Posts made by cmd

Saw this on CBS's Morning Show today. They tested it against other music and the dogs did calm down with this. They say it helps with anxiety, separation, etc. Might be worth a try. And how can it not be with the world best breed on the cover!

through a dogs ear

Ramsey
(aka Gebeep's Klassic Jim)

November 1994 - December 2007

Hope you understand we gave you peace so you'd stop getting hurt
and before you accidently hurt someone else. We know you'd never mean to.
Your late day anxious nature was also what make you so sweet
when you were with us. You were always by our side and kept our laps warm.
We had a great 13 years buddy.
Hope you're playing with Brie now and all your fears are gone.

We're planning a trip this fall and considering boarding the Bs in a kennel. They're 1 1/2 and, since I work from home, aren't use to being crated all day. We found a couple college students who could stay at our house, but my concern is they will be in and out a lot and there is there are WAY too many rules and routines right now – going outside (especially when wet or just tired), routine when leaving, keeping the house Basenji-proof, keeping the front door CLOSED at all times, etc. The kennel seems like the safest option -- the critters will be safe and the house as we left it. I called our vet to get some recommendations, but wondering if anyone has others (not sure if there are any SW Ohio people on here). I plan to visit a couple. Thanks

We're going through the same issue – we're planning a trip this fall for over a week. We found some college kids to stay at our house, but the more I think about it, the more a kennel seems like a better option. 2 of ours are also 1 1/2 and there is way too much to explain when being watched by someone who doesn't know them -- cover the leather couch, keep the bathroom doors closed, always make sure they go if it's wet out (which then requires: here's the best way to clean up accidents on the carpet), here's the routine when leaving, never never ever open the front door with the dogs loose.... With a kennel there are gates, gates and more gates -- no chance of bolting out the door when the pizza guy shows up! No worries about what did the destroy or mess on. Also all the other dogs may be a good distraction with you being gone.

The way I figure it, kennel owners love pets -- why else would they do it? They'll take good care of the critters and they'll be safe. I got a pretty good sense of a few kennels while making calls. Several even said, "oh, we have a few Basenji regulars here and they love it." One lady talked to me for 45 minutes about "this dog does this, and this one that, and...." talk about someone who loves dogs! We plan to try 1 or 2 out before hand, but I think I'd have more peace of mind knowing the house would be as we left it and they would be completely safe.

Since my other post is getting long, and things aren't going well in the crate department, I thought I'd start another. Call it _"The Smitty Crate Saga Part 2"
_
Is it possible some Basenjis just can't be crated and at what age do most get to roam free?

We are going on 9 months now and still Smitty HATES his crate. HATES it. He totally freaks out. Any time I put something in his crate and latch the door, he freaks out! We've tried an Xpen and found out he can climb! And today he pooped in the crate again. Its all over him all over the crate and the house smells. Here's the quick saga:

We got Smitty at 9 mos. He was in the breeder's kennel. It was a large indoor kennel with wire cages. There were 12 or so other Basenjis and 2 to a cage. The facility was quite nice with outdoor runs, etc. Smitty was the one who screamed when we put him back in his cage (ah, a sign of what was to come). He screamed a good part of the 3 hour drive in his Petmate. We kept him in that crate the first night then moved him to a 30" wire create the next day. He screamed at night. I tried a 36" version to put him and Bonnie (same age female) in together. She started to play and he attacked her (only time ever). So back in the smaller 30". Then he started to cut his nose chewing on the wire, so I switched to the Petmate. He REALLY HATES those, but he's safe. He crewed through a cheap one in only 2 days so I had to get the Mac Daddy version. Still he screamed and paced ALL night. After a couple months we let the puppies sleep in our room (he was a total different dog after that – he had energy during the day since he could now sleep at night!) After few months, with a good nose, I thought I'd try the mesh type again during the day. Guess what -- he pulled a couple bars off! So he's back in the Petmate and won't be using the wire one again.

He's nutso in the crate. I always crate him with a treat and ignore him taking him out. Anything you put in his crate he will shred (we are now using paper towels because we ran out of towels, blankets and rags). I've tried using ComfortZone with DAP – defuser AND the spray for months. Its been almost 9 months. A couple weeks ago he pooped in his crate again (he often pees but stopped pooping months ago)... then he did it again today! So I'm starting to think there may not be any hope for the crate. I don't mind making him deal with it. He can chew and scratch all he wants and if needed I'll replace his crate every 6 months, but the pooping is NOT working. Plus that just tells me he is SO anxious that he is losing control of his functions.

