Skip to content
Basenji Forums
  1. Home
  2. Basenji Training
  3. Aggression and initiating fights. How to deal with it?

Aggression and initiating fights. How to deal with it?

Basenji Training
  • C

    My advice is to leave the park the moment you see a dog you believe may trigger him. And make sure you see it first!

    To change your dog's reaction, you need to begin a desensitization and counter-conditioning program. Which means that you cannot expose him to his "scary thing" to the intensity such that he begins to growl. Once he's tipped into an emotional behavior, you've missed the boat on your opportunity to change his internal reaction.

    If he's growling at say, 20 feet, you can probably start to notice other warning signals before hand, such as a freeze or hard eye. Even that's too late. You have to get to him before he starts to tip - while he's still comfortable. Which means working in a controlled environment. That is with dogs on leashes.

    A good trainer can create a training program for you and work with you on this, but repeatedly exposing him to large, dark dogs and waiting until he's already growling to get outta dodge is reinforcing his fear. And the recent scuffle really reinforced it. I'd say you really need to up your situational awareness or start skipping the dog park. Every time he has an unpleasant experience with a large, dark dog just tells him he was right to be uncomfortable, even if the other dog does nothing but appear.

    -Andrea Stone

    Saorsa Basenjis

    You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. –Wayne Gretzky

    0

Suggested Topics

  • eeeefarmE

    Operant Conditioning (explained)

    Basenji Training
    10
    3 Votes
    10 Posts
    11k Views
    eeeefarmE
    @elbrant said in Operant Conditioning (explained): @eeeefarm said in Operant Conditioning (explained): some professional trainers suggest to their classes that they starve dogs that aren't all that food motivated This is just disturbing... in today's society, this type of behavior would be considered animal cruelty. Certainly we can find a way to encourage compliance without depriving an animal basic care. I know, it shocked me too when I heard it. The first instance was a friend of mine whose Border Collie was disinterested in food rewards, and she was advised by the instructor not to feed the dog anything on class days so there would be an incentive to accept treats. The second instance was my niece, and in this case a German Shepherd dog that again didn't want to take treats, and she was given the same advice by a different trainer, in fact in a different city, so it appears that it isn't unusual. Both these dogs work well for praise and in both cases the owners declined to starve the dogs....
  • eeeefarmE

    Know when to walk away....

    Basenji Training
    3
    1 Votes
    3 Posts
    8k Views
    elbrantE
    Let's also consider that when you chase your dog, the dog thinks it's a game and will run away from you. Like... "you can't catch me!" Man, Basenji's can bolt! On the other hand, when you are the one running away, the dog instinctively joins you because you are part of the dog's family/pack. This is not to be confused with a learned command to chase an assailant, in Police work, for example. That would be a totally different game of chase.
  • eeeefarmE

    Communication

    Basenji Training
    1
    3 Votes
    1 Posts
    5k Views
    No one has replied
  • J

    Communicate to come inside

    Basenji Training
    23
    0 Votes
    23 Posts
    15k Views
    J
    Sarge uses his cell phone and calls me.....seriously, it depends on the door. One he can open himself by pulling down the handle the others he just scratches.
  • N

    Trainers in San Diego

    Basenji Training
    33
    0 Votes
    33 Posts
    18k Views
    senjisillyS
    @klangill I asked in the Facebook San Diego (CA) Basenji Meetup group about trainers. A member recommended Crewsn K9 Academy. https://www.crewsnk9academy.com/ I posted early in this thread about checking with the local breed club, South Coast Basenji Fanciers, for advice.
  • ZhandiZooZ

    Leash aggression/pulling with other dogs

    Basenji Training
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    3k Views
    RGK9RulerR
    It's a slow process, be patient and consistent with her. We adopted Bolt 6 years ago, he's 12 y/o and 3/4 Africain. We don't know his history, but at some point he got into a dog fight. He has the scars to prove it. When we walk, there are certain dogs that will trigger a violent reaction from him. Over the years I've gotten very good at reading other people, and how they walk their dogs, plus reading their dog's body language. A high straight up tail tightly wagging will send him off the rails. I've worked extensively with him to the point that he is manageable when he sees other dogs. I usually make him sit, or give as wide a distance as I can allow. BUT, he is a biter, so I'm extremely cautious when I'm around other people. All bets are off if that other dog is not leashed!! It does get better, and yes you can teach an older dog new behaviors, I certainly did.