We have been to a dermotologist. She was given a topical cream and suggested that we use a leather product.

We have two different types of harnesses. Both are the walk in type. One is leather and one is nylon, but lined with fleece. She seemed to not mind the fleece one as much, but wherever the fleece touched her fur, the fur would vanish like you shaved it. The harness was adjustable and we tried loose and tight, but the fur still came off. That is when we went to the leather one. Now she will not wear any of them. We have a leather collar on her now. It still irritates her neck, so we remove it in the house. We just need to be careful with the front door. Thankfully she has not demonstrated any escaping or bolting actions yet.

It may be that the harness irrates her in some way. She runs when she sees the harness.

Thanks,
We have temporarily gone back to the slip on nylon leash. She actually runs to you when it is time to go for the walk, but will not come close when she sees the harness. We will try to gain her trust again so that we can minimize the rash that she gets from the slip on.

Patty,

This basenji girl normally lets you touch her all over. She is a little sensitve about her feet and will mouth you if you touch them, but she will not usually bite. She allows us to grab her tongue, teeth, ears, tail and almost every part of her. The only time she gets at all agressive is with the leash and when she is woken up on the couch. I think there must be some previous issue with the leash, or maybe it is related to the rash on her chest.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think in the long run, a little work and rewards will help to resolve the issue. I will update her progress.

Yes, we had a complete check done shortly after we got her from rescue. The only issue was the rash on her chest. We are giving her fish oil and we have put her on a good diet. The rash is much better, but she has some skin issues. She has the shortest fur I have ever seen. It is like she was shaved, but in almost four months, it has not grown at all. I have two other basenjis and one that died two years ago and I have not seen this short of fur before.

I don't think it's her vision, but it will be worthwhile to investigate further. We were putting a harness on her because she had a terrible skin rash from a standard collar. For almost two months, she was fine, but slowly started the biting. We went back to a traditional collar, but need to remove it after the walks because of the rash. Have tried both nylon and leather collars.
Good luck on finding your perfect basenji. In my mind with a little work, they are all perfect.

We recently got a 3 year old female rescue with no known history. We were told that she was aggressive toward other canines on walks. Having another B that is the same we new how to deal with it. The problem we are having now is aggressive biting when we attempt to put a leash on her. Some days she is fine, but other days she is wild. My partner has been bitten several times and I have come close. We now just put her back in the crate when she acts this way and take the other two out without her. The next walk she goes willingly but then again repeats the cycle.

She seems to have some training (basic commands) and is very food motivated. I fear that putting her in the crate will be associated with punishment.

Any suggestions?

In late May our Teimo had an episode that I at first thought was a stroke or heart attack. He bounced back to normal within 15 minutes. Since then he has had 4 more episodes that we have witnessed. The frequency and duration of the attack has increased. Before the attacks started he would display and uncontrollable head shake that would almost cause him to lose balance and fall over. We assumed it was some sort of Parkinson?s. The frequency became greater every week. Since he is 14 years old we chalked it up to old age.

After the last episode, I brought him to the vet. We had already discussed the issue after each previous occurrence and had discussed a treatment plan if the frequency increased. The only thing we needed to do was a blood test to rule out any other issues and then we could start treatment. He is now taking Potassium Bromide once a day in his food. Within one day of taking it the head shakes have stopped. It has been two weeks since he started and there have been no new episodes or attacks.

Also Teimo has not displayed any of the common side effects that other dogs have experienced (loss of hind leg control, frequent urination and lethargy). So far it has renewed his life and ours. Will keep you updated.