Hi my name is Sandy and my husband is Mike. Our Basenji is Ike. We recently adopted him, he is 4 yrs 8 mo. This is our 3rd Basenji, 2nd to adopt. Our first was a female and we got her as a puppy. I am so glad to find this forum as we are having some issues with Ike. We got him from BRAT in Dallas Texas area. We knew that he had problems with men/boys when we adopted him, however since we had previous experience with the breed, we were granted the ok from BRAT. Ike is so skittish around Mike and just paces the floor, will not take food or treats from him. However, when we go to bed, Ike goes right to him and lets him pet him, I think this is strange. We hired a trainer to come over and work with us. He suggests that I put Ike on a leash, then hand it over to Mike and then he reels him in. The whole time Mike has him on the leash Ike is stiff and his eyes are bulging, Mike tries to brush him and make him comfortable, to bond with him and walks him in the neighborhood and this does not seem to be working, he is still just going all around and away from Mike. I am the one that is getting frustrated, I'm home with Ike all day and he is great, he does everything I tell him, he even does tricks, roll over, high five, down dog. Like I said we knew that he has issues when we adopted him, its just that we thought by now (1 1/2) months he would warm up to Mike, I've never met a dog that did not like him. We think he has been seriously abused in his early puppyhood.
Please, if anyone has suggestions as to what we should do next, we would appreciate all input.
