Re: New 1 yr old Basenji/Lab mix

Remembered this forum and wanted to pop in and give an update. Buddy is still doing great. As time went along, he began to show some of the more persnickety behavioral traits of some Basenji's . . . independent, aloof, tough to train sometimes.

He's still not fond of thunder, but doesn't tremble like he used to. He's about 90% on recall, though usually puts his own spin on it ("Buddy come" . . . looks at me, stalls for a second, then trots over).

He never chewed on anything, never peed on anything, no separation anxiety.

All in all, very happy with him, and he seems pretty happy with me. My very alpha cat (cody) passed a few months ago and buddy didn't even really seem to notice much, but I took the opportunity to spend some extra time with him and give him some extra treats. He naturally enjoyed that.

Hope y'all are doing well, and thanks again for the help.
Jon!

This is the BEST freakin' dog ever! Turns out that his great behavior was not a honeymoon–he grooms my cat, loves new people and other dogs. He is a 'sharing dog.' I don't see many who do this, but I have met a few who do the same thing: he will take his toys, and walk up to other dogs and offer it to them for tug of war. . . if he gets it, he'll run to be chased for a minute, then turn around and offer it up again. . . if they get it, he's like, "cool, i'll chase you" and if they get mouthy, he just trots away and says hi to me or another dog.

He still smiles with his entire face. He's learning all sorts of tricks--turns out he's extremely smart. Now if I can get him to figure out what to do with a frisbee . . . I swear, I've shown him over and over, treated him, etc. and he still just lets the frisbee bonk him in the head. . . oh well, fetch with toys and his Kong Wubba is fun.

Thanks again for all the help. I'll drop in some and keep y'all posted.:D

Jon

This just happened tonight for the 1st time. Very glad to see that the cat was the one that chose to jump up and plop down.:):):)

Cody the cat just jumped up and plopped down with Buddy for the 1st time! They are both looked at each other, sniffed noses, then went to sleep!

If you're wanting to introduce cats to Basenji's this forum has some great pointers. Thought there are times when a dog and a cat just won't work out no matter what you do.

Thanks y'all! Obedience training is going well also. Can't wait to get Buddy all set up as a therapy dog to take to the Children's hospital in town.

Jon

Oh, I just got it backwards–still a cool pup!

Oh yes, what a cute pix of the puppy rott! That's great that he's from Mary's pooch's line

I saw that link to Mary's site on another post I put on here. . . it's working great! I also got one of those 'gentle leader' leash things that has the nose strap, and while he's fussing a little, he's doing pretty well for his first day.

Now he has this thing about not being interested in his toys, but wants to play with all of the cats toys, including the little mice that if he eats em, will clog him up . . . sheesh, I'm gonna have to put catnip on HIS toys! (kidding)

Jon

Thanks for the feedback! So it sounds ok that the cat is doing this–cool. Any other thoughts welcomed--I've read some other posts that have been helpful as well.

He does get amped up and excited when Cody is taunting him (by running quickly across the living room, etc), but he usually immediately goes to the door and whines to go out--seems like he knows that there may be better play options (ie other dogs) outside.

Now to get him to stop this vocalizing by the door when he doesn't have to 'go.' And get him to come when called (when outside). Outside = "Cone of Deafness!"
Jon

Oh yeah, Cody is a very fit 15 lb cat–not fat at all . . . he's very fast, and very capable of knocking Buddy into tomorrow if it (God forbid) were to get rough . . . of course, Buddy is deceptively powerful for a 40 lb ten-month old, and one shake if he got C would do some damage.

Ok, so I've had buddy for 3 weeks, he's a 10 month old Basenji/Lab mix with a great personality: no food aggression, no toy aggression, and seemingly little or no aggression for my VERY alpha cat, Cody. I think he believes cats are just smaller dogs!

He's very laid back inside, and goes 9000 mph outside (we are working on recall–-eeeesssshhhh).

I followed a lot of rules about introducing Buddy to Cody and kept B crated at all times until C stopped being a sphere of fur at his sight, then kept him on his leash at all times until C was comfortable walking up to B to sniff his tail. B has stayed pretty laid back, but is very curious about C--he does not seem at all aggressive, he seems like he just wants to play; C however is not so sure--while C is MUCH better now and never really puffs up, he will do the normal 'boxing' thing if B gets too eager or surprises C.

Cody is now confident enough (or it could be pissed enough?) to hide behind things and run at Buddy--he's not puffed up at all, and he stops short and just sniffs noses. Sometimes, B will stand his ground a bit, and just stand up and sniff back (no hackles up, no growling, etc), but usually he just backs away and finds something else to play with.

I have had both of them in the same room most of the time with no trouble (other than B whimpering/vocalizing when it seems like he'd like to play with Cody -- he'll even get the rump-up/head down play pose)

Anyway, is it normal for an alpha cat to 'charge' like this? And how much should I allow it to happen before squirting Cody the cat with the water/vinegar solution? If they are just finding their pecking order, I'm cool to let em sort it out as long as I'm close; but if this is an unhealthy dynamic that's about to explode, I want to catch it soon.

Thanks!
Jon, Buddy and Cody

PS Buddy is lying down on my left, and Cody is currently laying down on my right. This is not uncommon. I think they may actually like each other--but don't want to let my guard down and find a hurt kitty (or an injured eye on the pup).