It's a very well-written article and I think it accurately describes the basenji's idiosyncrasies that we all know and love and that the average person would find frustrating. I think the take-home message for those who don't know basenjis is that they should educate themselves more before taking the "plunge".
Personally, I was thrilled to see a b/w pictured. My only complaint is that the main cover dog wasn't a basenji!
Dog walking etiquette
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I take Buddy sometimes out to this large business park out along SF Bay. It has a nice walkway around it for the public. I used to take my previous 2 Basenjis out there as well. There's a woman who walks her 3 little dogs and 2 are not friendly and one is very aggressive in running up and snarling. I have to hold Buddy back because he'll grab the dog to play. The stupid woman let's the dog run up as she's telling the dog to be nice and it isn't. I passed this lady again and she does the same thing and I hold Buddy back. I got ticked off :mad: and yelled at her "why don't you put him on a leash, he's going to get hurt"!!. She just keeps walking, calling the dog and ignores me. Very rude in that her dog was bothering me when mine was on a leash which is the law actually here. This isn't the first time this has happened with her…
This happens to us ever so often in a park we go to regularly. What I do is call Animal Control/Services, describe the problem, describe the person and the pets, the time of day they come to the park… I think Animal Control/Services will come to the park at that general time of day you specify and the dog owner can/will be cited if the dogs are off-leashed... (In our area, ALL city/public parks have leash laws...)
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@AJs:
Buddy is still a puppy and will behave as puppies do. After he matures, his jumping will probably diminish somewhat and he will become the distinguished Basenji gentleman. Other dogs, if they are offended by his jumping, will correct him on their own terms. If he's not jumping on people, part of that training is already done.
However, I believe Mr. Nobarkus is right…it is up to the owner to keep their animal in check. If they can't do it by voice command, they need to leash their animal. Any dog rushing a Basenji is taking a chance at getting nipped. Unfortunately, most people who own those bounding buffoons do not understand this.
I agree it IS the human's responsiblity to control the situation, and Dan is definitely doing that. But it is also really irritating and frustrating to have your dog getting "in trouble" because other people aren't controlling their dogs. Personally, I can't take that kind of irritation…so I yell at people to leash their dogs, or my dog will hurt them (whether they would or not). Some people actually have to learn the hard way...and they will STILL blame the dog on the leash
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This happens to us ever so often in a park we go to regularly. What I do is call Animal Control/Services, describe the problem, describe the person and the pets, the time of day they come to the park… I think Animal Control/Services will come to the park at that general time of day you specify and the dog owner can/will be cited if the dogs are off-leashed... (In our area, ALL city/public parks have leash laws...)
Wow! How awesome that Animal Control is so responsive! Last week I had a hard time getting the POLICE to come out and intervene with a drunk driver about to return to the streets!
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I agree it IS the human's responsiblity to control the situation, and Dan is definitely doing that. But it is also really irritating and frustrating to have your dog getting "in trouble" because other people aren't controlling their dogs. Personally, I can't take that kind of irritation…so I yell at people to leash their dogs, or my dog will hurt them (whether they would or not). Some people actually have to learn the hard way...and they will STILL blame the dog on the leash
That's right Andrea, I can't say your B has bad manners because he snaps when it's on a leash and theirs is running loose up to it. There's a guy that walks his 2 Pitbulls at the same place and he has them leashed and he will walk way around me, like 30 feet out so as not to bother me. I can see they might be trouble but he's being very responsible in keeping away. If I let Buddy loose and he ran up to them to just smell, not even jumping up, and they bit him it's my fault. Now if he walked right by me, without warning me his dogs might be aggressive to where the dogs could mingle that would be a different story. I keep Buddy back, by stepping off to the side even when I pass people on a thin hiking trail so Buddy does not jump up or get close whether they have a dog or not.
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Buddy's behavior is very rude?? He's on leash in his own space. If you let your dog walk up off leash to any dog on leash you you are taking your chances on the other dogs behavior. You cannot expect anything. It's like rolling the dice. That's why I have him on leash is because whether on or off he likes to jump up and play with the other dog. I tell people that he will jump up on their dog.
The woman is wrong to let her dog off leash and allow it to invade other dog's space but Buddy's behavior of jumping on other dogs is rude dog behavior and I would absolutely expect that the other dog would react by snapping at him if growling and other lower level signals didn't back him off. You are doing the right thing by walking him leashed and not allowing him to do this to other dogs.
