I just use the baby wipe to take the fluid off before the scooting starts, but if I can use something cheap and simple like pumpkin in her diet to stop it, all the better! I'll try to remember to pick some up this payday and see if she'll eat it in her food.

She doesn't have this problem all of the time, and usually has it worse in the winter, likely because she is indoors much more than in summer and its easier to notice indoors because its so pungent. Kandy prefers to be outside all day in summer playing with 'her sister' Sammy, the kids and the new pointer pup, Jack, or just sitting under the apple tree observing the world. If she stinks & scoots outside I would never notice.

I'll have to get some pumpkin and try it. Whatever works! We'll know by winter anyway.

MamaofMany

Our Kandy has the same problem - anal gland leaks.

I had the vet check her bottom to be sure it wasn't impacted (it wasn't, just leaks occasionally for some uknown reason).

It is a horrid smell! I use an unscented 'baby wipe' to get the odor off of her rear end. It seems to work and doesn't irritate her (these are the Huggie's brand, unscented for sensitive skin, as our youngest's skin is intolerant of most kinds of perfumes or wipes and these seem to be the most gentle and don't cause any problems with Kandy.) She hates when I wipe her bottom, but it is a quick procedure. We do have to get it fast so she doesn't have the chance to pull herself along the carpet on her butt and stink up the floor! (then its a major project to de-stinkify the floor with enzyme cleaner)

MamaofMany

Hello! Sorry to have dropped out of view for a while. Its been very hectic here between the holidays, home schooling, house hunting, getting my oldest into college and having the whole 10 of us get the flu! (Seems the only thing the kids happily share are germs…)

Things are actually going very well with Kandy and Sammy. Sammy (the JackRussel/spaniel pup) went into heat a month before they were scheduled to be spayed, which created a whole new world of fighting and other behavior problems, which we knew were temporary. The week before Christmas they were both spayed, recovered well, and things have quieted down quite a lot!

Kandy, being the quirky dog she is, became the 'best friend' of the baby (who she growled at) following him about and sitting along side where ever he went, and then began to growl at the 4 year old! After carefully studying when this happened, I think she was convinced the part of the couch on which she usually sat was 'hers' and her growl was more territorial (she didn't growl at him or the baby any other time). So I made her get off the couch, had him sit next to her and pet her. Then I sat in 'her' spot with him in my lap, and after a time, invited her up to sit with us. We repeated this twice more. She hasn't growled at him since. I think now she understands the couch is not 'hers' exclusively so its not an issue anymore.

She seems to get along just fine with everyone now, and we've not had any more of that behavior at all.

In the mean time, we've trained her to sit and come on command (but I doubt she'll do so outside if she escapes again!) She's very smart. She's even quicker than Sammy.

One little story, when we were taking the two dogs to the vet to be spayed, I had two of my teens with me to assure that both dogs would be properly controlled while I was filling out the paperwork. As we walked into the vet's, my two teens called out nearly simultaneously, "Look, Ma - a REAL basenji!" Someone was bringing a young male in that same morning. The kids were excited to see what a fullblooded basenji looked like.

MamaofMany

I don't know that she is 'afraid' of him - she only just began doing this behavior, and I'm not aware of anything he did to her to make her fear him. Could be biting (as the example of him trying to play the same way they do) but none of us can recall a time when he hurt her in such a way that she'd be afraid of him. He certainly wasn't doing anything threatening to her at the time. It seemed more to me (at the time) that she was trying to show that she was boss.

What I had hoped it would do was to give her solid evidence through Alpha-Mama that she is not higher on the pecking order than he is. And she hasn't growled at him since - and we're all on high alert for signs of aggression. We are also watching him carefully (which makes having 7 other kids a real blessing!). Kandy seems to be acting toward him as she did prior to this incident, and I don't know that he's able to make any connection yet (about her action and mine)

But I do thank you for your advice - its always good to have other view points to consider!

MamaofMany

We usually try to grab him up and keep him out of their way when the dogs are playing, but our house is incredibly small and it isn't easy to do - there aren't too many 'out of the way' places for any of us to go when they want a good romp! (we are making an offer this weekend on a much larger house with a big yard!)

The two dogs, when they get excited in play are so rambunctious and obviously having such a good time, and the little guy just can't understand why we'd want to deprive him of all that fun. But he could be trampled so easily, we have to keep him up out of the way. Funny to see him put the tug-of-war toy in his mouth, though, and crawl over to one of the dogs to see if they will take it!

The one advantage of having a tiny house is that there aren't too many circumtances where he's ever alone with the dogs, so we can train him as well as the two nutsies. The disadvantage is there is nowhere for the dogs to hide from him when they just want to sleep. Hopefully, our offer on the new house will be accepted!

MamaofMany

Our basenji mix, Kandy, seemed to be happy with all the kids, but has recently begun to growl at our toddler (18 months old) At first, I thought maybe he was pulling her ears or biting her (he tries to imitate the two dogs - puts a 'tug of war' thing in his mouth, or if he sees them playing by biting at each other, he tries to jump into the frey and bite them, too, which we quickly stop but he is very persistant that he will play with them just as they are playing with each other!) But yesterday I caught her growling at him as he toddled to the couch. He wasn't even close enough to touch her, and it wasn't just a grumpy noise - it was a real growl.

