UPDATE on Bitten & Constant Growling

[jaclempner]

Unfortunately, I did not read the original post about Joey, but I've had to work very hard with my Willie who developed dominance aggression, food aggression and deferred aggression at least partly in reaction to my female who was picking on him, kicking him out of all his sleeping spots, and then finally attacking him to the point where I thought she'd kill him if she could (she's very sweet with us). But maybe it was always partly there and her behavior just brought it out.

I worked with a behaviorist and he's about 95% perfect now - my daughters and I do great with him, but I still have to be alert (one daughter is sleeping with him on the couch right now, but if my husband went up there, he'd growl at him). I've never seen any of my basenjis slink, but I have had dogs that "sneaked" and would adopt that sort of posture.

I give Direy a lot of credit. It's scary having an aggressive dog. I have 2 girls in the house and my son visits (he still gives him a hard time too). The girls really pitched in and did their work with him and he adores them. They know how to handle him if he gets snarky about something and they know how to anticipate him and with good behavior modification techniques and lots of hard work we have a dog we can really enjoy again. But yes, they are not domesticated like other dogs, and since we've had this issue with him, I never assume that I can just think he's totally over it.

Good luck Direy, and don't give up. It takes time, but it's worth it. Behavior modification works well and all my work with Willie has been hands off, treat rewards and claiming my space. If he snarks I step towards him (as Cesar says, calm assertive).

[Janneke]

We had a dog that became agressive, because we gave her too much space. We let her on the couch.. took her upstairs in our beds.. etc. When we would walk towards the couch, she would growl, like it was hers.

We decides to become the 'leader' again. She wasn't allowed to sleep on the couch/in our beds. We never went to her, she always had to come to us. On walks, we would decide were to stop for a sniff etc. She definatly changed. And her bodylanguage changed with it. It became very 'low/submissive' at first. She had a litter scratch on her ego I think. I believe maybe Joey has a scratch on his ego as well. You don't have to be physical to make a dog more submissive in his bodylanguage. And I don't think a dog is only happy when his tail and ears are up. A dog is happy when he knows his place in the family. Joey will relax more when he knows his new place. And you will have to try to strictly follow the new rules, so Joey knows the situation has changed for good. This gives him some peace as well.
I think it's great that you made clear he was allowed to get up from his place, when you would tell him so.

When there is no problem to start with, I think the best way to get respect from your dog is by letting him work for his walks/food etc. But I also think you can make sure no real dominance issues come up. Mirtillo isn't allowed on the couch/in bed just to avoid problems. A dog is a dog and needs to know that he hasn't got all the privileges a human has. He will be ignored if he is begging for attantion and we don't allow him to follow us every where he wants.

I do not agree with the statement that basenjis are not domesticated. They are maybe a 'bit' diffirent than a retriever.. But other than that..
I think that being domesticated just doesn't mean that they understand people. We still have to try and learn their language. (by watching a DVD for example). But that also goes for the retriever.

[nomrbddgs]

Here's what I mean by domesticated. If you take one of the dogs like a retreiver, lab, jack russells, border collie's of the world, these dogs are totally trainable and want to please you as their owner. They were made by man for a distinctive purpose. However, there are dogs, like the Basenji's, African Wild Dog, Jindo, and any Pariah dog, that was not bred by humans for a purpose but came down through the lines in a more natural setting. A lot of these dogs live near humans and are used by humans, but were never bred by humans (until recently) for a direct purpose. And until the last 20 years or so, Basenji's were not bred for strictly temperment. Even today, we still have pockets of very, VERY nasty dogs. And saying that, you can't breed 3000 years worth of temperment out in a short amount of time. It doesn't matter whether they understand people or not, they are independant. If something is more interesting than you, they are not going to stay no matter what. A retriever would. And as I did say, all of this is IMO.

I am pleased that she was shown non aggressive tactics for being in control, such as just placing him back in his spot repeatedly. This does show great promise.

[LiveWWSD]

Arlene, I have to disaggree with you when it comes to a Jack Russell.

I hear from so many people who are placing Russells with us for rescue the statment "Oh I figgured I would get a Jack because they are SOO trainable, you know like the dog on TV".
Then the reality sinks in and they realize that a jack could care less what you have to say or what you want from them.
IMO, owning many Russell terriers over the years, and on my 3rd B now. I find very little difference in their temperment. I do aggree with you when it comes to labs and retrievers, however I can tell you that all the Russells I have owned know all their commands VERY well, but just like a B will ONLY follow them on their own terms, or for a treat.

[jaclempner]

I think, at least for me, that saying a basenji is not "domesticated" only means that they are more in touch with the instincts that they developed naturally than those they were bred by humans for. It's the same way I feel about cats - I've always thought, when watching them, that they were closer to what they would be in nature, without us, than most dogs I knew were. I feel the same way about basenjis - simply that they are closer to what they would be in nature without us. Which is why I think they have problems as pets sometimes, because petdom requires things of them that are really unnatural for them. As Daniel McCaig (sp?) said of a border collie he was training (one who had been kept as a pet that I think was released to him) - her heart was too great for petdom. Some of our basenjis are in the same place - their hearts may be too great for petdom unless we really figure out how to respect them, lead them, and work with their instincts.

