I definitely agree with the post about big family walks and keeping a safety space - call it Leroy's room even - like a crate with an open end or a dog bed behind the coach, under an end table whatever might work best for him and your house set up. When Leroy's in his "room", instruct your boy that he must be left alone. This gives Leroy a safe space and then he can better control when he wants to interact and when he doesn't.

I also might add that sharing in a skill you start teaching at your son's age. Much like you start teaching them to ask to play with a toy that another kid is playing with, you can get him vocalizing and asking to say hi to Leroy. You could start doing this as well. As you approach Leroy, you could say, "Hi Leroy can I pet you? Or can I say hi?" Etc. Then decide what is the behavior Leroy does that signals he says yes. Maybe it's when he stands up or only if he approaches you.
And teach your son to start doing the same. Leroy probably sleeps harder than he used to and his startle response is getting mixed up with your son's presence. If you can get your son to give Leroy more time - from the asking the question and waiting for a specific response - that may help prevent the lashing out that Leroy is doing even when your son isn't interacting with him.

@gwen,

Yes Cushing's is a life limiting disease. Our Harley lived about 2 years once diagnosed as well. If it's adrenal gland based, there may be surgical options but not sure - you'd need to talk to your very and decide what's worth it. I don't know what complications there are if it's in both adrenal glands. For pituitary, there's no good surgical options. The pituitary gland is literally in the center of the brain.

One thing that you could look into to help combat metastasis is some of the natural supplements out there that are anti-cancer. There's some for dogs now with turmeric (plus peperine) aka curcumin and reishi mushrooms. As with all supplements, read the ingredients and run it by your vet if you have questions. I'd be willing to bet some folks on here might even have recommendations.

In the meantime, love on your fur baby and enjoy your time with him. You sound like you are a devoted pet owner and he's lucky to be with you!

Hi Gwen,

Our family dog growing up - bluetick dalmatian mix Harley - had Cushings. We got his medication filled at a people pharmacy - lived in Michigan USA at the time. We used a little independent pharmacy because that is what was in the tiny town we lived in but I know we specifically got it there because it was cheaper. Now with goodrx you might want to check it at all the big and little pharmacies. People can get Cushing's too so it is probably cheaper through a human pharmacy.

Also, be prepared for your guy to start having accidents in the house. There's a lot in common between the symptoms of diabetes and Cushing's but they don't have the glucose spillage into their urine. Increased thirst, increased urination that they just can't control. If I had a dog with Cushing's now, I'd work to teach them how to use puppy pads in the house to stay ahead of accidents. My folks just put Harley in the garage all day. Oh the things I wish I could have known when I was a teenager!

Cushing's either comes from a tumor on the pituitary or a tumor on the adrenal glands. The one upside to the pituitary tumor type is that they also get an increase in a hormone - can't remember the name - but it modulates pain. So while Harley had hip arthritis he actually felt better once he had Cushing's. Until the very end because his tumor spread, he was never in pain from it and actually had some increases in his mobility.

Prayers for your b! He'll probably still have a couple (if not more) years of pain free happy life as long as you can manage his urination for your own and your house's sake.

Thank you everybody so much! I appreciate all the info. I had some vanilla Breyer's all natural and gave my guy a taste of that... boy does he seem to think that's a great treat! Obviously, though I don't want that to be the only thing I do. I'm going to follow up with our vet on getting a draw for the full thyroid panel at hemopet once next pay check comes through. You were right he was only checked for T4. Thank again basenji forums!

I was looking back at pics from when he was younger and weighed more. I think he's always been a bit taller than standard and had a little barrel chest. Used to call him a basenji bouncer at the dog park. He was all about playing with the labs, pits and other big dogs - probably because he knew he could outrun them if they ever got too rough. He's much more about slow walks with me and lap snuggles these days ❤

Yeah that's what I'm a bit worried about. If he gets sick, he's got no fat to spare. I didn't know thyroid was a separate blood check so we may not have done that. I will call my vet to check. Thanks for the tip! Any thoughts on helping him to gain a bit in the meantime?

I got my B a raincoat, cut the hood off and he's totally fine in the rain with it. It's funny though that he'll still avoid puddles even through he's standing on wet ground anyway!

Also he's currently eating a mix between Purina Pro Bright minds and Taste of the Wild Wetland recipe dry kibble a heaping 1/2 cup am and pm. I've tried giving him more but he'll walk away from the bowl. I also give him something supplemental with his dinner like an egg, or scoop of plain greek yogurt or non seasoned meat from whatever I cook etc. He gets his special at dinner because that's also when Brady the beagle gets something extra - but his is to hide his medicine.

)

Hi all,

My senior B - Beegin is 13 1/2 and is now weighing in at barely 25 lbs. I have discussed it with my vet as Beegin has been slowly getting littler for years now. There's no underlying GI or metabolic disease and my vet thinks he just doesn't have the muscle mass he had in his young years and isn't concerned. Beegin used to be around 31 or so lbs. My vet said he seems like a slim active senior dog and isn't worried since here eats just fine. I'm just wanting to stay ahead of any issues so I thought I would get input here. Beegin is my first basenji.

