the results as well as doing the complete panel. I liked the results we got from her better than MSU when I was working at a vet clinic.
Also, be sure to have him tested for rikettsial diseases like lyme, erlichia and anaplasmosis, many of which can cause behavior changes in dogs. Last, consider hip and spine x-rays. Pain can cause aggressive behavior as well.
Hope some of this helps.
-Nicole
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What triggers the agression towards you and the other people? and how do you deal with it?
See thats the problem, I can't say for sure 100% of the time because it's very random when its triggered. I have alot of health problems so I live with my mom and sister right now since school is out. Most of the time it's when anyone in the house comes near me, especially when I'm on the couch. He hates strangers and won't let anyone come in the house so I have to crate him when people come over. He growls about toys alot so I have no other choice than to take them from him. Usually when they are not walking around then i let him play with his toys. He hates when his feet or neck are touched, he bit my sister twice when she grabbed him by the collar (on 2 different occasions) but I warned her after the first time and she didnt listen so in my opinion the second time was her fault. He humps my leg when people hug me, he gets upset when people hug me.
When I am not at home but they are my mom tells me that the aggression greatly decreases. When everyone is gone he doesnt get crated. I usually just yell at him when he does something bad. I use to crate him when he did something bad and he hated that but then I was told your not suppose to do that so I don't anymore. He loves his crate but only on his terms lol
I have a theory about some of this, I don't know.. When my brother was around I use to sleep on the couch alot and he was a huge jerk. He use to pull me off the couch when I wouldnt get off (he was abusive) so that would get pretty bad. There were times when he would grab me and not let go (which would look like hugging) and just general bad thing like that would lead to yelling and crying…and now the dog guards me all the time..Just a thought. My sisterdoesnt like my dog and she yells at him and gets annoyed by him but no one ever hits him.
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I constantly try and get them on board 100% but they are only doing it sometimes and i have told them over and over that only doing it sometimes doesnt work and is only going to make it worse. My mom told me shes only taken his toys from him or crated him when im gone. (sometimes she has sometimes she hasnt)
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with a sudden behavior change, the health issue bells go off.
Be sure to send samples to Dr. Dodds, because she takes breed, age and diet into account in interpreting the results as well as doing the complete panel. I liked the results we got from her better than MSU when I was working at a vet clinic.
Also, be sure to have him tested for rikettsial diseases like lyme, erlichia and anaplasmosis, many of which can cause behavior changes in dogs. Last, consider hip and spine x-rays. Pain can cause aggressive behavior as well.
Hope some of this helps.
-Nicole
Generally, how much would all that cost? Thats another bad thing I don't have the money to do more expensive things (I lost my job and paying for school)
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Hi,
i think all the suggestions to get him checked again medicaly are good, unfortunately it is expensive going to the vets, i know to my cost,lol.
Sharond suggestion abour someone coming over from BRAT to obseve and advise is also good. Hopefuly they could help if you need to rehome him. You sound like you are realy trying with him and its such a shame your sister doesn't like him.
It is important not to yell or grab a Basenji, often if they are lyed down they dont like you to put hands on them and will growl, you need to do the broken record technique of repeating "get down !" But KEEP CALM or you can escalate the situation.
As you will realise Basenjis are a challenging breed and people misunderstand how to handle them, i certainly did when i first got mine, you cant treat them as normal Dogs, they are still close to wild dogs in temperament. Some of our friends were afraid of Benji because they saw him acting up, and your family sound as if they have been put off too. I do hope you get sorted and admire you for trying so hard:) -
Sorry about all spelling mistakes etc in above post. In a hurry going out.
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Generally, how much would all that cost? Thats another bad thing I don't have the money to do more expensive things (I lost my job and paying for school)
Call around to local vets and see if someone uses the IDEXX snap 4dx. It is a snap test that checks for heartworm, lyme, erlichia and anaplasmosis all in one, and shouldn't cost much more that a normal heartworm test.
The thyroid panel with t3 and t4 autoantibody is $85 through hemopet. When the vet is doing the draw for the snap, just ask him to get 5-6 cc instead of just the few drops for the snap test, and you can send it to Hemopet yourself, or ask them to send it, which they shouldn't charge too much extra to do.
When they are doing the physical exam, ask them to be especially sensitive to any signs of tenderness in the hip or spine, and only talk about x-rays if they find something. All told, I would expect about $200 without x-rays and $500-$1000 if x-rays are needed.Also, consider joining the yahoo group agbeh. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/agbeh/
They are very strict, but very good. Read through their files section. They have a lot of great info there.
Also, Ian Dunbar has his book "After you get your puppy" available for free as a pdf at dogstardaily. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/after-you-get-your-puppy . I realize your guy is not a puppy anymore, but this is a great book, and many of the exercises could be helpful.Again, hope some of this helps.
-Nicole
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Another issue is that you don't know what they are doing to your dog when you are not home. This is one of the big reasons why breeders will not place a dog into a home where not everyone is 100% behind having one. Lack of consistency can cause problems and training set backs but if someone doesn't like the dog or want the dog they can undermine the dog's success in the home.
I would also recommend the booklet How To Be The Leader Of The Pack by Patricia McConnell.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/how-to-be-the-leader-of-the-pack
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Hi,
i think all the suggestions to get him checked again medicaly are good, unfortunately it is expensive going to the vets, i know to my cost,lol.
Sharond suggestion abour someone coming over from BRAT to obseve and advise is also good. Hopefuly they could help if you need to rehome him. You sound like you are realy trying with him and its such a shame your sister doesn't like him.
It is important not to yell or grab a Basenji, often if they are lyed down they dont like you to put hands on them and will growl, you need to do the broken record technique of repeating "get down !" But KEEP CALM or you can escalate the situation.
As you will realise Basenjis are a challenging breed and people misunderstand how to handle them, i certainly did when i first got mine, you cant treat them as normal Dogs, they are still close to wild dogs in temperament. Some of our friends were afraid of Benji because they saw him acting up, and your family sound as if they have been put off too. I do hope you get sorted and admire you for trying so hard:)What is "BRAT" ?
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BRAT is Basenji Rescue (www.basenjirescue.org)
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nevermind this post lol
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I read about thyroid problems and it says once they learn that bad behavior and get use to it meds usually cant correct the problem
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I believe most behaviors can be corrected or modified if its done in a positive manner and everyone in the house is on board.
If not, please think about what would be best for the basenji and you…
There is a place for this b to go to. -
I read about thyroid problems and it says once they learn that bad behavior and get use to it meds usually cant correct the problem
If the behaviors are coming from a medical condition, first you have to address that… I know of at least 2 Basenjis local that had Thyroid conditions and those dogs had many of the same issues as yours... they put the dog on Soloxine.. and within 3 days the behaviors changed... after a month they decided the dog was cured... and stopped the meds... within 24 hours the behaviors came back....
So while it will not make a dog perfect... you still need to have all in the home on board with teaching, interacting, working with the dog... it will and can certainly change the "temperament".... look at it this way... if you don't feel well, what is your immediate reaction?
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I read about thyroid problems and it says once they learn that bad behavior and get use to it meds usually cant correct the problem
I don't know if I believe that, at least not to the point of not trying to fix it..Yes you might have to reitterate to him what is Ok and not OK to do, but by all means if it truly is his thyroid, regardless of what you might need to do to retrain him, he still needs meds, as he is miserable in his own body..in my opinion.
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I was quoted a price for a "6 thyroid panel" is that correct…? then the 4 panel below. and how do you know if your vet is really taking you to the cleaners with the price they are charging you?
