Posts made by basenjiboy20

and his behavior has changed too..for the better (at least to me) before the allergies he was being aggressive towards people alot but now he's not really doing that anymore…does anyone have any idea why that would be? I would think since he's so bothered by his allergies that would make him more aggressive.

@Janneke:

You can only make sure that it is not a food allergy, by putting your pup on a hypoallergenic diet for 6-8 weeks. You can prepare it yourself (rice and a sort of meat that the dog hasn't eaten before) or buy a special diet the vet probably sells. This of course without using any medication.

If this isn't helping it's probably something else, like pollen or a flea allergy. (the fact that it only occurs in summer does suggest something like this) Your vet can do a blood test and a scratch test to find out to what allergens the dog reacts. If these are known you can try to avoid contact with them or give the dog desensibility therapy. He will get injections with small amounts of the allergen in it, which will hopefully make the dog less reactive to the allergen.

I don't understand your question about the paws? Is that the place where it itches or do you want to make sure he can't scratch himself? If the second: I think it's better to find the cause. I have psoriasis myself and if I wasn't allowed to scratch myself when it itches… I would go crazy.. If he does scratch himself too much, maybe you can scratch for him? Don't know.. Allergies are awful
I was also wondering what shots he gets, prednisone? Why does he get injections and not pills? How old is the dog, how long has he been itchy/allergic and how long has he been on the pred? Has the vet done anything to find out what's causing the itch?

My vet said its the plants by our house. The most common allergens this time of year, which sucks because they are everywhere since we live by the woods. I'm trying to cut them all down if i can. He doesn't want me to scratch him, and I think it just makes it worse because then he scratches himself again. I'm giving him benadryl right now. My question with the paws is, is there anything I can put on his claws or his feet to prevent him from hurting himself when he scratches? Kinda like those claw caps they use on cats..?

I know its not a food allergy because he's been eating the same thing for a while now. He only has allergies this time of year until winter..so it sucks cause i have no idea what it is my vet thinks it might be something he is inhaling like a pollen allergy or something

My dog has bad allergies this time of year (he gets shots) but lately hes been hurting himself by scratching himself. I've clipped his nails as far down as they can go…what else can i do with his paws? Everything else is fine so i just wanna know about the paws

Were you able to find a vet that uses the Idexx Snap 4dx?

I have no idea what your talking about

T.T ….I still dont understand any of it

is this a full panel? (TT4, FT4, TgAA,TSH) ….im confused

I was quoted a price for a "6 thyroid panel" is that correct…? then the 4 panel below. and how do you know if your vet is really taking you to the cleaners with the price they are charging you?

I read about thyroid problems and it says once they learn that bad behavior and get use to it meds usually cant correct the problem

nevermind this post lol

@thunderbird8588:

Hi,
i think all the suggestions to get him checked again medicaly are good, unfortunately it is expensive going to the vets, i know to my cost,lol.
Sharond suggestion abour someone coming over from BRAT to obseve and advise is also good. Hopefuly they could help if you need to rehome him. You sound like you are realy trying with him and its such a shame your sister doesn't like him.
It is important not to yell or grab a Basenji, often if they are lyed down they dont like you to put hands on them and will growl, you need to do the broken record technique of repeating "get down !" But KEEP CALM or you can escalate the situation.
As you will realise Basenjis are a challenging breed and people misunderstand how to handle them, i certainly did when i first got mine, you cant treat them as normal Dogs, they are still close to wild dogs in temperament. Some of our friends were afraid of Benji because they saw him acting up, and your family sound as if they have been put off too. I do hope you get sorted and admire you for trying so hard:)

What is "BRAT" ?

@nkjvcjs:

with a sudden behavior change, the health issue bells go off.

Be sure to send samples to Dr. Dodds, because she takes breed, age and diet into account in interpreting the results as well as doing the complete panel. I liked the results we got from her better than MSU when I was working at a vet clinic.

Also, be sure to have him tested for rikettsial diseases like lyme, erlichia and anaplasmosis, many of which can cause behavior changes in dogs. Last, consider hip and spine x-rays. Pain can cause aggressive behavior as well.

Hope some of this helps.

-Nicole

Generally, how much would all that cost? Thats another bad thing I don't have the money to do more expensive things (I lost my job and paying for school)

I constantly try and get them on board 100% but they are only doing it sometimes and i have told them over and over that only doing it sometimes doesnt work and is only going to make it worse. My mom told me shes only taken his toys from him or crated him when im gone. (sometimes she has sometimes she hasnt)

@thunderbird8588:

What triggers the agression towards you and the other people? and how do you deal with it?

See thats the problem, I can't say for sure 100% of the time because it's very random when its triggered. I have alot of health problems so I live with my mom and sister right now since school is out. Most of the time it's when anyone in the house comes near me, especially when I'm on the couch. He hates strangers and won't let anyone come in the house so I have to crate him when people come over. He growls about toys alot so I have no other choice than to take them from him. Usually when they are not walking around then i let him play with his toys. He hates when his feet or neck are touched, he bit my sister twice when she grabbed him by the collar (on 2 different occasions) but I warned her after the first time and she didnt listen so in my opinion the second time was her fault. He humps my leg when people hug me, he gets upset when people hug me.

When I am not at home but they are my mom tells me that the aggression greatly decreases. When everyone is gone he doesnt get crated. I usually just yell at him when he does something bad. I use to crate him when he did something bad and he hated that but then I was told your not suppose to do that so I don't anymore. He loves his crate but only on his terms lol

I have a theory about some of this, I don't know.. When my brother was around I use to sleep on the couch alot and he was a huge jerk. He use to pull me off the couch when I wouldnt get off (he was abusive) so that would get pretty bad. There were times when he would grab me and not let go (which would look like hugging) and just general bad thing like that would lead to yelling and crying…and now the dog guards me all the time..Just a thought. My sisterdoesnt like my dog and she yells at him and gets annoyed by him but no one ever hits him.

oh believe me It's taken quite alot of patientce but nothing. I think I might be battling his old habits of the things we use to let him do but i'm not sure because the change seems so drastic. I'm going out of my mind! I'm being threatened by the other people I live with as well saying that if it doesn't change soon "one day when i come home he might not be here anymore"
I've taken so much time and been very patient and nothing is working.

I got my basenji from a shelter about 2 years ago and now he is about 3.5 years old. When I first got him he was a great dog very friendly but now he has changed completely and I have no idea what to do. I took him to classes when I first got him and he did great. I've also spent money on trainers as well but now nothing works. He has become really agressive towards the other people in my house and sometimes towards me and it has got way out of control and im at my wits end. I've also tried training tapes and several different books but still, nothing. I can't afford classes or trainers anymore because i don't have a job anymore and I am a college student. I took him to the vet recently to get his shots and he doesn't have a thyroid problem. We also have one other dog who is older than him but is very subbmissive. I use to be able to take my B to the dog park and it's got to where i can't even do that anymore The worst part of all of this seems to be how random it is. He won't repeat the same behavior everytime sometimes he will do bad behaviors randomly. I don't allow him to sleep on the couch, he eats after I do, I go out the door before him, he knows basics commands ETC. So I just don't know what to do anymore. I have to take all his toys away too because he gets so protective of them.

I'm not sure where this all stems from but I will say this because it probably contributes to it…I use to let him sleep on the couch and do those bad behaviors cause i didn't really think about it. From what I understand he has a problem with "resource guarding" but I don't think thats the only thing unless it just a really really bad case of it.

any ideas? at this point if I can't correct it I'm going to have to give him back to the shelter which i really don't want to do cause I love him to death