Now, I will admit it could totally be my perspective too. My other dog is a food hound beagle that I have to monitor, get weight mgmt food and supplement with low calorie veggies to try to keep him from becoming a sausage.

I'll put pictures here as well. I just have to figure out how to shrink them.

Love to hear everybody's input!
Shannon!!

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@b5004ever This is a clever idea too!

@hamtaro There's a few other suggestions above that could work - I also imagine that if you've researched how to get your dog to let you touch their paws with positive reinforcement that would be similar to picking up issues.

The biggest thing that I would add is that it doesn't have to be like a big thing. Add little steps here and there throughout your day with him. For example, when you hook him on his leash for a bathroom break, reach out and touch his side his belly whatever he's totally okay with first. Then slowly with each trip outside you move the touch until it is under him. You can reward periodically with treats but not all the time. Then you start with a little lift just enough to put pressure, keep doing this for a week etc. Then move to 2 hands then pick his front half a little off the ground and so on. It doesn't just have to be outside trips either. When you feed him, touch his belly. Whenever you pass him in the room, pet him and touch his belly/do mini lift etc. just so that there is just a lot of little neutral interactions in the direction you want to go throughout his daily life. Combine that with periodically having longer training sessions and you'll desensitize him to whatever was bothering him about being picked up. I hope that makes sense.

I would try a raincoat for the rain. It helped my guy to go out in the rain. He would just get really cold so the coat helped. I did the same thing another poster mentioned - bought a size larger and modified the belly strap to fit my B that way the coat covers his whole back.

My B will also do this - sometimes he's so set on not going somewhere he'll lay down. I usually give him a moment, then start back in the direction we're going with a really excited voice and a quick step like I'm about to run. I'll give our walking command "Let's go" and he thinks he might miss out on something exciting so he'll come with me.

If your guy nips/bites at being picked up, that's concerning. Firstly, make sure it's not a medical thing and check in with your vet - especially if it's been a while since he's gone to one. Then, you'll want to start positive reinforcement to change that behavior. Even if he doesn't get to the point of loving being picked up, he should tolerate it from you for safety sake.

Absolutely agree with Kemba on this. Seek a second opinion.

He's such a cutie! Glad to have you join the forum.

I would recommend searching for a dog sitter on either Care.com or Rover. I've had great experiences with hiring a dog sitter on Care.com in the Philadelphia area.

I absolutely agree that crate training must be a positive and you have to get them to also feel safe in there. I like putting really high value items like a brand new bully stick or a PB or yogurt stuffed Kong in there with the door shut. Then let the b try to get it. Make him want to go in. Give him lots of repetitions of the command (I say "Go in Little House" but use whatever you decide) and differing lengths of time in the crate. I also always give some kind of a treat even if it's just one mini size one when he goes in even if I am letting him right back out again.

My guy does far less well in a crate in a car for traveling long distances so I also use a calming spray on the crate bedding and in the car. Comfort Zone (used to be called Adaptil I believe) works well for me.

I too had good luck with the yip strategy when raising my boy. To this day, even though he can be really grumpy when woken up (he's now going on 13) if his teeth touch any part of me accidentally or when playing with his stuffed toys, he freezes and stops. He never went so far as to give me face licks, but he would act as though he understood that he had hurt me. He would bow his head to approach me and/or lay down near me.

As a caveat though, my b has never really cared much for squeaky toys. He much prefers tug toys or the ones with crinkly plastic instead. He may have more readily given up on the "game" since he's not a fan a squeaky toys.

Yippie another potential basenji owner!

That being said kudos to you for doing the research on whether a b would fit your family! From my own experience owning a b, some of what a "basenji needs" can really vary with age. If you are looking at an older b, that has pros and cons. My own guy definitely slowed down around 8 to 9. Before that, 2 to 3 walks, toy time, training time or thinking toys were essential or he got into trouble. Luckily for me, he mostly just overturned laundry baskets and hid the items all over the house. Once older, he has been fine with 1 or 2 walks and a little play time/brain time. If I can do more, we do but he's a lot more patient. He has also never figured out chain link fence, but I have seen others who have. My guy figured out how to use the rotating rack inside an entertainment center cabinet to get out the squishy VCR boxes he liked to try to chew. They each learn nasty tricks in their own way.

That said, older dogs are a bit more set in their ways. I could never get him to not sleep with me at night now and he has never met a cat he couldn't chase. Took on a 35 lb Maine coon cat without batting an eye.

You'll definitely want to have some trial time in your home to see how he/she fits with the other animals. I would check on here and with AKC chapter near you for local breeders. They may have know of dogs retiring or BRAT fosters in the area plus breeders usually want the dog back if it doesn't work out. There's lots of really knowledge breeders and BRAT folks on this forum - just ask!

Thanks everybody for the input!