Skip to content

Help adapting to new home

Behavioral Issues
  • Ha! See how close we are! Where in St. Kitts? I've lived throughout the region and may be able to tell you a bit more about the specific area you moved to. We can always chat more. I would imagine you've seen Marie's dogs.

  • I just moved to Port Weller…..but considering my parents live off Lakeshore Rd. it's about a 4 minute drive from where I used to live.
    I can't remember her name....but we've met Jigsaw and I know she got another puppy since then. There also used to be a tricolor we'd see at Woodend back in the day when it was a make shift dog park. Brodie never seemed all that interested when he saw another B.....I was definately way more excited than he was!!

  • Yes, that's Marie-she has Jigsaw and Indy. You should know Port is a little old(actually, older than the hills) most of the houses and 100+ and up to the 1950's built. Those houses were built mainly for the ships coming in off the lake. It is more than likely you may have some issues with the house in the 'ghost respect'. There is a lot of history down that end. When I was young(er) I lived on the corner of Lake and Lakeshore for awhile. If you are interested in a private chat, go to the members list, look up my name under the"N's", go to my website and my e-mail is there.

  • I'll tell you my "ghost story"…

    I got Lexi when I was a soph in college. We lived in a townhouse with 3 other girls. My bedroom was on the bottom floor and the rest were upstairs. I was across from the kitchen. Anyway...

    It was Christmas break and the entire apartment complex was empty. There was no one in any of the townhomes attached to ours. And we were an end unit anyways. We had turned the heat down since no one was going to be there for a while. So when I went to get something from my apartment, it was pretty chilly when I went in. I only planned to be a few minutes so I didn't care much. I had Lexi with me. I was getting some clothes and checking my email and stuff in my room when I heard someone putting dishes away. That's odd, I thought-- No one is here. So I went into the kitchen to see if someone had randomly come home... But no one was there. And I went to open the cabinet to see if I had not put a glass in there right or something and right before I touched the cabinet door, I realized that I had not even been in the kitchen yet. I kind of freaked out and ran back in my room and shut the door. I was trying to finish up quickly and get out fast... when Lexi started growling!!

    GROWLING?! I had never heard her growl before... but there she was, all of a couple months old, hackles straight in the air, face fixed at the bottom of my door. OMG!! I was totally freaked out at that point. I had to get out of the house and there was no way out but to go through my door and down the hall to the front door.

    So I opened the door and Lexi slowly turns the corner, hackles still raised, head dropped, eyes focused, shoulders hunched, one leg forward... And her eyes follow something across the room. (I'm getting chills again as I write this!!) And I'm like, "What do you see?!?! I don't see anything!! You're freaking me out!!"

    I just wanted to get the heck out of there so I pick her up and make a mad dash for the door (which is RIGHT where her eyes had stopped)!!

    Later, I ended up going back to the apartment with a friend to check out the mysterious "dishes" noise (you know the clinking noise when you're putting dishes away). That noise is unmistakable. Anyway, I opened the cabinet and one of the heavy bar glasses was on its side. ? I don't know how to explain that. There is no breeze in the cabinet. And the shelf is not high enough to stack multiple glasses either. I don't know how a heavy pint glass turns itself over.

    I've never seen that reaction from Lexi since that day. And I don't know how to explain it otherwise. But I did tell my other roommates the whole story and they started telling me stories of their own... !!

    How they felt uneasy in the place. And one roommate had a particularly creepy experience. We each had bathrooms in our rooms. When she took a shower, she would lock her bedroom door. And she would often come out to find that one of her heavy silver plated picture frames (8 by 10) would be standing up right behind her locked bedroom door-- moved from the shelf which in normally sat and now on the floor across the room. She said she always thought one of us did it. (Although how would we do that and still be able to shut the door?) Anyway... it just confirms (for me) that creepy things DO happen. Whether you call them "ghosts" or "unexplainable" - it still remains!

    Eeeeekkk!!

  • Ok, BDawg…now I have to share my ghost story!

