Posts made by GriffinsMom

Thank you all for the support. We took Griffin to the vet today. Based on several factors, the vet believes Griffin has a brain tumor. We don’t know for sure bc I’m not doing an MRI, but the seizures and other things seem to indicate a tumor. He doesn’t think Griffin has much time left and suggested it’s best to put him down soon because the seizures may start happening more frequently and become more severe. We absolutely love our vet and he said a lot of things that made sense today. Like everyone said, it’s better to say good bye a little early than too late. We have a big decision to make very soon. I don’t want him to suffer. Thank you all for the support and advice. This forum was my first line of support and I’m so glad I came to you first.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to post a reply to my question. You all had my husband and I in tears reading the messages. It's so nice to know that there are wonderful people in this forum to provide some guidance. We have a vet appointment on Friday, just to have him checked out. He seems to be doing okay now. Still aimlessly wondering around the house and wearing his diapers, but content and still interested in food. Thank you all!

@basenjimom2 I feel like you just described my basenji. Thank you so much for the insight. We have a vet appointment on Friday and I'm going to ask him about CCD.

Our basenji is just over 15 years old. We rescued him when he was only 9 months. He’s always been a very busy dog, but has definitely slowed down over the last few years. He can’t see or hear very well. He can’t go up or down stairs - we have to carry him. He wears diapers almost daily because he has many many accidents. And he just had a second seizure today (first one was a month ago). He sleeps a lot now and when he’s not sleeping he aimlessly walks in circles. However, he’s still eating normally and seems content. As a first time pet owner, I would like some advice when you know it’s the right time to say good bye. Does that even exist? I fear he doesn’t have a good quality of life now, but that can’t be a reason to say goodbye.

Does anyone out there use a muzzle for their basenji? Griffin is a good dog 99% of the time. However, he does have his moments. Today, my mother-in-law took him out for a walk and a young girl riding her bike got too close and he bit her shoe, which then made her fall and then he bit her arm. This is the 2nd time he bit someone in our neighborhood. The first was just a little nip, but this one was deeper. Both times he was on a leash. But, something startled him and he reacted by biting whatever was closest to him. I don't want this to happen again and I think I'll feel better if we used a muzzle when we go on walks. Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel horrible about this.

We buy a large bag of food and biscuits every few months and store it in a large bin. The batch that he's eating now has been in the sealed bins for at least a month at this point. So, I don't think it's the food. We haven't changed a single thing in his diet and this just popped up.

I'm baffled by this whole thing. Thank you for the feedback!

My 5-year old basenji has been itching and scratching his whole body for a few days now. I called the vet and they told me to give him Benadryl for a few days and if the itching is still happening, to bring him in. In the meantime, I went to our local pet store and spoke to the owner about what she thinks it is. She asked me if he was biting his feet and I said that he was. She said that's most likely food allergies. When I explained that I've been feeding him Chicken and Rice food from California Natural for about 5 years and he's never had an issue, she told me that food allergies sometimes just appear. She also explained that the top food allergies in dogs are chicken, wheat and corn. I also feed him Mother Hubbard biscuits, which are apparently made of wheat too. So, she suggested that we slowly introduce new food which has a non-chicken protein base. Based on her recommendations, we're now going to introduce new dry food, wet food and biscuits made from fish and sweet potato.

So, my question to the group…

1. Has anyone else ever experienced food allergies that appeared out of no where.
2. Does her explanation have any merit to it?
3. If you don't think he has food allergies, what else can be causing all this itching? I've already ruled out fleas.

I was hoping to treat his condition at home and not have to bring him into the vet and pay a huge bill. But, if I need to bring him in - then I will. I thought this was going to be an easy problem to solve.

Thanks!

