Posts made by Bluebert

@micheleland where are you located?

Where are you located?

There are no direct flights to Qatar - its not ideal.

Blu is a 2 year old male. He has not yet been neutered but is scheduled for the procedure in 3 weeks. He has a very strong personality, needs a lot of attention and companionship of other dogs, which unfortunately I am not able to give him.

He has very typical Basenji traits. He is extremely affectionate, can pick up new tricks very easily, loves to play with other dogs and humans and will steal your heart. On the down side, he nips when he is excited or when he is asleep and someone wakes him up, so is not really good to be in a household with small children. He may be aggressive to other male dogs, but is not always so. In fact I take him to doggy day care, where he meets and plays with several dogs of all sizes.

He is fully up to date with vaccines and has no health problems.

Located in Malta, Europe.

Reason for rehoming: My working conditions have changed and I am out of the house very often. Blu gets very anxious when left alone, bored and hence destructive. Getting him another dog is not an option for me. He will settle in nicely in a household with other Basenjis.

I have a 2 year old male Basenji - Blu.
Blu had always been a very difficult dog - mostly with nipping, separation anxiety and aggression towards other dogs.
He was chemically castrated but this has now worn off.

Recently he had calmed down A LOT. I got a male Labrador companion and it eliminated his separation anxiety, and he was behaving relatively calmer. This didn't last too long. My boyfriend moved in with me a few weeks ago and its been terrible! We stopped allowing him on the couch because he was nipping at people from it (he tried to nip at his 4 year old daughter) - and he hasn't responded to this very well. He also became extremely needy - he sleeps in a gated area in the living room with the Labrador. Now he started to wake up every morning and cause chaos (e.g. smashing about his food bowl, ripping up the trash, banging against the gate) til I wake up and spend some time petting him. He urinates indoors daily - as though he stopped being house broken and his aggression towards other dogs when I take him out for walks has increased.

Apart from the fact that he is adjusting to new rules in the house, which may make him reactive, I've also noticed that his testicles have gotten larger (the vet had indicated to me that this would be a sign that the chemical castration has worn off).

Do you have any tips on this - is it time I get him neutered?

Thank you all

@senjisilly We introduced them outside our house and we took them for a short walk together. Then they went inside and we took them off leash. We supervised them the whole time and the labrador growled at the basenji for quite a few times when he was getting too close to him. But now he is a lot more tolerant.

Yes in fact we're considering getting in touch with a behaviourist to help with getting them used to eachother.

Thank you for your comments.

The labrador is neutered, whilst the basenji isn't.

Things have already improved ALOT in just a day. They can be in the same room together and its fine. At times I would need to separate them because Blu gets too annoying. He is so full of energy and eager to play all the time that it is overwhelming for Leo who is still getting used to his new environment.

Luckily they also show no sign of food aggression.

We are hoping that eventually they can start being left home alone together, and it could help with Blu's separation anxiety to have another dog in the house.

Hi everyone,

I have a 1.5year old male Basenji. He doesn't always get along well with other dogs but has recently improved on this issue since he's started to spend a lot of time at doggy daycare.

My boyfriend has moved in with me and so has his 7 year old male labrador. He is usually very well natured, however since he is in a completely new environment he is rather tense.

Do you have any tips on how to help with them adjusting to eachother?

Blubert (my basenji) can be a bit of a pest and doesn't get the whole idea of personal space.

I've been through the same experience with my B and his separation anxiety. He did not respond well to Prozac, it made him very sick so I never gave him again. I tried consulting with a trainer, my vet, looked up desensitisation training, rescue remedy, pet cameras..... I haven't achieved any success so far BUT I have to admit I have come to a point where I stopped trying - apart from occasionally going out and staying behind the door for around 5 minutes, then going back inside and carrying on with my housework (to show him that its totally fine if I go out - I will come back).

The best solution to me was finding a pet sitter close by - I drop him off there before work and pick him up on my way back. I find that he enjoys going there as he gets to play with other dogs and stays active. I know it isn't the best solution but I feel like its made my life much easier as I was going through a really stressful time in trying to deal with his anxiety before this - even half heartedly considering rehoming him.

