Posts made by ZolasMommy

Just a quick update on Zola's skin condition. So she certainly has seasonal allergies. Poor girl. But….. after using her antibiotics, her skin looks BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! So the vet put her on Temaril-P which she has taken now for about 3 weeks. Temaril-P is known as "Benadryl on steroids" so now we are giving her the Temaril-P only 2 times a week, and we put the liquid from a benadryl gel cap in her food every night. She looks gorgeous!!!!! This combo should get her through allergy season. I am just so glad we figured this out.... and found a competent vet in the process!

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone. Zola is our first dog (for both of us) so we have a lot to learn… but the feedback that I get from these forums is awesome. During the hubby's last visit home there was NO rough play, and they did well together. I am having him feed her and give her treats when he is home. He also does her walks. I know it will take time to get her to bond with him as she has with me, but they are on their way. Thanks again!!!!!

Hello again. To answer the questions: Zola is NOT aggressive in any way towards me or anyone else that she come in contact with. So is a sweet sweet sweet girl. I am able to walk her just fine….. no issues there. Now that I think of it, she would growl at him during their "play" but I think we just thought it was a part of her play, and not a warning of anything..... we may have dropped the ball with the growling???

Now that we have had Queen Zola for 7 months, she has become a complete member of our family. However, over the late couple of days she has shown serious aggression towards my husband, resulting in biting him! Mind you, my husband was the one that originally brought her home and bonded with her first. He is more of the authoritative figure when it comes to disciplining her, although we both do. We share responsibilities when it comes to walks, feedings, baths, etc. Now during playtime, he likes to "roughhouse" with her more than I do.

During one of their last roughhousing sessions she got really loud with him. She does not do that when I play with her. The icing on the cake happened just yesterday. My husband was pulling on her back legs (which he does a lot) and she bit him. She has NEVER bit anybody!!!!!! Ever!!!!!! And again this morning, he attempted to pick her up off of the bed to take her downstairs for her morning walk (again, this is routine) and she attempted to bite him again!!!!!

What the heck is going on????? I suggested that he stop playing rough with her, because apparently she is not into that anymore. But, really?????? Also, just a note: due to the nature of my husband's job, he is away for days at a time. So I am with her daily.

Any suggestions for stopping this before it gets out of hand? Normally Zola is an extremely sweet girl. And it's only been like this for the past two days.

Amelie, unfortunately it was only Zola that showed. But, the next time we do this I will be sure to let you know. It may be a while….. I am about to be very busy with graduation stuff.

Hmmmmmmmm…. I wonder if I can do some Googleing to find that group. If not, I will be sure to post on here when we decide to meet up again in Houston.

Thanks for all of your knowledge Mimi, and everyone. So…...Zola has a new vet that actually has Basenjis on his client roster, and knows the breed. She has seasonal allergies (we ruled out food or drug allergies). So instead of using the shampoo that the other vet prescribed, she is on two antibiotics. He called one of them "Benedryl on steroids" and she will likely take them for about 3 weeks.

After only two days of taking them, she has already stopped scratching herself so much, and we have not seen any new bumps. So I think the meds are doing the trick. Unfortunately, she will probably be a lifetime allergy sufferer (at least for as long as we live in Houston). So we will need to get her on a preventative once this protocol is complete.

The vet said that she had the cleanest ears he has seen in a long time. We are feeding her Blue Buffalo Basic, which has no byproducts, soy, corn, etc. We threw out that shampoo..... and will NEVER go back to that first vet.

Oh.... and I was never able to figure out how to add photos to specific posts on here.

So.... there it is. I am just glad that we found a more knowledgeable vet.... and he is right down the street from us!!!!! That is also a plus.

Hey. Just let me know when you want to try and do this again. I got a couple of replies about getting together in a separate post on here.

YIPPY!!!!! So glad to see there are some other Houston Bs out there. We have not taken Zola to memorial park in a while, so it probably was not us. However, I did meet another B, Emma, at the dog park a couple of weeks ago, and her owner and I talked about starting up a Houston Basenji group. I know he posted that we would be meeting at the dog park in a separate post, but the week we were to meet he had a death in the family. We will do it again VERY soon, and I will post the information here so y'all will be aware. Can't wait to get all our Bs together.

