My foster Basenji is very talky…

[brynn]

Hello,

We are fostering our first Basenji, Harley. She has been here only a few days. She went to the vet and checked out okay except that she needs her vaccinations which she is getting one at a time and needs to be spayed.

Anyway. She is soooo talky. Every morning about 5-6 a.m. she walks up and howls (is that what you call it or is there a different name for it?). We let her out to go to the bathroom. Then, even after she has gone to the bathroom both ways and has her breakfast, she still howls and whimpers.

Is she still just adjusting to us? I wonder if she gets kind of lonely. She came from a home that had more than 12 dogs (and at least 7 other basenjis), so coming to a home with only one other dog is quite a bit different I'm sure. I guess I just want to make sure that we aren't doing anything wrong and that we should just wait it out. Also, any suggestions on things we can try to keep her quiet until we get up? Of course I know she still has to go to the bathroom but it would be nice to be able to go back to bed afterwards and not have to stay up after 5 am every morning!

[Jylly18]

I am sorry you are having that problem, I know I would go crazy if Tosca kept me up at 5 each morning. Does she go back in her crate in the morning? What about giving her her breakfast in a kong in her crate? You could let her out to go to the bathroom, then put her back in her crate with her breakfast in a kong, maybe that would keep her quiet until you can go back to sleep. However, maybe not, if you think she would just start getting upset again once the food was gone…just a suggestion to maybe try.
As for the "howl" you describe, if its a yodel, from what I have seen these dogs tend to do it when they are happy and excited, so she may not be upset. However, if she is whining/whimpering, that could be another story. Tosca often does that when she is bored, and needs some attention/stimulation.
Hope this helps a little

[tanza]

Is she near the other dog in the house? I am sure that with the change from her old situation to the new one, the change was much to do with it.

I think it will just take some time for her to adjust

[snorky998]

Perhaps Harley is learning how to enjoy your company. I believe you said in an earlier post that when she first came to you she preferred to stay in her crate by herself? Maybe the kindness, love, and attention she has finally found with you has set her little Basengi heart a twitter and she's craving your attention but her 'internal clock' isn't set to the 'household clock' yet. Jylly's suggestion about the kong is a great idea.

I know fosters all have unique problems and I have no experience in that area, but I do have time changes in my home 2x's a year (school year-4a.m. wake up, to summer-6:30a.m. and vice versa in the fall) and it takes my dogs about a week to adjust.

Just an aside as food for thought. I also found that my 2 have slight problems adjusting to the equinox changes. Earlier darkness, later darkness, perhaps it's just the changing seasons, or the internal signal to grow or blow a coat, who knows….but it does seem to affect their sleep patterns temporarily as well. Maybe it's just my 2 weirdos:D

[brynn]

Thanks guys. Snorky, that's really interesting! We'll wait and see what happens. She really has come out of her shell quite nicely, and actually just hopped up on the couch next to me to take a nap! She has started following me around, especially in the kitchen (hhhmmmmm why could that be???? ).

[sharronhurlbut]

Is her crate by your bed? if not, maybe you can move it so you can talk to her when she thinks she is left alone.
Or could it be a bad dream…by b's sometimes cry when they are totally asleep. They have bad dreams I guess.

[snorky998]

@brynn:

She really has come out of her shell quite nicely, and actually just hopped up on the couch next to me to take a nap! She has started following me around, especially in the kitchen (hhhmmmmm why could that be???? ).

Oh brynn, that's so nice to hear!! The trust she has put in you was so easily lost in her previous situation, and soooo hard to win back in yours. You must be doing everything right. The kitchen thing is a dead give away!!!

Tell us when she first counter surfs:), destroys the TP, pulls the kleenex one by one out of the box, guts a toy, and insists on sleeping in the bed. These are what we call in the "education world" benchmarks of progress:D . I think for most of the B. pet owners here, we call it NORMAL.

[agilebasenji]

I find that as winter approaches, the basenjis are more inclined to sleep in. Of course, your milage may vary.

[brynn]

Just wanted to let you know that we put Harley's crate in our bedroom last night, and she stayed quiet until i got up around 8:00 this morning (it's Saturday, so of course that is much later than usual)! Yay! We'll see if it stays that way, but maybe she really was just lonely. Thanks for the advice guys!