With regards to crate training, I have found it impossible - although I feed him inside his crate, the second I close it whether I am home or not, he freaks out....and also managed to break one. My approach in all this is that I want him to feel safe and comfortable at home while I am away - and not scared and confined.

I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you!

@debradownsouth Thanks Debra, I've just ordered one for him and meanwhile I'm using a scarf wrapped around him and it does calm him down a little but never tried it when he is alone (since he's never alone for the time being)

Thank you for all taking your time to share tips and advice with me - What I am taking with me is that he may eventually calm down and to keep trying using positive reinforcement. Also, his pack leadership training has made him take me more seriously since I've started which has shown some improvement

I am able to leave him in the living area by himself whilst I am in the bedroom without him freaking out and urinating which is already relieving a lot of stress for me. I have also started desensitisation training and til now have managed 2 minutes being outside without him getting into panic mode.

Also, some mentioned natural remedies, are there any in particular which are recommended?

@rocky1

Whilst I agree that the breeder was not responsible and I was not prepared for what I was getting into - coming onto a forum for help and having someone rub it in my face isn't exactly helping at this point.

My breeder has completely removed himself from any responsibility - and whenever I called for help he always made it seem as though I'm being bothersome and gave me no help at all.

I came here for advice because this situation is significantly effecting my well being. I cannot take care of myself nor my dog adequately if I am not even able to go to work to earn a living or go to the store to buy food without the risk of having my house wrecked, my dog injured, or my neighbours taking action against me for the constant crying.

I am working very hard to make this work and I will not accept anybody telling me otherwise. I've been looking around for help around where I live but we don't even have a behavioural specialist around. This is the 3rd trainer I've started sessions with, and I've literally contacted all doggy daycares around the area but til now I've only found one willing to take him in and with most they are fully booked and with others I found that as soon as I mention his aggression towards male dogs, I am brushed off.

I am trying my best out of the limited resources and support I am finding and it has not been easy at all which is why I sent this post for some advice....

My Basenji is 1 year and 2 months old, I got him when he was 3 months of age.
When he reached 9 months of age, he started to exhibit really bad separation anxiety, to the point that I am now no longer able to leave the house without having somebody stay with him or without taking him to my mother's house ( which is temporary because she will eventually be moving to a rental apartment and no pets are allowed).

Apart from all of this he exhibits a number of behavioural issues:

1. He is potty trained but he sometimes urinates here and there, especially if I don't allow him to follow me to a room in the house.
2. He developed aggression towards other male dogs, which is a huge problem for me as I am unable to keep him at doggy day care while I'm at work.
3. His play is very rough - other dogs get irritated by him sometimes and he also play bites which can be painful on both humans and other animals.
4. He doesn't take no for an answer and keeps challenging me when I try to correct his behaviour.
5. On one occasion I had a few friends over and one friend got too close to him and he bit her in the nose- she needed to get stitches and now has a permanent scar.

Ive tried crate training but he just freaks out when he's left in the crate even for 5 minutes (I feed him in it).
If I try to leave the house he will howl like crazy and destroy the place. I live in a block of apartments so the howling is a big problem, so simply crating him has not proven to be a solution for me.

I've reached a point where I only go out of the house to work and to go to school. I completely gave up on social events, unless I can bring my dog with me (which can sometimes be annoying as he tends to be very demanding and does't sit quietly).

I just feel like he's disrupted my life in so many ways. I can't go out, and when I'm home I'm constantly anxious and on edge that he's going to be up to no good.

I walk him for 30-45mins in the morning and in the evening. Occasionally we run too. I used to take him off leash to dog parks but now I had to eliminate that because he can be dangerous around other male dogs.

I'm currently undergoing pack leadership training. It has been rather frustrating as he is constantly challenging me.

I'm so unhappy with the situation at present and I don't know if there is much more I can do, I feel like I'm about to break down. I had no idea it will be THIS challenging and I feel like he's completely taken over my life and took away my freedom - to do basic things like buy groceries, work, etc...

Do you guys have any tips?

Is there something I'm missing??