Sorry I haven't responded to this post sooner; I got busy & forgot about it. I don't check the forum nearly as often as I should.
To answer above questions:
My girls have both been around bulldogs before. Oddly enough, a guy I dated about a year ago had one, and although not outwardly aggressive or anything, they didn't seem to love her. She was attention starved though (first among reasons why a relationship did no develop with this guy…), and was very overwhelming, barreling around chasing them. They just tried to avoid her mostly. At dog shows and stuff, they don't seem to be weirded out by bulldogs.
Otto does better with dogs than people, and he prefers small dogs/puppies to people. My girls seem to love everything except some other female basenjis. Otto is neutered, Lola is spayed, and Callie is not as she is currently being shown.
Because the times we can visit one another are few & far between & having one on ones would require introducing them on Otto's turf, I don't think its feasible to introduce mine to Otto one at a time before the move.
All three are crated when humans are not around, so leaving them out together unconfined is not an issue.
My dogs are intense in that often when they meet a new dog, they will "rush" the dog, sniffing, etc. On leash, I don't allow this behavior with strange dogs, but at dog parks, etc, they sometimes can be overwhelming to more submissive or nervous dogs.
My dogs are constantly meeting and playing with new dogs and are very well dog socialized. Otto is less so, but, again, tends not to have a lot of issues with smaller dogs.
The meds have made a definite improvement in Otto's mood, but he still bites occasionally when he's overstimulated. The most recent occurrence was during a visit with my boyfriend's dad. His dad unwrapped a present that was in brown paper bag material. Otto was interested & started playing tug of war with dad. Otto got a little too excited, and when dad tried to calmly end the game, he got bit.
Thanks for all the tips. Hopefully, everything will go just peachy, but we're trying to be as prepared as possible, with any little advantage possible.
And Andrea, we will likely be in Richfield.
Wet grass/rain issue
-
We have done the tarp thing for them before as well. Took it off of our deck and attached it. They didn't mind that but first you had to get them down the stairs to even go under there!!
-
We do have a shed and mine run through the rain and into the dry to poo. Luckily they've learnt from each other.
-
[QAs a last resort, I'll use a match. Just a paper one, and not the "business" end, but it usually works for me.
Okay, I think I can figure this out, but I have to ask in case I am wrong. Using a match?
-
I have told this on myself before; when it is an all-day rain, we load dogs up and drive about 5 miles to an overpass that is almost a block long, we park and walk back and forth under the highway. The dogs are very happy and get completely emptied out, then we go home dry. Fortunately we only have to resort to this a couple of times a year, most of our rains are only a few hours at most!
We have a dog park much closer and they will go there in a light rain, much easier than trying to drag them around the block.I think a tarp in the back yard is a great idea!
-
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/matching.html (You can use vasoline instead of spit and while I have HEARD the sulfur end works to make the dog need to poop, I do not use the sulfur end!)
How To Match Your Dog To Make It Poop
Take one or two paper matches and put the sulfur tips briefly in your mouth to wet them.
Straddle your dog facing its butt.
Pull the tail out of the way and insert the now wet sulfur tips of the matches in your dog’s anus. Deep enough that just the ends of the matches are visible and hang out just a tiny bit.
Release the dog.
Usually the dog will start squatting almost immediately to expel the matches. If the dog doesn’t, then you can repeat the steps above.
Do not insert more than 4 matches at a time. Rarely do you need to use 4 matches but some dogs are more stubborn than others.
When the dog squats to expel the matches, it will usually poop too. Don’t forget to clean up after your dog.
-
Voodoo doesn't like stepping out of the house when it's raining, but once we are walking he is fine with it. We have been walking in the rain most of the week (and it's supposed to be summer…).
Wet grass isn't a problem at all. I can make him sit, lay down, stay in it...
He even likes playing in the water, and even an occasional swim. -
[QAs a last resort, I'll use a match. Just a paper one, and not the "business" end, but it usually works for me.
Okay, I think I can figure this out, but I have to ask in case I am wrong. Using a match?
Just what you think…....insert it very gently. Usually it's enough of an irritant that it induces them to get down to business.
I like to just use the paper ones, as it seems to work for me. A breeder I know sends everyone out in the backyard with matches in their butts on rainy days, then she knows who has and who hasn't!Oh, I see Debra has already covered this.....
-
Can you put up one of those 'Easy Up' tents or some sort of umbrella so the grass or a patch of sand is there for the elimination on those kind of days. Uzie's previous owner told me that Uzie would not eliminate outside when the weather was foul (Tenn). The first time it rained here in Fl after his arrival, I luckily had a canopy erected. I promptly wrapped him in a 'blankey', carried him out about the 30yards to the canopy, and put him down on the dry sandy area. Success even while it was raining. I opened the gate and he 'ran' back on his own to the house. Now, with the company of my other two, he will actually go outside and do his business during a 'sprinkle'. It gets cold here in the winter (Florida standards….!) No snow, but we do get freezes...another obstacle i am sure.....
-
I get a rain poncho on and walk mine..one at a time until they go. I end up soaked, but I know that they've gone. I've tried to "match" Zuni once and it didn't work on her!
-
My boy has held it for 16 hours(#1)-(#2-48 hours) and we have had to carry him down the stairs when it rains. He HATES to get his feet wet. I will now take him under a tree in our yard and he will eventually go. My female now does the same thing-under a tree and right back in to be dried.
-
Sadly, this is why I look forward to Winter.
Kananga is extremely fussy outside during the warmer months, whether its moisture on the ground or in the air, he is extremely difficult sometimes.
In the Winter, however, he knows to go and go fast. He's experienced temps as low as -20 to -30 F (without windchill), and knows we only stay outside for a very brief moment and then we're back inside. Somehow he has learned that cold/snow = go fast.
-
Snow means we shovel a bare spot in the yard or they wont go! I guess they would eventually but the whining and standing and staring in the snow isnt worth it. So, we dig a trench and a spot with grass.
-
Oh I can't wait until the next rain fall and then winter time! Thanks guys, the walking helped so I'll try that for now and I'll try to find some all weather booties
-
The method I've always used with Tucker is that the more he fusses and tries to go back towards the house, the futher I walk him away. It only took a few times for him to grasp this concept. Now I take him to his spot, and if he doesn't go, I move on a 50 feet or so further from the house and he gives up and goes. Typically, he'll just go like normal. Every now and again he'll need a refresher…
-
This has been a bone of contention with me and my girl every since she arrived. Luckily this summer it hasn't rained much and thankfully not in the morning when I'm leaving for work!
I've tried the "take em for a walk" - but she balks as soon as I open the door and refuses to even go outside and if I try to "drag" her, forget it, she will try to chew through the leash! I've locked the door and stood outside and wasted my time with her - she will just wait until it hurts. The match trick works to get her to poop but what to do for peeing? Lately I've taken to getting her to run around the house or something else active and then shooing her out when it looks like she can't hold any longer (which doesn't mean she'll go right away but generally she'll go).
This for me is the only really truly consistently frustrating thing about basenjis. -
I have tried staying outside, matchsticking, you name it. I am going to put a cover on the wraparound part of fence, shipping pallet with shavings or straw and give her a dry place. It's that or kill her.
-
Mine will run down the garden through the pouring rain and into the wood shed rather than pee quickly and come indoors! They end up absolutely soaked but very happy that they've managed to find somewhere under cover.
Basenjis!!!!