    An old boyfriend of mine had a big 100yo farmhouse. One night when I was staying there, I woke up because I kept hearing a ball rolling on the floor and a dog running after it. So, I'm awake but my eyes aren't open and say to the boyfriend's dog..."Katie, go to bed." Well, I keep hearing the ball. This time I open my eyes, sit up and go to tell Katie to go to bed, only to see that she is asleep on her dog bed. No other people, no other animals in the house. Needless to say, I pinned myself up next to my sleeping boyfriend. The next morning I say something to him about it, and he tells me about the ghosts in the house and that the dog is one of them. Ok, didn't know the house was haunted...he tells me that there is nothing to worry about.

    About a month later, I'm staying at his house...he's in Vermont at a trial...I'm taking care of Katie. I'm asleep, and then for some reason I wake up. When I do, I look up and there is an elderly man with a hat and wool suit on standing there looking down at me...can't really make out his face. Needless to say, I sit up...he turns and walks out of the room and is gone...FREAKED ME OUT. I call my boyfriend, he tells me that is one of the ghosts (don't worry, he's friendly)...I take Katie back to my apartment until he comes home, because I couldn't stay there.

    After that, I wouldn't stay there by myself. I mentioned it at a dinner party a couple weeks later, and some of my boyfriend's friends said they too had seen that ghost.

    So, needless to say, I definitely believe in ghosts because I have seen one.

  • I thought I would revive this thread to see if anyone has any suggestions for me. It has now been 7 months and while Brodie has improved slightly (no more panting and a bit less crying) he still shakes every night when I bring him home, he is still pacing and whining.

    I got another dog back in December and I thought this would help him but it hasn't made a difference either way. My parents recently went away for a couple weeks and so I had to leave Brodie at home during the day with my parents dog - the new puppy comes to work with me everyday. The first day was fine but the 2nd day he tore my curtains out of the wall and shreded the roman shades that I handmade for my bedroom. So day 3 he went in his cage where he proceded to slide the pan out and tear up the carpet underneath down to the bare floor (the whole room needs to be recarpeted now). After that he spent the days alone at my parents empty house and he was fine.

    He has his annual checkup/heartworm appointment on Monday and I was hoping to try out prozac but it sounds like my vet has never prescribed that and I would have to go somewhere else to get it. My Dad is now on a campaign to have Brodie go and live with them and while this is looking like the best scenario for the dog I can't imagine giving him up after 7 years.

    If anyone has any suggestions they think could help so that I can keep him I will try ANYTHING at this point!

    oh, and neither of the other dogs have any problem with the house so I really don't think it's ghosts. Brodie has always been a very anxious dog, used to have really bad seperation anxiety but I'm not even sure what kind of anxiety this is!

    Thanks!

  • I, personally, have never used an anti-anxiety med. I'm unsure where you should go from here. BUT, if he's not exhibiting this behaviour anywhere else, I still put it down to the house. It could be a smell he doesn't like! But if your Dad is on a campaign, perhaps he sees something outside the box you may not want to. As I said, in Port, it has history!

  • My GSD started acting strange last September. He began panting, pacing, and just looking uncomfortable wouldn't settle down and I found myself really bugged by his pacing. The habbit before was to lay down on the kitchen floor while I prepared dinner in the evening. BTW he seemed okay most of the day it was just our evening routine that went away. I thought well, he is almost 10 now and maybe he is in some pain?… The vet did a full workup on him and he checked out to be in great shape. Then about 2 months later I ran across an article about the new low energy light bulbs. Dogs were being bothered by the high pitched sound that we can even hear sometimes, but they can really hear them. I changed mine back in the kitchen area, a total of 3, to the regular bulbs and he was just peachy after that. During the day he wasn't around the lights so that is why he seemed fine then. I hope this information helps someone!

  • that's really interesting - I know I have some of those bulbs in my house I'll have to try changing them and see if that helps.

    However, Brodie starts his whining as soon as we drive onto my street and gets worse as we walk up to the house. Is it possible something like that could have given him such an aversion to the house?