My other alternative was to have my dad stay at our house for a week, but we ran into the similar issues - so many rules to explain. In doing some research online, I also found this site www.abka.com. It's for the American Boarding Kennel Association - this is how we found the kennel we chose. It's a good resource. I also recall reading something online about how it's safer for them to be at kennel than to have a friend or family member watch them. Just imagine if the dog ran out and got loose - a pet sitter would have a very hard time dealing with that. If they are in a kennel, they are secure, safe and well taken care of.

I'm leaving better about our decision to do this, but I know I'm going to cry!

We're taking him to Lakeside Kennel in Voorhees, NJ (www.lakesidekennelcattery.com)). They don't allow any bedding since they provide this cot looking thing for the dogs. Knowing Griffin, he would totally destroy a t-shirt - but it may be worth bringing one and seeing if he can have it for the first few days. As of now, I'm planning on leaving him with his favorite kong and two natural bones. He literally destroys toys in a matter of minutes, so I'm afraid to leave him with any since he may eat all of it since no one will take it away at a certain point. We're also going to pay the extra money for some play time too - Griff LOVES to run. I know he's going to be fine - we've just never left him for this long.

By the way, we're located in Mt. Laurel. Not sure if you are in the area or not. We usually go to the Laurel Acres dog park every Saturday at 9 a.m. Their is a group of greyhounds that also meet at that time and Griffin LOVES to run up and down the fence with them (there is a side for larger dogs, so they aren't in the same area). One day he exhausted 11 greyhounds! We won't be there this saturday because we'll be on vacation, but I plan to take him on the 25th.

My husband and I are putting Griffin (our 1 1/2 year old basenji) in the kennel tomorrow for the first time. I honestly think I'm going to have a harder time with this than Griffin will. We visited all of the kennels and I feel very comfortable with the kennel we chose - clean facility, friendly people, etc. I'm just going to miss the little guy. We're going on vacation to Hawaii, so I'm sure once we get there I'll have an easier time dealing with it. Does any one have any advice/words of wisdom for me to feel better about leaving him?

My basenji Griffin loves to go to the dog park, so we try to take him there at least once or twice a week. We love the park too because it tires him out for a good 24 hours. He LOVES to chase and be chased by the other dogs. The only problem is that he gets pretty dirty - both from the dirt and other dog's saliva. We've been averaging about one bath every two weeks because of the dog park visits. And if we go twice a week - we usually give two baths. Is this too much? If so, what else can I do to clean him after these dog park visits? When we bathe him, we use an oatmeal dog shampoo. He hasn't been experiencing any dry skin, so I think it's okay so far.

We had similar issues with our dog Griffin. We used to gate him off in an area outside of our bedroom. And every day for MONTHS, we came home to poop and pee. Well, one day I didn't put the gate up tight enough and he made his way into our bedroom. When I got home, we had NO accidents and he was so much calmer. Ever since, we leave him loose in the house and this Saturday will mark 1 month of accident-free days. At least for my dog, I think it was confinement anxiety and not so much separation anxiety. However, for about a month prior to leaving him loose, we did put him on Colmicalm to treat separation anxiety. It helped a little, but the freedom in the house is what really helped him become the perfect dog. I know it's not the traditional solution, but it worked for me.

Does anyone have any ideas for treats/toys that keep basenjis busy and focused? We currently stuff a kong with some kibble, fill it with water and freeze it (we call it a Kong-cicle). If you try this - you have to put some peanut butter at the bottom of the kong to keep the water from running out at first. It keeps him busy and focused on somethng for at least a half hour. Any other suggestions?

You may remember some of my previous posts about our basenji Griffin. We've been dealing with a severe case of separation anxiety for months now. After trying every possible trick out there (pheromones, leaving the TV on, diapers, etc. - you name it, we tried it), we resorted to medication and put him on Clomicalm. That helped a little, but we were still dealing with accidents during a majority of the week. Well, last weekend, we tried something complelely unconventional…we left him loose in the house and not gated in his 4' x 3' area outside of our bedroom. It's been almost a full week and we have not had one accident yet. And what's even better is that he is completely calm when we come home and no destruction in the house what so ever! Before we could only leave him for 3 hours at most before an accident and at one point this week, we were gone for almost 6 hours and nothing was waiting for us when we got home.

