I am so sorry for your loss. I still cry over my losing very difficult but extremely devoted Basenji, Ella.
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Basenji Language 101
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I think it really depends on the trainer whether it is discussed. The YouTube links I provided, I was given by my obedience instructor. It was part of this week's homework to watch the videos. My instructor maintains a Yahoo Group though where she often includes videos as part of our homework. Some of them are, watch this video clip and tell me what you see. Is the dog relaxed? stressed? How do you know? She also lones out the Language of Dogs and has had viewing nights.
I am now teaching rally classes and I often discuss body language with my students as often their dogs disconnect from them because they close the shoulder on them during the various turning exercises.
I attended a seminar this fall that is the prerequisite to taking dogs classes through the Experimental College at UC Davis and a large part was looking at video and learning to recognize signals the dogs were given. The presenter was Dr Sophia Yin, who knows me and my basenjis, and she was so delighted I was there to see the part where she asks students to tell whether dogs in a couple of clips found praise rewarding. The basenji clearly did not and was waiting for the "real' payment for doing well.
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Yep, but sadly you are already a dog guru, so you knew what to look for in a trainer. Most people think that going to their local petsmart gives them a real dog trainer when actually 98 percent are trained by the store prior to becoming "trainers." I thought I was mortifying my daughter just last month when I stopped not ONE but 2 trainers in the aisles at Petsmart, took the dog, showed the owners how to teach loose leash and admonished the trainers on pop and jerk. I had not witnessed them ever doing that before so don't know if they had some new supervisor in telling them to… but I then went to the office and complained. My daughter actually was glad I did.
LOL on real payment. OMG... Rotties are so praise oriented. Someone tell me again why I have these brats? LOL.
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Actually, when I found my current trainer, I don't think I would have called myself a dog guru, especially not when it came to training. I knew I wanted a positive reinforcement trainer, I did had some questions that I knew to ask but part of it was I had learned from my mistakes with my first two and I just plain got a bit lucky.
I tell people that finding a good dog trainer is hard and I agree that the hardest part is the people who need them the most don't know what they should be looking for. I know that my trainer is not the only one out there who is including this sort of information in their classes but it is still just starting that people recognize that it is important information.
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Paco complains…at length...when someone enters the house and doesn't immediately compliment his beauty and ask to pet him. Same when we're taking too long to cook a meal for him.
He also has a loonnnnnng low sound he makes that sounds like a growl, but isn't quite, which he ONLY emits when he has a ball in his mouth. He won't do it with other toys, just with balls as he brings them back after a throw...it's like he's daring you to take the ball out of his mouth before he's decided to drop it, or maybe he's just announcing to everyone that he is an amazing basenji for knowing how to fetch.
He will also sigh with content when he's found that "just right" spot behind my or Chris' knees under the blanket at bedtime. Soooo cute.
He will snort through his nose at lizards that have the audacity to escape him out on the balcony. He never "baroos" at them or the chickens, surprisingly.
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I attended a seminar this fall that is the prerequisite to taking dogs classes through the Experimental College at UC Davis and a large part was looking at video and learning to recognize signals the dogs were given. The presenter was Dr Sophia Yin, who knows me and my basenjis, and she was so delighted I was there to see the part where she asks students to tell whether dogs in a couple of clips found praise rewarding. The basenji clearly did not and was waiting for the "real' payment for doing well.
I'm slightly jealous. I like Sophia Yin, I have one of her books and read her blog.
I tell people that finding a good dog trainer is hard and I agree that the hardest part is the people who need them the most don't know what they should be looking for. I know that my trainer is not the only one out there who is including this sort of information in their classes but it is still just starting that people recognize that it is important information.
I've been looking for a good trainer for a while and I think I may have finally found one. We start classes in two weeks. She's relatively far away (2 1/2 hours driving total there and back) but I think it will be worth the time. She limits the class size to about 8 dogs so she can focus on the individual dogs.
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This is a little different than the situaions described, but I agree, Basenji's have a 6th sense. My neighbor dropped by a few weeks ago to talk for a few minuted, as she has done many times in the past. When she walked in the door Mojo walked over by her, as he always does, and started growling and snapped at her. He has never done that before. The very next day, her husband had to bring her to the emergency room because she was in such severe pain. They found she had a cyst on her vertabrae that was causing the pain. It was like Mojo knew there was something wrong with her. Watch for those Basenji signals…..they're onto something!
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Not to be a doubter… but I doubt he knew something was wrong. Might he have picked up on her stress due to pain.. yes. But I'd be more concerned with his behavior and make sure it isn't repeated.
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He hasn't repeated that behavior…..at least not to people. He will growl at other dogs, but only if they are bigger than him. I have started taking him to the dog park quite frequently to socialize him with other dogs. He is starting to make some progress there!
