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Fence fighting & redirected aggression

Behavioral Issues
  • Y

    My 7 yr. old B, Rocket, is a fence fighter. At home with the 2 shih tzu's next door he will race up and down the fence, hair raised, and attack the fence. If my female, Rumor, is helping, he will turn and snark at her too. At daycare, he bit one of the helpers when they were bringing a dog in. It is always when he is at the fenceline or on a leash that this occurs. What do I do when this happens?

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  • Heinz57H

    Aggressive Behavior

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    NemoN
    A way to do what Debra is suggesting in a game format is Crate Games, which you can get on DVD. You said this happens when you are getting ready to leave. Pay attention to exactly what you are doing before you leave and then see how your dog is reacting. You should be able to pick up on the cues that your dog is picking up on. You can try changing the pattern of how you get ready and potentially remove the cue to lessen the behavior until you can build the good associations others described. visit BCOA on Facebook. http://facebook.com/basenji.org
  • S

    Aggression to another female.

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    mauigirlM
    My concern with this situation is that the issues these two are having is something that should have come about during a trial period. Were they introduced on neutral ground? Were they in the same space for HOURS before you decided to adopt the lab? I think that maybe the decision to adopt the lab wasn't thought through as completely as it could have been and it's unfair that as a result Lady will have to go through another major life change. If you're going to add another animal to the household, and this is as big a life change for Lady as it is for you, I think you owed it to her to make sure this other dog could be her friend and integrate into the pack. Maybe your assumption was that all dogs do (should?) get along, no questions asked. Not all humans get along, that is for sure, so why do we expect this of dogs? I agree with other comments that in no way should Lady be labeled aggresive for how she interacts with Raven. Also Lady's growling when you pick up her possibly suggests that she sees herself as leader of the pack. Basenjis need a very strong alpha human to keep things in order. If she sees herself as ruler of the household she's dealing with an intruder who became part of the family without any of her input and certainly not her approval.
  • RHicksR

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    MacPackM
    Take a small rubber backed rug, like a bathroom rug, to put on the metal table, then it won't slip and he will have good footing, and the smell of home to comfort him. Combined with all of the above positive reinforcement and lots of 'drop in' vet visits. Anne in Tampa
  • L

    Food aggression

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    QuercusQ
    @JazzysMom: Let me ask you this, Pat {and all}….. I've always fed my dogs separately, esp. since Keoki came into the picture because he will scarf his food and run to see if he can get what the others have. I don't crate them, but they are fed in separate rooms which puts them about ten feet away from one another. Keoki has learned NOT to hover over the other dogs, but he does kind of watch and wait for either of them to finish and then he runs over to lick their bowls. I don't have a problem with that, as they all run from bowl to bowl at the end of the meals, licking whatever {icky} they can find there. It's funny because they all get the same food. Lately, in the mornings only, Jazz won't eat UNTIL Keoki finishes and and then she will growl and ruuuuun for her bowl. So, the last few days I have put her bowl near his {as an experiment}-- w/in maybe 2 feet -- and she will immediately eat while he does. He eats faster, and it's almost as if she slows down when she knows he's finished. She picks up one piece of food at a time to carefully chew it, with the occasional quiet growl to remind him that it is hers. What is up with that? Honestly…sounds like a fight in the making to me. Eating faster is the first level of resource (in this case food) guarding. She may be eating slower for any number of reasons...the first one I thought of was a calming signal to him? I doubt she is trying to tease him...but she may be trying to make a point...mine, calm down, mine, calm down... These kind of things tend to escalate, so IMO, I wouldn't even experiment with it. Why not feed them separately, like with doors in between? It has got to be less stressful for the dogs if they don't have to worry if the other dog is going to bully them for their food...or on the other hand, if they can bully the other dog.
  • P

    Sudden Aggressive Behaviour

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    P
    We have already started the positive reinforcement. My 12 year old daughter is very good with him, and she feeds him in the morning. He is always fed in his crate, and we always thought it was cute and funny that as we were putting the food in his dish he was crawling underneath us to get to it. That changed last night. When I was putting water in his dish I made him wait until I had finished. He was trying to drink it through the bars as I poured it. My hubby and daughter have both read the article I printed out. I think Paige will better follow it as my hubby is very softhearted and all our dogs run our life because he simply can't dominate them.
  • BanditB

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    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.