Now, Griffin is a rescue. We got him when he was only 9 months old and at that point, we were his 4th home. Apparently, he was locked up in a small bedroom in his first home and then bounced from one foster home to another and was crated most of the time. I'm wondering if he doesn't like to be confined because of his previous history and if he has just been looking for some freedom?

I know I'm probably going to get a lot of people telling me that he would be better off in a crate or gated, but giving him freedom is what seems to be working and at this point, I want to use what works.

Has anyone else experienced a claustrophobic dog? Is there any such thing as confinement anxiety?

Just an update…Griffin has been on 20mg of Colmicalm for about two weeks now and it's making a difference. I was doubtful that it was going to work for the first week because he was still having accidents, but this week we've had 3 out of 4 days with NO accidents when we leave him! We're still doing all the same behavioral things (leaving the TV on, lots of exercise, limiting water, DAP pheromone plug-in, leaving a stuffed kong with him when we leave, etc.) - I think the meds are what he really needed to give him that extra push. The best thing is that the meds haven't affected his personality, so he's the same goofy basenji that we love! Just wanted to pass along some good news and progress about Griffin - for once!

Just spoke with my vet and she agrees that it's separation anxiety. She's giving me some Clomicalm and we'll see how that goes. Thanks for everyone input! I'm really hoping that a few weeks on meds will help put him back on track again. I'll keep you posted!

Has anyone had any luck with natural/herbal remedies? I was at Pet Smart today and saw some natural pills to give dogs for anxiety. The technician at the in-house veterinary clinic wasn't much help - figured I might as well ask all of you instead. The bottle I was looking at was NaturVet Quiet Moments. Anyone ever hear anything about it?

When we first got Griffin, he was about 75% housebroken. He caught onto housebreaking really fast and was about 98% housebroken within a a few months. Then, he got a UTI and at the same my husband had surgery and was home from work for three weeks. From here on out, we had accidents. I think griffin got too comfortable with my husband home every day.

A lot of what you are suggesting, we've tried and sometimes it works (i.e. not closing the car door loudly, TV on, etc.). I really like the idea of a frozen kong (especially with the summer coming up). What do you stuff it with? Peanut Butter?

My only concern with giving him too many treats is that it gives him more to have accidents with (if you catch my drift). So, we leave him with one biscuit when we leave and give him pieces of kibble as rewards when we go for walks. Maybe we can start leaving more kibble in his area during the day to keep him busy.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply - I really appreciate it and I'm glad to know I'm not alone out here.

We got him from BRAT in October 2006. Apparently he was living in a trailer with a couple. When the couple's daughter, her husband and 2 young children moved in, they put Griffin and their other dog in a back room and locked the door. They were afraid the dogs would bother the children. However - Griffin is an angel with kids!

You may have seen a few of my previous postings regarding our 15 month old basenji and I think it's safe to say that he has a case of separation anxiety. He was relatively housebroken when we got him (about 6 months ago), but over the last few months, no matter how long we leave him - for an hour or 4 hours - there is an accident when we come home. If we are home with him - he can go 4, 5 or even 6 hours without any accidents. As I mentioned in previous posts, we've tried everything from crate training, pheromones, training pads, housebreaking 101, vet visits to rule out anything medical related and even diapers! At this point, I'm trying to give him tough love by not giving him affection unless he goes outside.

A few people have suggested that getting a second basenji may help him with the separation anxiety while we go to work. My question to everyone out there is this… is getting a second dog a practical solution? Or would we be getting ourselves into even more problems? We just recently began talking about this and I figured I'd check in with other basenji owners with multiple dogs to see what is really involved - please share the good, the bad and the ugly stories and advice with this post. Any and all input is welcomed!