Digging

Behavioral Issues

  • Dear Pufferlover, That is the funniest picture of your dog in the hood. You should see Abbey in her hooded yellow raincoat. She looks like a total doofus but thank goodness she doesn't know that. Basenjis need to think they own the street when they go out.


  • I thought maybe my B was digging the couch and carpet because he got the scent from his behind on it and he, too, was offended!

    This made me laugh, Pufferlover. :D Aren't they supposed to be stink proof? Duke gets in a digging mode once in awhile on the couch. What is it about couches? Anyway, when he does it, just as he's winding down, he'll curl his head under on the dig spot and do a spin, sort of upside down. Like the back of the couch gets in the way of doing a complete turn around tho. He'll do it a couple times before he tires himself out. I watch this action with amusement and a :confused: look as to why he does this. Of course I think to myself - he's a basenji . . .


  • These stories are sooooooo funny!!
    I have to laugh at Bandit when he finally settles down to sleep between my legs….. his long legs stick straight out or if he's on his back..... straight up in the air..... LOL
    Angee


  • It's funny you should say Bandit's legs stick straight out when he sleeps. Abbey slept like that till she was about a year old (she's nearly 3 now), then one day she just kind of figured out that she could sleep curled up. It was weird. There's something else strange about her. She will not let you pet her on the head, only on her rump.


  • Jazz either sleeps curled up tight, or with her legs stiff and boards and sticking straight out.

    These dogs crack me up….


  • OMG - Duke did it today! Not the couch thankfully. We let him outside, but he was out too long and I started to wonder :confused: where the heck he was. So I went out front and called for him. He came running out, like if he had a tale, it would be down low beteeen his legs. His face and front feet were black! :eek: He dug up the grass along side the concrete driveway in 3 places. The holes are as deep at the concrete - 6 inches?? and very long. I bet there's a chipmunk or something burrowed under it. But his body language that let me know he was sorry he did something I wasn't happy about. When I saw, I said "Oh no!" It was over for him. He wanted forgiveness immediately. I scolded for a little bit "Bad boy!" "What did you do!", but he was relentless with me to forgive him. OK - we had a talk, kissed and made up. :cool: He's a sweet pea. Let's just see if he does it again - after the holes are repaired. I hope not. Anyone want to bet on it? <ggg>:D</ggg>


  • :D If anyone was thinking Duke would do it again, you were right. I was hoping that he was real real sorry for having such a good time digging the grass & dirt and that he wouldn't do it again - ever . . . :rolleyes: My husband said there is a mole under there, so that's what Duke is after. It must have been driving him mad:mad: knowing there was something under the grass. What good senses these B's have.:cool: Well now we have a mole problem that we have to get rid of fast before the whole lawn needs replacing.:eek:


  • Do you know that Basenjis were used in Africa to hunt rats, ones almost as big or bigger than them. So this is why your B is digging for this mole, it is inbread in them, it is there mission to get what ever they are hunting. I read that Africians loved their Bs so much that when a jeep was coming down the road they would pick up their Bs and forget about their children. Go figure!:eek:


  • @youngandtired:

    Do you know that Basenjis were used in Africa to hunt rats, ones almost as big or bigger than them. So this is why your B is digging for this mole, it is inbread in them, it is there mission to get what ever they are hunting. I read that Africians loved their Bs so much that when a jeep was coming down the road they would pick up their Bs and forget about their children. Go figure!:eek:

    Yeah, well, sometimes my basenjis are WAY nicer to me than my children are. :D

    To be fair, it's far easier for me to pick up a basenji than a teenager, anyway. But if a jeep is coming down the road… well, the kids better get out of the way.


  • :D Very funny Listeme . . . Good thing most people, young and old are smart enough to get out of the way. I can see why the Basenji's were picked up. Otherwise, they would be flattened!:D


  • Our yard is covered in moles, and Jazzy is quite content to live in peace with them.
    She is more interested in chasing the squirrels in the trees. The only digging she has done is to get at a squirrel that takes refuge under our porch.

    I WISH she'd stop trying to climb tree and that she'd dig after a mole – I just paid "The Mole Guy" $75.00 to set out 9 traps in our yard, and there's a $30.00/mole caught fee in addtion.
    sigh.


  • Oh my - that's alot of $$/dog toys!! Hope you don't have 9 moles! But you just gave me an idea ~~ Maybe Duke can earn his keep hunting down moles. Hmmmm - What should we charge? - With a 50% discount, $15 per mole. The discount will allow for lawn repair. One job a week ought to cover his entertainment expenses. :D


  • This is just makeing a nest to lay on, wild basenji would do this with grass or dirt to make it soft for them to lay on. Now digging in the yard is a differnt story, basenji will dig for a number of reasons, females will dig to make a den for pups, males and females will dig to get cool or stay out of the sun. They will also dig grubs and grass roots to eat.


  • Sandie diggs to destroy… she has torn up all my plants and anything she can get in her mouth.. I have noticed tho that she likes to eat roots she pulls up, thought it was wierd... and grass...and leaves...

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    We are now in an area that is covered in many dog training books and/or websites, so you are welcome to research this subject on your own. I think the leadership ideas are pretty much the same even though we are dealing with Basenjis, the issue is using the right technique for Basenjis. We had 4 sessions spread out over about 6 weeks with a positive reinforcement-based trainer. I don't think you have to use a trainer but it does really help. Each week we would have questions because almost nothing went smoothly but she always had ideas to help us get through. I would divide what we did into two categories–changes that we made in how we behaved around Ella, and obedience training (tricks and commands) that helped to strengthen our bond and reinforced out leadership position. The behavior changes are pretty easy to implement. The main ones for us were making sure we led the way out the door on walks and were the first to enter the door upon returning. Eventually we taught the "wait" command so that she will sit at the door and allow us to step outside before we release her. So she is calm and submissive in front of an open door before we walk out. That is huge. Sets the tone for the whole walk. We had to do a lot of body blocking while teaching this but eventually it worked. Treats are keys. We made an effort to eat our dinner before she is fed. Also, she had to sit and wait for her food. She is not given treats just for being cute or for having a curly tail. We are generous with treats but she has to do something (even just a "sit") to get one. She was so forlorn and sad for the first few months we had her we had created bad treating habits...making her see us a submissive to her. I think equally important was at the same time we began teaching commands. At this point all she knew was "sit" and that took a long time (a moth or two) to learn. With a trainer and using treats and a clicker we were able to teach about 6-8 commands in about 3-4 weeks. When Ella picked up on a new command and the excitement it generated, I really felt connected to her for the first time. And because I was the one issuing the commands it made me the pack leader. It gave me a way of controlling her behavior a little and getting her attention. All good things. We learned down, stay, touch, shake, wait, roll over (very tough), up, here and come (the hardest command for a B). The final piece of the puzzle is getting it to make a difference on a walk. Any trainer will tell you that the energy you bring to the dog will be reflected right back to you. We had gotten so stressed with this digging in of heels on walks that it gave bad energy to the walks. It is a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. You just need to have one good walk, or part of one good walk, and build on it. Relaxed shoulders, relaxed hand on the leash, a care-free gait, these are all things a dog will pick up on. As bad as the vicious cycle is when things are bad, they can turn around just as easy. One good walk begets another. One successful commands teaches another. Hope this helps. We were at a low point with our new dog when I wrote that post. She is far from perfect on walks but we have made huge progress.