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My B bit my kid

Behavioral Issues
  • Ohhhh, and here I thought Shadow was the only one who liked to be a baby-even held like one!! Everytime someone sees me holding Shadow in a cradle form they say, "Oh, I wish my B was like that!"

    Somehow I'm glad I'm not the only one who has 4-legged babies!!

  • Oh no. If you pick Jazz up, esp when she's tired, you can walk all over the place with her on her back, cradled like a baby in your arms. She'll often hang her head way over backwards..looks so uncomfortable, but she'll sleep like that.

    Sometimes she'll be facing me, kind of squished up against me, and put her head over my shoulder to sleep – kind of like a baby with its head on Mommy's shoulder.

    She's 2 yrs old, but very, very much a baby.

  • It seems to be an individual thing with Bs, just like with people…some love to be cuddled, some tolerate it, some hate it. Of our six, we have some of each :) Blondie loves to be cuddled....Ivy hates it....everybody else is somewhere in between.

  • Our B loves cuddling. If he sees anyone else in the house cuddling he will first look at us make his ump noise and bops his head, if we don't go to him he immediatly comes inbetween the cuddling due to his need of always being the center of the love.

  • Training both dog & child to respect each others spaces is so important. My son got his wish when Duke came to live with us. Duke 12 weeks, son 8 yrs. Wasn't about a week before we discovered we had taken responsibility for a devil dog - piranha - crazy, mean puppy. Son hated Duke because he'd been nipped (broken skin) and didn't get the cuddle bunny pup he'd expected. I did however advise son to feed and be the treat giver. Not too long after that, they became fast friends. But it took multiple reminders by me to son of what and what-not to do for safety. Also explained to son the cute little puppy needs to learn and be trained properly by us. When the time came, I enrolled Duke in Beginner's Obedience at Pet Smart. Brought son to every class and had him learn to train too.

    As far a cuddling - Duke doesn't like it. He stretches all fours straight out pushing away from hugger. Unless we're lying down, there is no holding Duke. He will however jump up on lap and hang over shoulder to look out window while I'm on the computer. Our new puppy, Daisy is a snuggle bunny. Yay!!

  • Dog "biting" kids… 9 times out of 10, the kids started it and the dog gave ample warning. Our Rocky grabbed our daughter's hand once when she starting playing with him too rough while he was trying to nap. He low rumbled (we told her to stop, Rocky not like that), then he low growled (stop, Rocky getting mad), then he just grabed her hand. Didn't break the skin but it was quick and for her, just the reprimand she needed. She was startled, not hurt, and she has never done it again.

    I'm not advocating teaching your dog to be agreesive with children or anyone else who walks in your door. The dogs view your kids like pups and discipline them as such.

    And for those out there who think I'm a horrible mom now, my husband or I are always around when the kids and dogs are together and we keep a very close eye on their interactions. If any of them start to step out of line or beyond the boundaries of politeness, the offender gets a time out to decompress and calm down. Both kids and dogs need to learn their boundaries. I often say I don't have two kids, I actually have four or five (but only two ahve two legs, the rest all walk on four!)

  • <>
    Ha, ha...another horrible mom here....the other day I heard Querk squaw..and Ethan shriek. I was in the next room for a SECOND! I said 'what happened?' Ethan says "Querk yelled at me!"...me: "what did you do to him?" Ethan: "I jumped on him on the couch" Nice....he's three...Querk's eight....can't really blame either one. But we talked about why Querk is allowed to tell him to stop doing something dangerous (not to mention irritating!).
    Luckily all of my dogs have WONDERFUL bite inhibition, and we have had very few snarking issues. But for the most part I agree with Rockyswoman...kids have to learn where the boundaries are...and *sometimes, *some dogs can teach that lesson when the parents' message is lost on the kid.
    Of course, we basenji people are a little wierd....most "normal" people would flip right out if their dog tried to reprimand their child ;)

  • I think it was a wake up call for Greggy. They both fogave each other. My ex husband however was not so forgiving. He demanded we get rid of the dog. I told him that was not an option. Dash is by no means an "aggressive" dog. Dash loves Greggy but Greggy hurt him and much like any other animal would he reacted. My ex has dropped it luckily. Not that it was an option. Dash is a second child to us.

  • Sounds lik the ex should be bitten-hard. Oh, did I say that in my outside voice? Ooooops!

  • Yeah - Duke used to scream when being pestered (to death) by son. I remember running into room where they were together asking, "What happened?" numerous times. Though, Duke was a very unfriendly puppy when we got him - I'd never known a puppy so mouthy with all those sharp puppy daggers! Ahhh - hands hurt all over just thinking about it. Couldn't touch him anywhere without being snapped on a limb. He has so outgrown it now at 1 yr 3 mos. Glad we toughed it out. I sometimes wonder where he came from. I'd bet he had very little human socialization. (poor baby)

  • It is funny that my basenjis, all of them, know when i am sad or they have done something wrong….like play a bit too hard....

