Skip to content

Growling Now???!!!

Behavioral Issues
  • Okay…so that is resource guarding. I recommend the book "Mine" by Jean Donaldson. The very first thing you can do is to hand feed him every one of his kibbles. And he will need to do something to get a kibble...sit, down, whatever.

    And the reason why you haven't seen it before is probably because he is starting to be a grown up now...and this is usually when these things start.

    Do you have an I-pod? Because I found an awesome pod cast about dealing with resource guarding.

  • @tanza:

    Please read the following…. if he has started with food, I believe that it will progress to other areas, if it has not already....

    http://www.tanzabasenjis.net/welladjusted.html

    Wow Pat! That is a lot of information. Thank you. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me. :o One question though..Should I still continue to pet him while he eats and If he growls take his food away?

  • I don't tink provoking him is a good idea. I think the hand feeding treats is a better idea, not for his dinner. Do training with him make him work for the treats, under YOUR control.

    Be sure to feed him last after everyone else eats.

  • @Vanessa626:

    Wow Pat! That is a lot of information. Thank you. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me. :o One question though..Should I still continue to pet him while he eats and If he growls take his food away?

    I would absolutely not do the above. He will most likely bite you. He is telling you that you are way over his threshold of comfort. It is not about you being in charge here…it is about you needing to change his opinion of what is about to happen when someone approaches his food. We don't want to let him practice the behavior of guarding/growling at all..he will only get better at it (and escalate it)

    PLEASE read "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson, or "Culture Clash" has a section on resource guarding, also by Jean Donaldson. You can google "resource guarding" and find lots of info online too.

  • @Barklessdog:

    I don't tink provoking him is a good idea. I think the hand feeding treats is a better idea, not for his dinner. Do training with him make him work for the treats, under YOUR control.

    Be sure to feed him last after everyone else eats.

    The typical first step for changing this behavior is absolutely hand feeding the dog dinner, every kibble…teaching him that all good things come from humans; and that he doesn't control the resources.

  • @Quercus:

    The typical first step for changing this behavior is absolutely hand feeding the dog dinner, every kibble…teaching him that all good things come from humans; and that he doesn't control the resources.

    I agree Andrea… hand feed the entire dinner..
    And he is of that age when the "testing" starts... as you read and this is the same from most people... "I don't know when it started"... and that is because we as humans miss many of the signs....

  • @Quercus:

    I would absolutely not do the above. He will most likely bite you. He is telling you that you are way over his threshold of comfort. It is not about you being in charge here…it is about you needing to change his opinion of what is about to happen when someone approaches his food. We don't want to let him practice the behavior of guarding/growling at all..he will only get better at it (and escalate it)

    PLEASE read "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson, or "Culture Clash" has a section on resource guarding, also by Jean Donaldson. You can google "resource guarding" and find lots of info online too.

    Well put Andrea… and you are correct the whole idea behind this is that you never want him to know that this behavior is getting the reaction he is looking for... or taking it to a level you can't compete..

  • My sweet Sahara is growling here also, when I get up to go to the bathroom. I try to close the door and she gets my shirt in her mouth and growls big time. This happens when I try to get in my car too, I know she is doing it b/c she doesn't want me to leave. My question is what to do about it, the growling is getting more intense. My clothes cost too much to have her put little teeth marks in them, some of my shirts I have had to throw away. What to do, help!!!!!!!

  • @youngandtired:

    My sweet Sahara is growling here also, when I get up to go to the bathroom. I try to close the door and she gets my shirt in her mouth and growls big time. This happens when I try to get in my car too, I know she is doing it b/c she doesn't want me to leave. My question is what to do about it, the growling is getting more intense. My clothes cost too much to have her put little teeth marks in them, some of my shirts I have had to throw away. What to do, help!!!!!!!

    Have you taught her the "leave it" command? Or sit/stay? Those are two things that you can do to prevent this behavior.

  • @youngandtired:

    My sweet Sahara is growling here also, when I get up to go to the bathroom. I try to close the door and she gets my shirt in her mouth and growls big time. This happens when I try to get in my car too, I know she is doing it b/c she doesn't want me to leave. My question is what to do about it, the growling is getting more intense. My clothes cost too much to have her put little teeth marks in them, some of my shirts I have had to throw away. What to do, help!!!!!!!

    It is hard to know without seeing the behavior if she is playing a game with you, or if she is seriously trying to control your behavior. Either way, as Pat said, a leave-it command, or wait command should help.

  • I ditto Andrea's instructions…TOPAZ had the same reaction to high value treats & her food bowl. We nipped this in the bud QUICKLY! First I made sure to mix her dinner with my hands (water & Kibble) so she could have my scent on it & I would then feed her the first few bites out of my hand. Any treat she had to work for it...sit stay or down stay. I would then remove it & put in another treat in its place. This was so she could learn to associate my taking away something...equals getting something better in its place.

    She's better now but we still make them work for food & treats. Whie I prep dinner (I still mix the kibble with my hands) they MUST be in a sit stay position until I'm done (no crowding my feet or me) otherwise I turn around stop & make them sit again. They must also eat in their crates & before I set their bowls down they must sit & stay patiently. No jumping on me...no crowding me while I put the bowl down etc.

  • Vanessa…..
    Any updates on Chance and what's been going on????