Years ago we had a 1 1/2 yr old female who HATED here crate too. She would poop in her crate and started to hit herself. At the age of 2 we gave up and confined her to a bedroom. It worked. So I'm wondering about leaving him shut in a room soon. I figure he's not going to be in his crate forever. Maybe leave him loose in a bedroom but crate Bonnie in the same room (just in case)? To complicate matters, we have a 13 yr old male who picks fights with him. The old guy has free roaming (except the crate room) so we'd need to address that -- obviously the old guy needs to stay away from the room Smitty would be in.

At what age do most get to roam free? Are there just some who are wired to NOT be crate pets?

I TOTALLY understand. Smitty STILL today peed in his crate and just last week he pooped (first time in months but he's 1 1/2!). In fact, just last week I bought the spray in addition to the defuser. Dog.com has it for $28 with free shipping over $50. I called the manufacture and they said you can use both at the same time. Just squirt 6-10 pumps on the inside of the crate…. as much as the stuff calms Bonnie down, being near by is going to knock her out! I've tried it for a couple days and so far it doesn't seem to do much for him. I'll set up the video camera again and see. I think maybe it just works on some and not others. To me it was worth a try. With Bonnie we sprayed it on a bandana and that's all it took.

Thanks for sharing. I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. But take comfort in knowing you did the right thing. Ringo needed the peace that only you could give. What you did was the most unselfish act. You are now taking the pain and I'm sure Ringo is up there jumping around on the beach stealing cookies.

Just last year I had to do the same. My path is similar to yours. We saw an ad in the paper as well: "1 yr old red/white Basenji". We had great times hiking and playing on the beach. Brie was just over 14 last year. A year prior she lost her hearing then her bladder control then most cognitive abilities. I started working from home and was able to spend more time with her. But towards the end, she didn't seem to recognize me. She started to walk into things and was rapidly loosing weight. I saw her fall down a flight of stairs and it was tearing me up inside. I talked to several vets who all came to the same conclusion. It was time to let go. It was the only way I could give her her dignity back and it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Ever.

It took several weeks to start to move on and several months to not think about it ALL the time. I still think about her a lot, but now I think about the good times with her. Just take some peace in knowing you did the right thing. You had some great times with Ringo. Most dogs never get to go the beach or share experiences that you did. You gave Ringo a great life and I'm sure he's up there driving Brie nuts about now. God has a special place for animals and I truly believe you'll see him again.

Bonnie responded very well to ComfortZone spray with DAP when she was puppy. It calmed her right down and eased the transition to our house. It doesn't seem to be the case with Smitty. I've used the plug in defuser for 4 months now… of course now I'm affraid to stop using it of fear of how make it worse! Maybe I need to squirt the stuff up his nose

When ever we start to leave he runs upstairs and plops on his dog bed in the office as if to say "see, I'll be good right here and you guys can leave... really"

Smitty will go in his crate if there if food in there, but if he sees you coming up from behind, he'll high tail it out of there! Shut the door on him and he'll freak out. He won't eat if closed in and there will be food everywhere if you try. We have a complex feeding system – the old guy eats in the kitchen with us, Smitty eats in the dinning room (with his bowl in his crate, but door open) and Bonnie in her crate with the door closed (she on the other hand prefers the door closed so the other dogs don't steal her food).

Today was a typical crating morning -- put Bonnie and Smitty in their crates with a treat, gated the doorway (so the old guy couldn't get in), Bonnie laid down and Smitty whined a bit, came home 30 minutes later to him SCREAMING, could smell that he peed in his crate (even though he went out just before), I plug my ears and make him sit, then he bolts out with his uneaten treat... and now they are all asleep in my office.

I agree with the others, I don't think getting a second is a good idea to fix the problem because it may not. HOWEVER on the topic of multiples, my experience is pairs are usually a good thing. We had 1 and she had way more energy that us. She also had major SA. When she was 2 we got a second, a male. They were buds. She'd play and run with him, but at time be a bit snippy with him. He however loved her. That was 12 years ago. When we lost her last year her mate seemed to miss her. We got puppy soon after, but again the puppy had WAY more energy than us or our old male. 6 months later with much discussion, and the help from this forum, we got her a playmate. My advice, is (and aside from your issues) IF you think you'll want a second some day soon, its best to do it sooner than later. I just feel Basenjis need another dog to hang out with. You should see our 2 play chase in the yard – you'd think they were litter mates. And now our 12 yr old has more couch time.

