• This is our third Basenji. Prince Tut is 6 years old. About 3 years ago, he decided to become very protective of us. When people come into our home, he nips/bites them. The other night we had guests for dinner and he broke skin on one person and nipped another. We would so like to know how to break him of this habit. Does anyone have ANY ideas?? Otherwise, he is a very lovable dog. Thanks much.


  • Has he had a full medical workup, including complete Thyroid testing? Have you spoken to his breeder? And since this has been going on for 3yrs, I would highly suggest a behaviorist to assist you with the problem. And in the interim, I would not let him around guests, because biting and breaking skin can lead to problems with animal control and/or law suits.


  • Welcome to the Forum. It sounds as though this 'protectiveness' has been going on a long time. I agree that probably it would be best to get help from a behaviorist but make sure that they have experience of Basenjis. In the meantime keep him away from your guests. It's possible that he's stirred up by the excitement so it's best to try to keep him calm when people are around.

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