Topics created by NerdyDogOwner

I've used one that simply holds a whole can of food in a steel bin, and the dog pushes the door in a little bit to eat the food. My dogs have used it well and I've only run into problem when I change foods and my picky basenji refuses to eat any more of the old food once he notices there's new food, so make sure to completely finish the old one or you'll have a pile at the bottom.

Yeah, I was an wreck sitting in the waiting room for the results. All kinds of scenarios going through my head…testicular cancer or something...oh god.

Funny thing, Gizmo does not mind going to the vet. He actually happily enters the vet building. Gets a lot of attention from all the staff.
The thing he does hate is the wait. This is the only time I actually hear him make any sound. He will whimper and protest. Trying to pull his way in different directions, but the floor is so slippery to his feet he just "walks" on the spot...makes me laugh.

My advice is to leave the park the moment you see a dog you believe may trigger him. And make sure you see it first!

To change your dog's reaction, you need to begin a desensitization and counter-conditioning program. Which means that you cannot expose him to his "scary thing" to the intensity such that he begins to growl. Once he's tipped into an emotional behavior, you've missed the boat on your opportunity to change his internal reaction.

If he's growling at say, 20 feet, you can probably start to notice other warning signals before hand, such as a freeze or hard eye. Even that's too late. You have to get to him before he starts to tip - while he's still comfortable. Which means working in a controlled environment. That is with dogs on leashes.

A good trainer can create a training program for you and work with you on this, but repeatedly exposing him to large, dark dogs and waiting until he's already growling to get outta dodge is reinforcing his fear. And the recent scuffle really reinforced it. I'd say you really need to up your situational awareness or start skipping the dog park. Every time he has an unpleasant experience with a large, dark dog just tells him he was right to be uncomfortable, even if the other dog does nothing but appear.

Great pics of Giz having a good dip.

Gizmo has matured into a handsome young man!

Very cute pictures - he sure does look like he's smiling in the last one. One of those fuzzy types caught Shaye's attention one day, and she tried straddling it, like she does Gemma, to prove superiority, but unfortunately she wasn't quite tall enough and kept falling right over the bigger dog. Wish I'd had my camera then.

Thanks for the nice comments!

@Kipawa:

What a lovely private little area to have time to play. Lovely pics of Gizmo, he is quite the poser! 🙂

Yes, he does like to stand proud. :p

@Basenjimamma:

What a wonderful find…good for you and Gizmo.
Great pictures, is summer finally there?

Not quite. We might get one or two days of intense sun and heat, only to get a cold cloudy or rain filled day the next. It's really messed up! Like today, all clouds…so depressing. 😞

@vickilb:

None of those nasty German Shepards there to ruin a nice day!!!!

Damn straight! 😉
Although there is a riding (horses) path in the same area, and we ran into them on our way home. Gizmo was frozen in his tracks when he spotted them!

Gizmo is loving his raw bone from the butchers experience. He has had 2 so far. The rib bone goes down nicely, and I have not seen it break into any sharp shards at all.

But I still take it away once it is down to a small enough size so that he has the whole thing in his mouth and is chewing at it with is head up high. I don't want him to get too over excited and try to swallow it.

Today I was going to mix it up by giving him a rawhide bone instead…he just sniffed it and looked at me as if saying "Where is the good stuff!?!" 😃

I have found that diet can make a b smell different. I know it did when I switched to try a different food…but when I found the right one for my b's, the smell went away.
Course, I have no proof, just what I saw in my house.
Thanks so much for this post. Your correct, after the bath, it would be interesting to see how long it takes for the smell to come back.

You'll have to market Raptor - he could earn a lot of money!!!!!

I really hope this will lead to more controlls… Fortunatly I have never used the vet's in question.

Lovely pictures. It's good to seeing him looking so happy after his ordeal with GSD. The wound looks to be healing well.

I love the pictures - it looks as though he is well recovered from his ordeal.

Lovely pics of Gizmo and his friends

Welcome back, it's nice to hear from you again. Gizmo has certainly grown into a handsome Basenji.
Sorry to hear he cut his paw and wish him a speedy recovery.

I think you have it locked up, what is the prize? Did you sew his perfect forehead wrinkles into place?! 😉

A quick update about his puking.

Found out it was a result from his food, not the Kong treat. Some of you might remember I mentioned he was itching a lot. Well I found some small lumps on his body, which seemed similar to what I get from allergic reactions. So I stopped feeding him his kibble (Arden Grange), and switched to a wet food called Nature Diet that has 100% natural ingredients.

He is no longer puking, and his itchiness has decreased. But he did gag up a small amount today from a bone I bought. So there must be something his body is rejecting.

@thunderbird8588:

Kananga, Benji used to run outside through the cat flap when he heard fireworks to investigate 😃

That is one curious Basenji. 🙂

I think the oil makes for fishy breath after they have consumed it, but it goes away rather quickly after that, so about an hour max after each meal, more like 30 minutes..
The pros are way better then the cons, I highly recommend it, his itching will be better, his coat will be shiny (although as a puppy I bet he already has great looking coat) and his jonts will thank you in the long run..win, win..