    They always come up and try to cuddle with me as if they are asking for forgiveness....

    it sounds like you instinctually responded the right way.

  • I think the thought process Dash has is what makes me so amazed by this breed. I have never had a dog that thought as much as he does. He actually seems to think that something was wrong and try and make it right. Maybe I am puting human emotions on him. But there is something there.

  • Alani too knows when she has done something and tries to get forgiveness. When we play around and she bites to hard there's always an 'OWE' then I'll stop playing. She knows she's hurt me and will get in my face and lick me until I pet her and tell her it's ok. But she's very persistant with it, I've tried pushing her away (sorry, I was upset..felt bad later) but she'll jump right back up and get in my face until I forgive her. It's really hard to stay mad when she does this.

  • A cold Basenji is a cuddly one!

    Winter has it's advantages in cold parts of the world!

    I find Basenji's are like cats, sometimes they want tons of physical attention and other times. it's DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

Suggested Topics

  • Newborn/Kids with My Basenji

    Behavioral Issues
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    eeeefarmE
    It would be useful to know more about this dog. Has resource guarding been an issue in the past? Has he bitten either you or your wife before? (a real bite, not playful nipping). Or anyone else? A dog that isn't used to children may be fearful of their loudness or quick movements. Perhaps you could do some socialization work with him, e.g. hanging around places where young kids congregate to accustom him to their noise and activity. Obviously not allowing any interaction as you are unsure of his behaviour. Dogs react differently to newborns. In my experience bitches are more likely than dogs to be tolerant, but it is very much the individual dog's reaction that counts. People have been blindsided when their supposedly tolerant and gentle dog turns out to be hostile to a young child. Bottom line, no dog should be left unsupervised around young kids, so in any event you would have to monitor his behaviour carefully once your baby arrives. On a personal note, of the five Basenjis I have owned, two bitches were entirely reliable with kids, the other was tolerant as long as they respected her space. One of the males adored children and was curious about them, the other curious but uncertain and would react to fast movements. I did not trust him and controlled any interaction closely. IMO, he would have bitten had he felt threatened. And kids, especially babies, tend to grab and pinch, ears, tails, whatever. Caution is always the safest route.
  • Bit Stranger

    Behavioral Issues
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    J
    Thanks everybody for the insight. Still can’t believe our sweet little dog that curls up with us, has it in him to bite somebody. The more I read, the more I believe that this is fear related founded or not. Our vet recommended a behaviorist, so we might go that route. We did already do some formal training, but that was just a Petsmart class. It was more for the benefit of our kids but he was in a unusual social environment and did so well....better than all the dogs In the class. We will keep working on this. Thanks! J
  • Any other B do this?

    Behavioral Issues
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    T
    Yep Tenji does it also, I call it his "Mr. T" look though.
  • Just one of the kids

    Behavioral Issues
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    youngandtiredY
    My B, Sahara, loves to play fetch and does so almost everyday. I taught her how to bring it back to me and how to release it once she had it. Silly dog wants to play tug of war with everything. She will even go to her toy box and pick out the toy I tell her to get and bring it to me to play. She is the smartest dog I have ever owned and I have quite a few.
  • Into of the third b

    Behavioral Issues
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    L
    Thanks for the info! Yes we just got over the rain for the most part,,,,,,,thank goodness! What part of Maryland are you from? My aunt lives in Cumberland and the last time we were there we went to Rahobath beach (not sure of the spelling). We had a great time except for the DC traffic – we here in Southeastern Ohio are NOT use to that type of traffic! It was funny once my cousin (from Cumberland) came in town for a visit and we were going down one of our main drags on a Sat. morning and I said "Man,,I cant believe this traffic,,,,,its awful!" and she laughed and said I didnt know what traffic was! Well ,,,,,,,,,she was right,,,,,,,I couldnt imagine dealing with the DC traffic every day. About the furbabies though,,,,,,,they seem to be getting familiar with each other. Only a few minor scuffles today over a rawhide I forgot to get out of the backyard . Also, the marking has seemed to end-- we were a little worried. Lastly, the eating in there crates thing has worked out except our Bella (1st BRAT dog) has been dealing with some seperation issues again after we left her for the weekend to drive to Missouri to get Wrigley. Anyway, hopefully we will be one big happy family! One last thing, kudos to you and your wife for fostering so many dogs. My husband and I are considering volunteering for BRAT after this spring. My son is a senior and I am afraid as we get closer to the spring things will get crazy around here with all of his senior stuff.
  • Does your B do this!!!

    Behavioral Issues
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    BarklessdogB
    Thats fine I dont want to get on the wrong paw here!