Posts made by Amber

Very good advice. Thank you I will try that. I have actually done that on a few occasions as they have irriated me so much with this behavior, but I have not been consistent since I wasn't sure it would help or not. I will proceed as you suggest and perhaps I can finally stop this madness this occurs almost every evening as we lay on the couch watching TV. Thanks again!

Thanks for the information. My female dog "Senji" is not food or treat motivated. It's hard to find something to trade with her on. The only reason I have to sometimes take her chewy is because she won't eat it when it given to her. I will give both of them a chewy. My Boy "Kink" who IS food motivated will eat his immediately. She on the other hand, lays it next to her near her bed and uses it to taunt him when he finishes his. He just sits looking at he so pitiful like and she just sits there growling back at him and showing her teeth, but won't eat the chewy. So I often times just take it away to avoid all the comotion. I have gone to distraction techniques as she is motivated by going outside (AND SHE HAS TO BE THE FIRST ONE OUT THE DOOR) So if I say "want to go outside?" she then will go and I can remove the chewy. But then I feel bad when she comes back in and is looking for it and often gets snippy with Kink as she thinks he ate it. I feel deceiptful by doing it that way, but she's not motivated by food or any toys.

Also feel free to give me advice on their behavior with respect to "guarding" us.

Thanks,
Amber

I have 2 basenjis. One male and one female. They both have their moments of aggression, but for very different reasons. She is great with people and other dogs. She loves when people pay attention to her and she loves to run and play with other dogs. However, if you try to take her chewy away when she is not eating it or try and get her to move from a comfortable spot on our couch or her bed (like when it's time for her to go to her crate when we leave the house)…she will growl and possibly nip at you.

My boy, on the other hand, has grown over the past couple years more territorial and possessive of me and my husband. If he is lying with me or my husband and she comes into the room, he will growl and jump up immediately to ward her off and sometimes has bitten us simply by mistake trying to get to her. (To be fair she does the same thing...the are so jealous of one another when it come to our affection) He also will snip at strangers who come to our home. We have to constantly tell people to ignore him and show him no attention and eventually he accepts them and goes on with his business. If they try to show attention to him, he will snip and has bitten them. He also feels the need to show his dominance around other dogs and can be aggressive as well. He was not like that a few years ago so we are not sure why the behavor change has occurred.