I grabbed Kandy into my lap (she loves to lay in my lap) and then grabbed my little boy and sat him on top of her. I talked to her firmly, telling her this was MY pup and she wasn't going to bite him EVER - not that she understood a word I said, but I hoped the tone would tell her she did wrong. I took his hand and (making sure she could see me do it) rubbed his hand on her head, ears, around her eyes. I made sure my hand was the one closest to her mouth, in case she got ugly about it (but she didn't)

I never want her to think that growling at any of the kids is allowed, and I hoped my putting the little guy 'on top' was enough of a show of dominance for her to understand. Today, she has not made one noise at him at all. I'm sure we will have to repeat this little scenario more than once!

I'm glad we got that over with yesterday - today I'm on crutches having had to chase the little wench across the neighborhood later that night (she tried to challenge a tied out chow chow, the little fool) and in my zeal to keep sight of her I stepped into a hole….sigh.

I just know she'll learn to 'come' someday... in the meantime, the Italian in me is contemplating making concrete shoes for her....slow her down a bit...maybe.

MamaofMany

Andrea -

I want to thank you for recommending the obedience website. We have all begun a program of dog training - fun for the kids especially. We have her (and the Jack Russell mix) sitting before they are allowed out, and they must "stay!" sitting even when the door opens until they are given a command to "go!" Even if the cat is just outside the door taunting them with his wicked yellow eyes to chase him - they must sit and stay until told to go. And now, after a month of constant training from all of us - they do it. In fact, both now sit at the door before it even opens anticipating the command. We also have hand gestures for the verbal commands - probably not the conventional ones, but they work for us and the pooches.

We've started working on "come" now - Kandy definately doesn't like it, but she is beginning to obey "come-sit" for her treats. No treat without obeying.

She's smart and quick to learn, and so is Sammy, so we're having a good time with them. Well, we did until Sammy went into heat and began making us all nutty with her constant whining and alternate aggressive behavior (she and Kandy had some real loud and nasty tussles) I had little time for the internet, for all the extra work it caused and the lack of sleep! But she's nearly done with that, and both are returning to whatever poses for normal and are getting along again.

We're so happy with the two of them, and Kandy is so unique and special. What a treasure - wierd noises that she makes and all!

MamaofMany

I'm not sure why the pictures disappeared, but I have reposted them. I can see them now and hope you can too!

MamaofMany

Jenwilson -

I've posted two pictures already!

They really are sweeties. I'm so glad both of them have fit in with our clan so well!

MamaofMany

What a pretty dog!

She's fortunate you found her.

MamaofMany

Kandy with her 'flying nun' ears

Sammy - blurry, but the best pic we could get

I wish the camera was a better one, but this is as good as I can get for you!

MamaofMany

I am not a real techno-genius - I sure hope I followed the directions for attaching a photo properly!

Thanks for the welcome!

Its been one week now since 'the little girls' have been adopted, so their own personalities are opening up more. We really love them both!

We think one of Kandy's parent musts have been a full 'senji, the other must have been a small mutt with some German shepherd as the fur on Kandy's back is very shepherd-like in texture and color. She's tan and white, with a somewhat black brindled back and her back fur resembles the coloring of hedgehog quills. She's got the white legs/feet but one leg is nearly all tan with just a white patch on her foot and she has the curly white tipped tail and a definate 'senji head. But her ears are small and aren't straight up - they kind of resemble the 'Flying Nun' (if anyone remembers that old show) and they give her a comical look.

She does seem to have a calmer nature than what I've read is typical of the basenji, but she is never going to be able to be let out untied for a quick piddle on a rainy day. But this morning while she was out on her dog run, she surprised me by coming to her name the first time I called her (think those dog-treats in my pockets are working!)

We're a home schooling family with 8 children. I'm working out a schedule with the teens so we can begin, as a family, an effort to get some obedience training in her using the website that Quercus recommended. If we rotate efforts, and all take part (especially once she learns the basic commands) we may be able to get her to at least stop running long enough to save her life if we can't get her to strictly obey (yesterday we had company over. She escaped just as their car pulled onto our street and my brother in law nearly ran her over)

I'll try to get my oldest daughter to use her inky-dinky $20 digital camera to get some pictures. It takes pretty awful pictures :o but they'll have to do for now! Its a beautiful day here, so maybe we can do it later this afternoon.

Mamaofmany

Thanks for the help! It looks like an excellent place to begin! I've already got a number of broken dog treats in my pocket - and advising my kids & husband to do the same….she's already learning there's something in it for her when she comes to her name!

Good heavens this dog is quick! -MamaofMany

Hello!

Our family's beloved old mutt shepherd mix died after 13 happy years, and we went to the local shelter to find a new friend for our family. We ended up with two sweet females that were kennel-mates and seemed to get along reasonably well (the had been kenneled together for a few weeks). One we knew for certain was a Jack Russell-spaniel mix (Sammy), the other was a little brown, tan and white cutie, but a mystery to me. I grew up with a mom dog groomer, so I know a lot of breeds, but I could not figure out what kind of mix she was.

In looking at pictures in a dog encyclopedia - and chasing her through the neighborhood half a dozen times in a week - there is no doubt - Kandy is a Basenji mix! :eek:

We love her to pieces, but need to have information to train her properly and make sure she has a happy life with us, and we don't die from exhaustion and heart failure trying to chase her across the highway.

So far the two dogs get along mostly (although there have been some tussles for dominance, Kandy is 3 years old and Sammy is 6 months) Kandy hasn't shown any signs of needing to chew (even giving Sammy her chew toy and abandoning her food bowl if Sammy wants to root through it)

But she is 'sassy', will run just out of reach when anyone tries to catch her, she jumps and has a wide range of incredibly loud and diverse noises she makes (with a kind of bark between them) She's like my shadow, and even now is making herself quite comfy in my lap.

Thanks for any help you can give us as we adjust to this latest venture in family life!

MamaofMany