Bonnie loves her crate…. well, she'll go in on command and sleep at least. Smitty on the other had hates it. He's chewed through a cheap plastic one, cut his nose on the wire type and pulled off several bars. He's now in a PetMate shell with wire mesh over the windows. Typically he only has to be in his crate 0-2 hrs a day and 2-3 hrs on the weekend. That's it. We gave up making him sleep in it since he never slept while in it (never) and spent the day tired. He cries when we leave and screams when we come home. When we let him out he is panting and somewhat wired. We totally ignore him until he calms down to not encourage that behavior. We video taped him months ago and again today and found he spent the time pacing, pawing, chewing, panting, etc. -- not resting at all.

Oddly we got him from a breeder who kept him in a kennel with another and surrounded by 8 or so others. He had a lot of interaction with her family and time outside. She said he was never a problem. He was 9 months when we got him. Bonnie was only 3 months. I tried to put him in a larger wire kennel with Bonnie as a test and he attacked her (totally out of character). I've tried changing rooms, putting treats and/or pig ears in his crate, feeding him in his crate, I've tried ComfortZone anti-anxiety defusers, music, and nothing seems to work.

We've had him for just over 6 months now and there seems to be no improvement. We have another male (going on 13) who is loose but does not have access to the room with the crates. Leaving Smitty out NOW is not an option, but might be worth trying when the old guy is gone. Years ago, we had a 1 1/2 yr old, Brie, who also hated her crate. She exhibited similar problems. After 6 months we let her have a bedroom and there were no problems -- of course back then we had college furniture too so we didn't care much if she chose to eat it.

Anyone else have crating issues like this? Any advice? Like Brie, maybe he just is wired to dislike confinement?

We are trying to figure out how to work our next vacation where we'll be gone for a week+. Smitty is going to have to spend a lot more time in his crate.

Very cute little girl. Her eyes look a lot like our Bonnie (a Select). Do you know Nexa's parents names?

His photo makes me want a brindle! Very cute little guy. Glad to hear he was ok. I'm sure you heart stopped for a few seconds after seeing that! We had issues with separation anxiety too years ago with one of ours. She got a little better. Ultimately getting a second made all the difference!

Alright. No more towels for my shredder. I once put an old pillow in with him. I forgot it was down. Pretty funny to come home to. It filled his crate half way to the top!

This sounds EXACTLY, I mean to the point, what we went though last year. Bonnie was great with a crate. NO problems. Then we got Smitty. He was 9 months old but use to sleeping in a kennel. He absolutely HATED his crate. HATED it and still does. After several weeks of trying everything I video taped him one night and found he never really slept soundly. That explained why he seemed so tired in the morning. So, like with our other 2 Bs years prior, we gave in and now they sleep (very soundly) with us. Hey, it keeps your feet warm in the winter!

@Quercus:

you can get a full size bed cover for like $4. So I make four dog blankets out of that. And I trim off the blanket stitch thread on the edge, so they can't get wrapped up in it.

VERY important tip. Wish we would have know that. Years ago we put our 2 yr old in a crate with an old blanket with edging. When we got home she had it twisted around her leg and it was cutting off the circulation. She was panicking. Her foot had swelled up twice its size. I had to cut the edging off with a razor and rushed her to the emergency vet. She was fine soon after, but limped for days and never went near her crate after that and I never made her…. good news is she proved to be trustworthy with full house access.

@Quercus:

Querk is, and always has been, an extreme bedding shredder…he only gets newspaper now...I got tired of picking fleece out of his teeth.

Does Querk have roaming rights or is he crated during the day? Brie never liked her crate but, at 2yrs old, she was fine left loose and was always left loose – of course that was 12 years ago when we had post-college furniture.

We still have problems with Smitty after 6 months. If we put anything in his crate he will shred it. He's chewed through 2 crates so far (a cheap plastic type and a wire mesh Midwest crate). When we come home he SCREAMS, absolutely SCREAMS. I try to make him sit and calm down before I open the door (he'll sit but not calm). Then he's fine, like nothing happened. The bad part is he occasionally pees in his crate (maybe once every couple weeks) so we had to resort to GoodWill for cheap towels.

