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Mealtime Behavior

Behavioral Issues
  • Our boys are allowed to be where they want to be, they only not allowed on the couch or close to us…
    So they just search a place to lie down and reat a bit.
    Sometimes they lie down in their own crate.

  • Ours are loose, wherever they want to be. Sometimes if dinner smells really enticing, they'll hover around the table, but there's no table begging allowed and they know it.

    I have occasionally sneaked a bite or two to Jazz, but she knows not to expect it and not to ask for it. I never sneak a bit to Keoki from the table b/c, well, he's not Jazz and is a little less able to control his impulsive behavior, LOL

  • Ours are also loose at all time except when we leave the house. The basenjis lay down together on a little oriental run next to our breakfast bar and nap while we are eating at the bar. Scotty the whippet is another story. She is a nortorious counter surfer and will not stay off the counter unless crated. Fortunately she has gotten to where she jumps on the counter and sits patiently waiting for us to finish and giver her a bit of a treat.

  • We keep a squirt bottle on the table full of water. We had to use it often at first, now, when the dogs get too close to the table, we just show it to them..its funny, they shake, like they have been squirted, and move to the "approved" sitting area.
    It works and won't hurt them.

  • I agree squirt bottle works great, and they learn to respect it. We feed Tupper when we eat. That way he is engaged for the first five minutes of our meal.

  • All four of my dogs are loose while we eat, the three adults stay in another room unless they're called in for something…Zuni, well, she's all over us. We just calmly push her down, say OFF, and go back to eating...we're hoping she eventually gets it like the others did.

  • Lisa, I have seen photos of your whippet on the counter tops!

    My 3 are loose, they sit or lie under the table, sleeping or staring at my husband. Guess who slips food to them from the table? When we are done, I give them a bit of whatever we had, on plates or bowls, in the kitchen. They rarely actually beg unless we dawdle too long at the end of a meal. We do not, however, eat on the couch. They seem to think that food anyplace other than the table is fair game for them!

  • My B, Sahara will try to beg but she doesn't get fed from the table and she will try anyways, but then she gives up and lays down on her blanket on the couch. She is always good and goes away once we tell her to go lay down, or just "No" does the trick.

  • Sonny's has a thing for ice cream. he doesn't beg while I eat it but he rest his head on my knees and stares at me while I eat every bite. it can feel a little like being stalked! :p he knows when I'm done he can lick the bowl! :D

  • lol, aww, sonny is adorable!

    We've been able to let Paco watch us eat a few times now. He'll still jump up and try to stick his nose in our food, but he hasn't bitten again when we move him away. I'm thinking maybe he knew he did something wrong that day when he bit me - or maybe nothing we've eaten since has smelled as good as sausage pizza. :) Eventually, he does give up and watch, but he's always hoping for a nibble off our plate. If we can't finish, we sometimes put some in his food bowl.

  • Since Sonny joined the family three years ago its seems everyone has invested in a pub style table! my house, my parents & my brother. he can't reach so he doesn't even try. sometimes its just easier to out smart them! :D

    The two things that just overwhelm sonny are cheese and steak…he'll do anything to try and get it and I swear he blocks me out and is lost in a trance! ;)

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    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
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    I agree that Basenjis are drama queens (and kings I guess, from this thread). When going to the dog park, my two girls are clipped by 4' leads to grommets in the back of our SUV. They sometimes walk around each other and get tied up, and the "fights" they get into when that happens would make anyone think total death and destruction was the only thing on their minds. But when we get to the park and untangle them, there's never a mark on either one. Same when they are "play fighting" at home - the noise they make, especially the B-mix, is really scary until you realize no damage is being done, and they are not serious about the whole thing.
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    @DebraDownSouth: Fran, there are times when I might mean to be condescending, but I assure you that it won't be "a little" or usually any question. That you could take my comment above as condescending… I can only suggest you may simply want to block my posts because it is entirely unlikely I will write 100 words to say what I said in under 20 because SOMEONE might see my observation as insulting. Now if I had said it condescending, such as: How could you THINK it could be that? Don't you think any dog living with females would already have reacted? How silly! The person threw out the idea of periods, which sometimes could be it .. and btw, pregnancy hormones set some dogs off… but it hit me he had lived with them too long for that to be probably. It wasn't an insult to the OP, just a response. People contradict my ideas daily on here, doesn't make them condescending or insulting. THEN, I could see it. I simply tossed out a quick response addressing that logically it probably wasn't that. If you read that as condescending instead of my own view, I am sorry. One helpful rule for forums is that you look at any post and see if there is another TONE than the one you ascribed. If there is, take the other. Like your post. I COULD think you are a jerk, not at all "friendly," addressing this here and hijacking the thread instead of sending me a private message. Instead, because I see you post a lot and like you :), I took it exactly at face value... you simply are expressing your view and trying to be helpful. So please remove any tones you might ascribe to the answer. The tone in my head is simply factual, that I am not responsible for your taking that as condescending and probably won't be able to stop you seeing other posts that way. Now if I actually say something you cannot take any way than as an insult, feel free to let me know. But the above... sorry, Fran, it was simply a logical observation. LOL, and in fact, let me now be "condescending" to my post. (I am joking while making a point.) SOMEONE (but it will be me, since it just hit me where I could easily be wrong...) could have responded to my post and said: Yeah, but dds, you are wrong because maybe she has an infection or urinary tract infection also with a period, that might do it. See? Debra, not a problem. Thank you.
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    jessi76J
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