Skip to content

Steralisation of Male Basenji

Behavioral Issues
  • Would steralisation of male Basenjis change their behaviour in any way. Such as in aggressiveness.

    Several weeks ago our male Basenji bit me as I tried to put him out of our home, I spoke to him sternly and that was that. Today our daughter tried to hold him by his collar to stop him from chasing a car and after struggling he bit her through her ugg boot puncturing her skin, leaving a nasty bruise and then bit her on her arm. Fortunately our daughter is 30 yrs of age so not a child.

    He is also quite aggressive if we take him to doggy parks where they can be let of their leads. He doesn't understand that some dogs just don't want to play or run. Some dogs can handle him but when others emit yelps we then feel embarrassed and take them home.

    Before coming to us the first two years of our Basenjis lives were spent in a breeding kennel. Only our male has been used for breeding.

    We have had our two Basenjis, Cougar (male) and Teketa (female), since mid June and through a lot of patience (and I feel a lot more will be needed) we feel we are coping reasonably well. Teketa has been steralised and since is much better mooded. The problem is that we own Teketa but Cougar was given on condition that we keep him entire so the breeder can use him again so, of course, we would have to discuss this option with the breeder. If she agrees, then we would have no problem purchasing him but if she doesn't then we feel we may have to return him. This we would really prefer not to do. Besides us loving him dearly, he is so close to his sister, Teketa, and we are afraid she might suffer emotionally.

    Any comments / advice would be greatly appreciated

    Dawn

  • Hi Dawn, my names Colleen and i'm from Melbourne!
    I'm really interested to hear peoples thoughts on this as my 6 almost 7 month old male basenji who isnt desex as yet is displaying quite a lot of seemingly random aggression toward my other dog who he lives with. Food is the main trigger, but more and more i think it's his testosterone really kicking in, i think hes trying to test out my other dog too see how much he can get away with and how much he can boss him around.
    Its making life a bit edgy for myself and my dog who cops the outbursts!

    I'm a vet nurse and it is well know that desexing a male will definitely drop hormone levels significantly and therefore any hormonal aggression along with it. It usually calms them and dog/territorial related aggression can be helped by neutering.
    I think that if you really want to keep Cougar the best way to go is to desex him. If it becomes unbearable, then its not going to harm anyone by getting him desexed. And to be honest i think the breeder should think twice about breeding from a basenji who has bitten people… but basenjis will be basenjis. No doubt desexing will help, but no doubt the aggression wont be 'cured'... i think then you need to do your bit by training him in conjunction.

    Best of luck, sounds like we both need it!
    Colleen

  • Hi Dawn, my names Colleen and i'm from Melbourne!
    I'm really interested to hear peoples thoughts on this as my 6 almost 7 month old male basenji who isnt desex as yet is displaying quite a lot of seemingly random aggression toward my other dog who he lives with. Food is the main trigger, but more and more i think it's his testosterone really kicking in, i think hes trying to test out my other dog too see how much he can get away with and how much he can boss him around.
    Its making life a bit edgy for myself and my dog who cops the outbursts!

    I'm a vet nurse and it is well know that desexing a male will definitely drop hormone levels significantly and therefore any hormonal aggression along with it. It usually calms them and dog/territorial related aggression can be helped by neutering.
    I think that if you really want to keep Cougar the best way to go is to desex him. If it becomes unbearable, then its not going to harm anyone by getting him desexed. And to be honest i think the breeder should think twice about breeding from a basenji who has bitten people… but basenjis will be basenjis. No doubt desexing will help, but no doubt the aggression wont be 'cured'... i think then you need to do your bit by training him in conjunction.

    Best of luck, sounds like we both need it!

Suggested Topics

  • 0 Votes
    22 Posts
    5k Views
    J
    I'm no Basenji expert since I've only had one. And, I don't want to start a dog park argument. I'll just share my experience. Jengo LOVED running free, but he's a Basenji. Can't do that cause... cars. The dog park near our house is HUGE. A big completely enclosed lawn area the size of a football field with towering oak trees. We were OCD about keeping Jengo's vaccinations up to date. He was chipped and wore a collar with contact and rabies tags 24/7. He loved the dog park, but not all the dogs there. He hated any dog of any size that would try to dominate him in any way. He rarely instigated it, but he never tolerated it meaning regardless of size... he wouldn't back down. He also hated if another dog approached him from behind and would snap immediately. My solution was to stay near him and to keep moving. We would walk laps around the perimeter and by about the second or third lap he'd been or had checked out all the other dogs. Then things were good. If I saw that he was getting anxious I'd usually catch it before he reacted and would tell him "Easy". 9 times out 10 that was enough. I'd also make sure that he was aware of dogs in our vicinity so that he wouldn't be surprised if they came from behind. We went to the park for years. He never caught anything that I was aware of. I did pick him up and leave if there was another dog he and/or I weren't comfortable with. And, I also recall walking away before ever entering the park if there was a dog we didn't like already there. I guess my point is that part of protecting your dog and others is knowing and focusing on them without over-reacting at the same time. I don't want to set him off. But, I want to know what he's going to do before he does. You have to read him. All dogs give signals one way or another. Tune in to your dog, not the other people at the park. I liked the other people at the park, but I wasn't there for them. My focus was always on Jengo.
  • Growling basenji - aggression towards male roommate

    Behavioral Issues
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • 0 Votes
    14 Posts
    8k Views
    nobarkusN
    My last 2 also did that. Used to scare the bejesus out of visitors at my house because it sounded so viscous but never an injury. Usually a squirrel on the porch would do it then they'd both rocket out the back dog door to see it went that way.
  • Basenjis that can't stand other basenjis

    Behavioral Issues
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    3k Views
    wizardW
    My previous males never had an opportunity to meet other basenjis (outside their breeder kennel) so don't know if the experience with my current female is "typical" or not. The first time she encountered another, it was a tri-color older female that was a real bitch and instantly got aggressive (now whenever they see each other its "hackles up"). The first time I took her to a lure coursing event, mine was friendly enough until a little blind female came up and bit her. The second time I took her to a LGRA event, a lady came up behind us (while mine was trying to potty) with her tricolor female and her dog attacked mine. So now hackles go up any time another female comes within shouting distance.
  • My basenji turned on me :(

    Behavioral Issues
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    1k Views
    ldortonL
    Makes sense. Thanks.
  • Same Sex and Basenji to Basenji aggression.

    Behavioral Issues
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    5k Views
    T
    I agree with Catherine, socialization is a must, but it depends on the personality of the individual dog. When we had 4, they all slept on the bed together and ran together and rarely did we have any problems. We added a puppy and things were still going ok, just really crowded. However, one day our youngest girl decided she was all grown up and didn't want to be bossed around anymore by our 'wanna-be' alpha. Neither of them was a true alpha. We managed to defuse the situation, but a month later it happened again. The girls could never be together again. In fact, the tri developed a predjudice against all red girls after that! Both girls were terrific with people and with Basenji males and even with males and females of other breeds. I had 2 intact males, brothers, who stayed together with absolutely no problem for almost 4 years until one went to another home. They even got along during season. Terry