Where do I begin… (HELP!)

[MaxBooBooBear]

Awwwww…..poor little skinny guy.....but I bet he will grow into a healthy beautiful B with tender loving care.

[Quercus]

Oh my! He IS skinny…but very handsome!

[Mantis]

Weight gaining can be a slow process, but you are doing great! He is beautiful.

[sharronhurlbut]

You have a lot of good help here.
Lots of us are wanting to help with any of the issues you will have with this wonderful basenji .
Sounds like your boy was very lucky to have found your home.
Oh, have you checked him for heartworms?

[nala121498]

He is a beauty! Welcome to the forum, you've gotten the best of the best advice! Keep us posted on how he comes along…

[jys1011]

MileHighGuy-I see you AND Hunter have been well attended to by these great & smart people here I hope you & Hunter are doing better.

I totally understand about the $$ my DH claims that the dogs are leading us to the poor house. My thought is if I have to get a second job just for them I would do it in a heart beat that's how much a adore my little monsters.

A couple of things…I am a HUGE Cesar Milan fan & his tips work for many dogs just not Basenjis (in my opinion). I'm not sure how to put it into words but B's are just "different" I was reading a book by another very well known & trained author on dogs..."Basenjis are the closest to the wild as domesticated dogs can get." :eek: That alone she tell you that they don't respond to many techniques like most domesticated dogs.

Some of the books I recommended have been successful for me & my Basenjis because the technique is all positive and it trains the dog to WANT to do what you want. And in my experience I have come to accept the following:

C3PO will never stop pulling..unless I'm on a bike or running at a fast pace..he HATES to walk. It's just too slow for him. He's kinda like a New York City walker trying to stroll in the slooooow south it's not his thing!!

Topaz will ONLY respond to her name if there's something in it for her she knows her name but really it's gotta be interesting for her to respond.

On walks we MUST have treats with us at all times...especially when other dogs are around or I want them to come sit by me. We have dog "issues" too & that's the way I get their attention. I may NEVER be able to leave the house w/o them but hey that's ok with me

They will only RUN to their crates when there is a treat involved. That's fine.

My Basenjis need to "work" for everything...they have brains & they need to use it otherwise they get bored & will do as they please...they need "sit" for dinner, they need "sit" before allowed into the living room, they need "sit" at the threshold before walking out the door, they need "watch me" before they get a treat outside, they need to "down" before they get a new toy :D, they need to "come here & sit" before they get petted. So they've learned I'm the boss & I call the shots

Good luck

[Nano]

Our first basenji came to us much like yours–a stray with a bad history of neglect and who knows what. It took about 6 months for him to get comfortable and believe the new situation was permanent. The crate was a source of panic for him always. He chased the cats always--though when he caught them, there was never any actual violence. He destroyed things, but that abated eventually. He even lived with our pet rabbits running free in the house--all unsupervised! The number one good technique we discovered was jogging. It was his special responsibility to go running and he took great pride in it. It kept dog and mistress fit and really made a close bond. Most disagreeable behaviours disappeared when the running routine was kept to. He could run 1/2 marathons in his youth (we never tried for more than that.) He was still able to run 5 miles and faster than we could as an old man of ten. If you don't run, or don't want to start, think of another daily high energy activity that you can commit to--it will make you a pack leader faster and more pleasantly than any macho posturing. Consistency is the real key. Start slow to toughen up his paws without hurting them. Sounds like you're headed for success already. Good luck!

[LSanders]

For his coat issues, milehighguy, you might want to try giving him fish oil pills. You can get them at any drugstore/Target/wherever. Just one a day, and you can either puncture the pill and squeeze the oil over his food or give it to him like a pill (that's how I give them to my B and he doesn't like them as much as an actual treat, but much more than when I have to give him medicine.) But having a good diet and overall good health, which it sounds like you're on the way to, will help a lot, too.

Make sure you observe a training class before bringing Hunter there- Tana's previous owners, friends of ours, tried taking him to a Petsmart class and the trainer suggested a prong collar for him and was obviously clueless about the proper way to put them on and use them with the dog….she ended up getting bitten and our friends never tried a prong collar again because they saw the way Tana reacted.

When we got him, after a few months of wear and tear on my shoulders while walking him, I educated myself about proper prong collar usage and have been using one on Tana ever since. He's soooo much better behaved with it and it's saved him from doing typical basenji things so many times (running at moving cars, other dogs and animals.)

ETA: I should add, I've heard nothing but good things about Petsmart's training classes- my friend's experience seems to be an isolated experience, but it's still a good idea to observe before making a financial commitment.

[phoenix3]

Aww the poor baby it sounds like he was really mistreated and "forgotten' about by this last owners My B won't ever go in a crate he was left in there for 15 hrs a day by his last owners and with his issues he had with them i dont bother I have baby gates anywhere i don't want him to go when i first got him he sounded alittle like yours very weary of who i am and what do i want from him i've had him 2yrs now and he has been great of course he has his little basenji additude issues once and a while but with people he has gotten 100% better I tried to bring him to petsmart and any pet place i could so he could see people are ok not all of them want to hurt you and also he got to see dogs there but it wasnt in a place i couldnt control him if he started to get upset he loves his 1 on 1 time he has with me also. when strange people to him would come in the house i would hold him back give them a treat and have them ask him to sit for it he was pretty good about them once he felt that they bring "good" things when they come to see him . I agree with the other posts on given the pawative things instead of any negative things .
The more you spend time with him and show him you love him and your not there to hurt him i think you will see a big turn around It's going to take time though no doubt If he's not nipping i would say that is a plus
Good Luck and keep us updated on how the little one is coming around

[phoenix3]

Opps didnt know this topic had 5 pages i properly said something that was already mentioned lol