  • Not sure, it could be so many things that a human can not see or smell. But, my terrier would do a low growl every time we drove by our old vet. We changed vets and he stopped but he still knew even 10 years later that he hated that vet. Not sure what happened to him that he hated them so much but he was neutered there!

Suggested Topics

  • Need help with my new Basenji pup Jax!

    Behavioral Issues
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    12k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    @Micmayhall Michelle, potty training when you aren't home all day is hard for anyone. Options include restrict to a safe room with a large pan with potty papers so the pup doesn't have to go in crate or places you do not have made easy to clean. Since they can only go about an hour per month without wanting to go, it's pretty hard up to about 5 mos if no one is home. http://www.clickerlessons.com/housetraining.htm
  • Female aggression with new B coming into home

    Behavioral Issues
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    3k Views
    P
    Give them some time to adjust. It may take weeks for things to settle. I introduced a rescued male to my female and she was quite standoffish. They were both the same age. When you train or play with them do so equally with both and do not favor one over the other during these sessions. If your female has a favorite spot do not let the male supplant her. However, make sure you allow both equal access to you. In other words I had to move to the middle of the couch and later on it didn't matter anymore. In my case and after a while (about two months) they adjusted to the new makeup of the household. And sure they still had their snits from time to time but I always growl louder than they can to remind both who is the top dog in the pack. As you know they have unique personalities and hopefully with love and patience and you being the leader they will learn all is ok.
  • New to the basenji world, need HELP!

    Behavioral Issues
    30
    0 Votes
    30 Posts
    20k Views
    C
    @DebraDownSouth: Andrea, great post. I have taught many dogs bite inhibition at a much older age, though… only thing you wrote I don't heartily agree with. Yes, I understand that it is possible but I'd like to know more about it. Generally it's accepted that teaching remedial ABI is difficult to do at best, at least amongst the trainers I know, talk to and read. Dunbar says he's done it but I tried to pin him down at a seminar and he was evasive. I was hoping to get specifics, training program and how to test it or pointed at one. He said to buy his DVDs. I did. Best I could find was teaching a better ritualized bite and jaw prudence and done my best to scour books and websites as well (and speaking with colleagues, natch). What I found didn't really satisfy me. I mean, when I think of teaching ABI, I am thinking of teaching it so that it holds up even under duress since that's when it's most important. For instance a colleague was recently contacted about a Level 5 biter. If it's possible to teach reliable ABI in adult dogs THAT dog should be a candidate for sure. I'd love to assist someone teaching it to a dog like that, or in training a dog that has poor ABI with other dogs. How could you train and test that safely or humanely? What is the liability there? Pretty serious, I would think. I do remember my first basenji experience though. I have trained and worked with dogs my entire adult life. So imagine my surprise when squeaking caused her to bite MORE, lol. Change of tactics. Life offers us so many opportunities to learn new things. :) Ah yes, I've had one of those. I changed to a calm "too bad" and then removing myself. Worked MUCH better. Depends on the dog. EDIT: I just looked at the site you linked and what she is talking about is what I refer to as 'jaw prudence'. When I use ABI, I'm referring to how hard the dog bites when it bites, not if it puts its mouth on you. For instance, your Rottie I would say had great ABI but iffy jaw prudence. OTOH, there are dogs with great jaw prudence but the one time they use their mouths they do it will full jaw force. I'd much prefer the former.
  • Basenji Help!!

    Behavioral Issues
    9
    0 Votes
    9 Posts
    3k Views
    V
    Move the crates to different rooms. The female won't be able to see what's going on. Give the male his food first, then feed the female a little later. Don't let them out of the crates at the same time.
  • Adjusting the B's to a new home? Tips?

    Behavioral Issues
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    1k Views
    No one has replied
  • Help with aggression

    Behavioral Issues
    8
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    4k Views
    L
    Some basenjis seem to have particular kinds of dogs they don't like. My Abbey is best friends with a rottweiller, a black lab, and a dalmation, but she hates golden retrievers! What do they go by, coat color?? She goes after anything that moves at the vet's though. My first basenji many years ago, Pumpkin, climbed trees to get after squirrels, and fences were no problem either.