Hey everyone. Sorry to reply to this thread so late. I do have an update. So we took Queen Zola to the vet. She ran some test and found that Zola was having a skin reaction…. but can't figure out WHAT is causing it. So I have to bathe her in Benzoyl Plus shampoo twice a week to get rid of her "Folliculitis". Well.... after two weeks of bathing her with this stuff, her bumps have INCREASED massively, and now she is always scratching herself. Her skin is irritated, and I feel like a horrible mommy.

But I don't know what to do. The vet said it may get worse before it gets better.... but I don't know if she meant THIS much worse. My husband thinks we need to find a new vet.

dcmclcm4, did the Benadryl work? How much did you give?

Zola is two now. OK….. I just looked up demodetic mange... that looks scary.

Zola has been on the Trifexis for about 4 months now. We continue to check her for fleas, but never see any. However, she LOVES to do her girly business in tall grass (I don't know why) so maybe she is getting bugs attached to her when she does that. I just read some reviews online about the Avon Skin-So-Soft, and it's highly recommended! I am putting in an order today.

But yes…. she is loosing hair around her ears. She also has eye discharge... mostly after a long walk.... I am cleaning her eyes out like she just woke up in the morning. Is that bad? Allergies maybe???

Hello Everyone,

So down here is Houston, TX the mosquitoes get really really bad after a good rain. Lately, we have had a lot of mosquitoes, and I am wondering of they are causing Zola's skin to break out. I have noticed quite a few bumps on the surface of her skin that are beginning to concern me. She is on Trifexis for her monthly heartworm/flea/intestinal worm medication as prescribed by the vet. But her skin is so sensitive. Is there any type of doggy mosquito repellent that is safe to use on Bs? Or should I be concerned that maybe her bumps are something else entirely? I also know that many Bs are shedding their coats at this time….. but even around the ears????? Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Hi there. Zola is currently 2 years old. We go to the Danny Jackson Bark Park which is at the corner of Westpark and 610. It's the largest gated park we have found so far that is not too far from our home. They have two separate sections: one for the big dogs, and one for the lap dogs. Zola likes to go to both…. but she really likes to keep up with the big dogs.

I also spoke to our BRAT sponsor regarding getting with other B owners here to form a group. Hopefully by the time you get back here, we will have a nice Basenji playgroup formed.

Hey Everyone,

Does anyone know of a Basenji play group in Houston, TX? We take Queen Zola to dog parks, but we have only run into one other basenji. We would really like to find a group of other B's for her to play with.

Thanks!!!!

Hey Everyone,

So we are growing a little concerned about Queen Zola's licking habits. I know that Bs are self cleaners and lick both themselves and everything around them, but there is a particular area of her legs we are concerned about. She always licks her inner thighs (if dogs have thighs) of her back legs, where the skin has no hair. She licks and licks and licks and licks this area to the point of it changing to a deep purpleish color. Should we do something to make her stop licking this area? And if so, what? Or do we just let this go?

Also….. do your Bs growl at you? Not in a mad or aggressive way.... more like in a, "I am a dog and I can't use words to communicate to you" way? Zola sometimes growls at us when we come home, but it's not like she is mad. What is up with that???

Yep. I also spoke to my BRAT coordinator about this issue, and he says it has something to do with the reaction to the nylon. So….. we are now shopping for new collars. I like the hemp one, and I also found some really cute ones on this site: http://www.2houndsdesign.com/home.php

My coordinator also suggested that getting a collar that is 1.5 to 2 inches thick can also help. My Zola's collar now is only 5/8ths of an inch, so I am sure that is not helping the situation at all. I don't mind shopping for new collars. This gives me a reason to find her something awesome. Thanks for all of the feedback. If you have any other suggestions for great websites with non-nylon martingales, please post.

Hey Everyone,

So Queen Zola is currently wearing a Martingale collar and a regular flat collar for her ID tags. Both are made of nylon. After about a month of having her, my hubby and I noticed that she now has a red ring around the bottom of her neck, where her collars tend to lie when we walk her. We let her stay naked in the house, but I am concerned about the red ring around her neck. Could it be that the nylon material is irritating for her neck and maybe we need to find a Martingale collar made of another material????? Any ideas??? I like that she has a buckle Martingale, for the convenience of getting it off and on… but the redness around her neck is worrying me.

I am SO SO happy to know that I am not the only one with a B with B behaviors. I was getting a little worried about the eating grass and throwing up issue, but it's JUST like what all of the rest of you described. So I guess queen Zola is OK and normal after all. I do have a question about her collar…... I think I will start another thread for that one.....

OK… so what about if she wants to eat the grass sometimes when we go for walks??? What is that about????