  • We have one that will grumble sometimes if you touch her when she's eating, but not all the time, depends on who it is and what she's eating. Funny part is, at times her tail is wagging the whole time she's growling. She's never lashed out or bit anyone over food, just gives a warning when she doesn't want touched or messed with. Sometimes she can do the same when someone messes with her when she's sleeping.

  • Let me guess…umm Cleo?

  • @jys1011:

    Let me guess…umm Cleo?

    Such vision J:D ….....yepper!:D At times, I think it's the only way she communicates.

  • @Basenji_Boy:

    We have one that will grumble sometimes if you touch her when she's eating, but not all the time, depends on who it is and what she's eating. Funny part is, at times her tail is wagging the whole time she's growling. She's never lashed out or bit anyone over food, just gives a warning when she doesn't want touched or messed with. Sometimes she can do the same when someone messes with her when she's sleeping.

    yeah…I love that message...it's like 'I dont want to bite you...but I will if I must'...all said with a sweet smile, and wagging tail....

    can you tell I have seen that too? ;)

  • @Quercus:

    yeah…I love that message...it's like 'I dont want to bite you...but I will if I must'...all said with a sweet smile, and wagging tail....

    can you tell I have seen that too? ;)

    Yep, I'll admit when I see teeth showing along with the grumbles, I pay attention.:eek:

    Cleo doesn't do it all the time, I swear it's just when she's in a bad mood. I've noticed mood differences on several of them. If it's been raining for a couple of days, damp and dreary…............have you been there???:D

  • Wagging tails can mean different things depending on HOW it's wagging. It's easier to tell how they wag with a non basenji tail. If you look at how it's held you can see a difference also. A high tail with a stiff wag is a 'look out' indication. A full sweep is a friendly tail. There are many different variations on this.

  • have you been there???

    i've noticed our male gets mean during spring & fall (other dogs in heat?)

  • @Barklessdog:

    i've noticed our male gets mean during spring & fall (other dogs in heat?)

    Is your male in tact?

Suggested Topics

  • Growling at my wife

    Behavioral Issues
    8
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    2k Views
    tanzaT
    And your wife should be feeding him....not you.....
  • Growling at dogs during walk

    Behavioral Issues
    15
    0 Votes
    15 Posts
    5k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    @nellyja said in Growling at dogs during walk: Read best tips for dog training is to think growing dogs best tips? Not even close. Tie a collar and leash to pup while it eats? Beyond that, nonsense. I wonder how many sites you go to in order to spam with that site?
  • Basenji puppy growling when woken up

    Behavioral Issues
    15
    0 Votes
    15 Posts
    9k Views
    C
    I made sure when my girl did it, I con tinued to pick her up and say stop being so snarky and she would stop imedietely and lick me. I have a very unusual Basenji who loves to kiss and maybe that is because we kissed on her all the time from the day we got her, and whenever she got grumpy and than stopped she got loved on and kissed on. She rarely gets annoyed now because we follow through and never let her think she is the boss. So just follow through and tell her no and dont stop what you already started or she will think she is in control. I was literally a nervous owner with mine because I had heard so many stories about Basenjis and how difficult they can be, and I always had Whippets which are so laid back it is not even funny. But now I have totally gotten over it. I would get another Basenji in a minute and not think twice about it. She is the most entertaining awesome dog we have ever had. Just make sure she knows her place in the pack and love on her alot. It has worked with ours.
  • Destructive..why now???

    Behavioral Issues
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    2k Views
    senjiS
    They do always act up a little when he leaves but usually settle down. They usually just fight more, like they're trying to rework the pack order. This is the longest he has ever been gone. I guess we just hang in there and hope he comes home early…it's tough on all of us. Thanks for the help!!!!!
  • Minor puppy growling

    Behavioral Issues
    17
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    6k Views
    E
    You're right! My wife and I have animals since childhood and since we are maried, almost 25 years. We are really animal-lovers and we can't stand it when folks take animals, just for their own satisfaction. We once bought a abused Parrot for a lot of money, only to give this bird a better place. I am delighted to her that someone of this forum understands what we are trying to say. And the last thing we want, is that people think that you can establish a good relationship with your Basenji through yelling, hitting etc. That kind of constantly fysicaly and mentaly abusing isn't right for no animal! ;) @Quercus: <<we see="" correcting="" as="" the="" last="" posibility="" but="" we="" believe="" that="" sometimes="" it="" is="" necessary.="">> I don't think you will find anybody here that disagrees with that…at least not that has spoken up about training issues. Corrections definitely have a place...but some folks' form of correction ends up doing more damage than help. Yelling, spanking, etc don't have much meaning to a dog. I think corrections in the form of voice are particularly effective during puppyhood when puppies are learning all about what is acceptable. I think physical corrections with an adult dog who is showing aggression in any form is a mistake.</we>
  • Vicious growling over sleeping spot

    Behavioral Issues
    12
    0 Votes
    12 Posts
    4k Views
    MantisM
    I suppose there is a point where you become immune to the growlies with basenjis….female or male...you can tell when they have that rabid scarey sound and that of course, is the sound not to be tolerated if you want to remain queen couch potato!! (self proclaimed title) LOL I say squirt the sucker with a water bottle and you will get that spot back lickedy split! There is nothing worse than trying to settle down on the couch after a long day of work and have a basenji being a weenie. Basenjis are so full of isms....