Hang in there JazzysMom. The puppy stage is always work, but the payoff is worth it!

…whether a crate or a harness. Just a small to medium sized plastic type works great and they're so cheap. We use budgie straps to secure ours whether in the back seat (strap it around the rear seat head rests or chid seat latches) or in the back of the SUV. For years we never did, but once we had a baby we started to. Last year I signed one of our Bs up for training. Our first class was without the dogs. We were told we MUST transport the dogs to/from class with a crate or harness. I suppose you could have shown up without one, but after hearing facts like "in just a 30mph crash, a 30lb "loose object" will become a projectile with 900lbs of force," everyone had a crate in their car. Like I said, we do crate ours. Our kids don't like to be in their car seats but we want them to be safe. Same is true for our critters.

I found this story from someone online:

_Posted*-04/03/2007
So Sunday afternoon my friend and I were on our way to Charlotte and we happened to watch a car accident. A car hit the cement divider head first then spun and hit tail first then started to spin into traffic. My friend pulled over and I ran back to the car to check on the driver. She was ok and when the other person who stopped opened the back door, there was a tiny dog, in a carrier freaking out. We were on a major highway and the dog was probably a minature pincher. The lady was, ironically enough, on her way home from bringing her BRAND NEW puppy to get its shots. We put the dog in my friends car to keep it safe, then moved it to the drivers friends car when she showed up.

When we got back into my friends car, we both realized how lucky that woman and her dog were. Both were alive and not hurt (although the woman was clearly in shock). Had that little dog not been in its carrier, it would have jumped out of the car as soon as the womans door opened and been killed by oncoming traffic.

We also realized that neither of us uses a carrier anymore because they are such a hassle. It was a very sobering moment.
_
How scary would it be to see your B running across the interstate (or worse)? I hate to think of it. These stories are usually hard to read, fortunately this one had a happy ending.

We just switched to Canidae over Nutro Max. We've fed our others Nutro for years and haven't seemed to have a problem, but I'm curious how the dogs would feel if they ate a better mix. Canidae has a very good ingredient list and got a A+ rating on this list! It actually isn't noticeably more expensive per pound than the Nutro we've been getting. A 40# bag was $40. So far they gobble it up, so they must like the taste at least.

We've gone on many vacations with ours. They all seem to travel well and fall asleep after getting on the interstate. Our last trip was with just our (then) 6 month old. You would have not even known she was in the car in the whole time. We use to travel with them loose in the back seat but now always keep them safe in their crates (keeps your car in tact and MUCH safer for your B). We'll stop every 3 hours at a rest stop to let everyone stretch for a bit. We pack a wire tie downs and ground screws. Like lvoss said, take them out shortly after exploring a new place. We learned this the hard way. Our girl had diarrhea after 8 hours of driving (not sure why) and found out 15 minutes after checking into the room. Too bad it was 1 a.m. and didn't know if it was a pet friendly hotel – hey after several exits of "no pets" at 1 a.m. I figured just don't ask and we'll leave if they ask us to. Fortunately we packed some Nature's Miracle just in case! You may also want to pick up some ComfortZone spray. It helps to calm them down in the crate (we've had mixed results -- one it knocks out and the other seemed unaffected). We also get special ID tags for trips with our cell phone on them, just in case. Good luck!

Dittto the "very cute" and a good looking B I might add!! That shot in the car reminds me all of those first trips home. We have had 4 so far and I find they all have different temperaments. Not all of them are a mischievousness (really guys, I mean that!) – one of ours is practically a living stuffed animal as long as he gets enough exercise and attention. Make sure you spend a lot of time socializing and bonding... though looking at your photos, I don't think I need to say that.

Anyone want to make bets as to when 1 becomes 2? Only a matter of time. Welcome to the world of Basenjis!

We've had trouble with sensitive stomachs with ours over the years. Our first experience was one camping trip about 12 years ago. After a long hike, ice cream seemed like a nice treat on a hot day… hey I was young then! Good thing we were sleeping outside! Then another time, a trip to the in-laws became a diarrhea mess after our B got into their Alpo. All it took was 1 over eating frenzy on the stuff and she was sick for days. We always give ours the same exact food everyday. If we change food, we do so over a couple weeks of mixing 1/4 to 3/4, 1/2 to 1/2, then 3/4 to 1/4 while they get use to it. I can't say if this is true for all Bs but our first two sure didn't handle foreign food well.