[nomrbddgs]

A lot of dogs, including jacks, borders, etc are high energy dogs. This would include the Basenji. But my point is you can train high energy dogs. But very, very rarely can you rely on Basenji's to the point you can rely on a 'domesticated' dog. You can even rely on a jack more than you can a B. Jack's were bred for a purpose and they achieve that purpose very well. If you work with them they will focus on the task. I know of a person who has gone international in agility and obedience with her Jack's-how many B owners can lay claim to that? A very limited few-and even then, again they are not reliable. I just find B's are more unreliable than Jack's. Jack's are not totally trainable-I will agree with you and I should have not included them, they are different than domesticated, but they are still domesticated. But again they have been created by human's, for a purpose, and if you train them for what they are supposed to be used for, they will do their job. I just can't see my B not being a predator. My b's are hunters-on their own terms and I can't trust them with any other animal. Heck, I can't even get them to sit with any reliablility! My B boy waited two weeks, thinking about how to get to my chickens, then sliced one open. That was three years ago. He will still, if I take him out the back door, try to run to the chicken pen! So he's reliable in that sense!

[LiveWWSD]

@nomrbddgs:

A lot of dogs, including jacks, borders, etc are high energy dogs. This would include the Basenji. But my point is you can train high energy dogs. But very, very rarely can you rely on Basenji's to the point you can rely on a 'domesticated' dog. You can even rely on a jack more than you can a B. Jack's were bred for a purpose and they achieve that purpose very well. If you work with them they will focus on the task. I know of a person who has gone international in agility and obedience with her Jack's-how many B owners can lay claim to that? A very limited few-and even then, again they are not reliable. I just find B's are more unreliable than Jack's. Jack's are not totally trainable-I will agree with you and I should have not included them, they are different than domesticated, but they are still domesticated. But again they have been created by human's, for a purpose, and if you train them for what they are supposed to be used for, they will do their job. I just can't see my B not being a predator. My b's are hunters-on their own terms and I can't trust them with any other animal. Heck, I can't even get them to sit with any reliablility! My B boy waited two weeks, thinking about how to get to my chickens, then sliced one open. That was three years ago. He will still, if I take him out the back door, try to run to the chicken pen! So he's reliable in that sense!

I understand…I just see so many Jacks needing rescue because people think they will listen, and be good and not run away for no reason, or refuse to listen to commands.
And all three of my Bs have been easier to train than any of my Jacks have ( I must just be super lucky with the Bs). I can see how Bs are closer to their natural evolutionary selves than the russells who, lord knows have had their bloodlines manipulated more than I care to think about. Sorry to get on my soapbox.
But that's just me championing my other mutt's causes. I hope I didn't offend you at all Arlene. :rolleyes:

[Maxie]

Hi Direy01,
I'm checking to see how you are doing with your Joey.
He is very lucky to have you. Let me know how things are working
out. Something that helped my Basenji's snarling: she walked around the house with her leash on, dragging it on the floor for days which helped
her to better understand that she could not be the boss of us. Hope
you are doing ok. Maxie.

[nomrbddgs]

@LiveWWSD:

I understand…I just see so many Jacks needing rescue because people think they will listen, and be good and not run away for no reason, or refuse to listen to commands.
And all three of my Bs have been easier to train than any of my Jacks have ( I must just be super lucky with the Bs). I can see how Bs are closer to their natural evolutionary selves than the russells who, lord knows have had their bloodlines manipulated more than I care to think about. Sorry to get on my soapbox.
But that's just me championing my other mutt's causes. I hope I didn't offend you at all Arlene. :rolleyes:

Not At all. I do understand. I hate to see any breed as a rescue simply because the owner likes the look of the dog and doesn't realize what they are all about. I've seen Jack's returned because they are too hyper-same with borders. What do you think these dogs were designed to do? Jack's are ratters-work hard all day; same with borders, they're herders, again, work hard all day. And you think these dogs are going to follow you blindly while you do nothing all day; or be crated? I just wish people were more informed. I too tend to get on my high horse-I think we all do when you're passionate about something.

Maxie, you are right IMO about the leash. After my girls get into a tiff, I will put the leashes on and they drag them around. This is a constant reminder to them, it seems, and tones down the aggressive streak.

How goes the battle so far with Joey?

[Robin_n_Jack]

That is a really good idea… I never thought of doing that. Jack occasionally will get a little bit like, "You're not the boss of me" (I wouldn't call it aggressive, just.....a little bit like a thirteen year old girl) followed by a little humping (which, let me tell you, is so enjoyable) next time, I will try putting his leash on for a bit.

[Duke]

About the JR type - Duke is probably Basenji-Jack Russell. I'm tellin' ya - I thought he was the craziest puppy on earth! He was about 12 weeks old and didn't know what he was. But thought it would be my advantage to train him young. Darn if all my efforts went down the drain with him. This was not a typical domesticated dog - at all. (More like a devil dog from hell.) But he was mine and thought he was better off with me than anywhere else, 'cause he was going to be trained one way or another with love. Today - he is well trained, but like was mentioned, he typically will respond to commands with the attitude of what it's worth to him. He's now almost 2 1/2 years old - sometimes obedient…sometimes rebelious and way happier since we added Daisy to the family.

direy01 - kudos to you for loving Joey. I know the training is hard work - and exhausting - but your perseverence and repitition will be returned with pride and joy.