To read the articles on the site below you need to sign up for a free account but there is a very good one called "He Just Wants To Say Hi" which addresses the issue of rude behavior and the response other dogs have to it. http://flyingdogpress.com/content/view/18/94/
Sophie's litter brother Ringo behaves this way and it got him beat up at the dog park by a husky who didn't much appreciate his rudeness. His owners are very careful when they have him out on walks or at dog parks and try to head off this behavior before it leads to problems. Their dog walker has not always been so careful.
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I just want to emphasize that I believe that people who break the law by walking their dog off leash where leashes are required are very irresponsible and are putting their dog in harm's way. I just felt that it is also important to understand that a dog that snaps at a dog that jumps on it is not behaving aggressively, it is using appropriate dog language to move the other dog out of its space. Many basenjis get painted as being bad dogs because they respond appropriately to rude behavior by other dogs so I just felt like I had to speak up about it. In the most common scenario, the off leash dog runs up to the on leash one rudely invading its space and the on leash dog usually then growls and snaps at the other dog and is then accused of being aggressive when it is really just trying to move the dog out of its space.
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The woman is wrong to let her dog off leash and allow it to invade other dog's space but Buddy's behavior of jumping on other dogs is rude dog behavior and I would absolutely expect that the other dog would react by snapping at him if growling and other lower level signals didn't back him off. You are doing the right thing by walking him leashed and not allowing him to do this to other dogs.
To read the articles on the site below you need to sign up for a free account but there is a very good one called "He Just Wants To Say Hi" which addresses the issue of rude behavior and the response other dogs have to it. http://flyingdogpress.com/content/view/18/94/
Sophie's litter brother Ringo behaves this way and it got him beat up at the dog park by a husky who didn't much appreciate his rudeness. His owners are very careful when they have him out on walks or at dog parks and try to head off this behavior before it leads to problems. Their dog walker has not always been so careful.
Ringo got beat up?? That other dog should be banned from the dog park. Dogs jump up on each other all the time, wrestle around, slam into each other, especially the young ones at the dog park. IMO it's what dogs do at dog parks. If your dog cannot tolerate any of this then the dog should not go into that fence. It's like if your dog is protective of his ball and you bring that in with you. Do you think it's rude if another dog runs after it and takes it? If you do then you should either not bring the ball in or stay out of the park because it happens all the time. Now if Buddy is being too rough on a dog playing,won't let up and I can see the other dog is suffering then Buddy needs to go out of the park. Now for me to be walking Buddy on a leash and pass someone with their dog on leash and I let him jump up on the dog then yes that's rude of me to let it happen. Now Buddy doesn't do much jumping up on dogs at the park anyway, mostly just runs around and wrestles.
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Well…Lisa is right...dogs jump on other dogs in play AND in dominance displays...and unless you are a dog, it can be hard to tell which is which. Think of it like guys who come up and sock a friend in the arm..fine if your friends...but if you walked up to a stranger and punched him in the arm..the punchee would probably take offense...
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Dogs do jump on each other and wrestle at the dog park and that is not neccessarily rude behavior. You have to see the whole sequence of events. If there is an invitation of play by one and then acceptance by the other it is not rude. But coming up head on to another dog and jumping on it without going through the invitation stage is rude. Sophie and Ringo have displayed puppy behaviors much longer than my other dogs and that includes rudely approaching other dogs. Sophie usually backs off when the other dog starts to give distance increasing signals like stiff legs, she then switches tactics and gives all sorts of distance decreasing signals to be invited into their space.
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Well the point of this thread which has veered off into jumping up was about letting your dog walk up to another aggressively and uninvited.
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Dan is right. Most people do not know what constitutes good manners with dogs. I can say from experience that AJ feels more secure when he's leashed and will act more confidently. Maybe I'm his security blanket. However, when people allow their animal to rush another that is leashed and try to say the dog is just being friendly need to review Dog Etiquette 101 and try again.
I think the main point here is to underscore the need for people to leash their animals until they are in a safe area for them to run. That woman in the business park is asking for trouble letting her dogs off lead. She is lucky all Buddy wants to do is play.
Maybe one day she will run into one of those Pit Bulls or Rotties or Aussie Cattle Dogs who will not put up with her dogs' behavior and correct it. Of course, then she will complain loudly to anyone who will listen and try to get a law passed to ban whatever breed of dog "attacked" hers when it rushed a dog on a leash.
