@jengosmonkey
LOL this is a really important convo to be having! I'm honored that it takes place on my thread 😆 and yes, I absolutely agree with the points y'all are making.
People do need to know where their pups are coming from and whether they were responsibly bred. To think of it coldly, I wouldn't buy a house without looking into its history and possible problems, or I might face ridiculous stress, expense, and emotional trauma from subsequent issues that come up later. As a consumer, one should do their homework not only on the breed but on the breeder.
A breeder who produces puppies carelessly is basically a horrible human being in my book. It was a huge, thoroughly thought out moral decision for me not to adopt but to buy a purebred puppy, as I've worked with rescues before. I took this step with the possible goal of being a custodian. If a breeder is irresponsible in all the aforementioned ways, not only are they producing dogs with a higher possibility of suffering, muddying this ancient breed, and swindling people, they are needlessly taking potential homes away from dogs that need one AND frequently causing dogs to be abandoned! If there weren't any PMs or BYBs, imagine how many people would get schooled by rescue folk and responsible breeders into taking dog-parenting seriously before they ever took one home!
Sorry for the rant; I COMPLETELY understand the internal screaming that happens within some of you when you find out a pup is from a mill or crap breeder. If people like you and I keep yelling about it, we will change a few minds, which make all the difference to a few dogs which is better than no dogs 🙂
Hello everyone
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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.
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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.
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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.