Behavioral Issues

Zahra only screams when she is seperated from Chase. I took Chase out for a walk tonight and left the Princess in the house to finish her dinner since she was taking her sweet time to finish it. When I walked back from the neighbors house I could hear her screaming when I was in my drive way. I have warned my neighbors so they know that it is probably just Zahra unhappy about being left alone. Such a drama queen. I have to admit when my husband said he wanted a Basenji I did the research online about them, I was terrified by what I read, Chase was our first dog who we only had about 6 months at that point and he was not too bad but the things I read about the Basenji made it sound like it was this scary creature. Then I saw Zahra for the first time and I was convinced that there was no way this adorable little creature could be as evil as the things that I had read. She seriously hasn't been that bad, she is very different from our Puggle and when I explain to people that the things she does she does because she is a Basenji they try to act like they understand. I think if I would have let all of the scary things keep me scared I would have missed out on a very sweet dog. Zahra is very smart, obedient is another story but the first few days we had her home she climbed up and down the stairs something that took our Puggle months to master and he still could not come down the stairs on his own until she came and did it her first week here. She has mastered every baby gate we have bought but I am planning on buying a different kind of baby gate on the recommendation of another B owner from this site. You will just have to find what makes your B happy, I can't seperate Zahra from Chase or else we have her screaming bloody murder. The vet has figured this out, the groomer and the daycare people. I have forgotten to tell them not to seperate them at the Groomers and they actually have had to hear the screaming, guess they know now! LOL! I haven't figured out if she is really attached to Chase or if she just thinks he is getting a better deal. LOL!

MaxBBB that's a GREAT idea! :D

Basenji people are dedicated to our breed, and we all seem to be very responsible. Basenjis don't like all other dogs, so we socialize them the best we can and keep them on the leash so they can't attack other dogs or sprint off after a squirrel and get killed by a car. But there are still dog owners out there who just don't understand the principles of responsible dog ownership. You don't just worry about dogs attacking each other but people as well. I posted the story about how I was attacked by a doberman and nearly killed several years ago. If not for the mailman I wouldn't even be here to talk about it. The owner said he didn't think Raggs would ever attack anybody, so he would just open the door and let him out on his own to go potty. I'm so glad we basenji owners are more responsible than some folks out there who just don't seem to get it.

We always have to take Ash to the vet and have two people hold her when she gets her nails clipped. I think the reason why she freaks out though is because her nail bed is lower down on the nail than alot of other dogs and she usually ends up bleeding a little because of that fact. Muzzle would be best or you could try and wear the nails down by taking her along the beach if you live close to the beach, that always helped.

Thanks everyone. I am so very appreciative of your advice. Housesitting is a great idea, but not an option for me as I have 5 teenagers and a husband to "watch". I tried Apolo in his home for the day and when I picked him up at night (I just couldn't leave him there by himself overnight) he went bonkers from being alone all day. I took him to a kennel out in the country as the accomodations at his vet would have meant that he had to be crated all the time which IMO is especially not an option for a big dog!! I worry about Apolo stressing out and have called the kennel to see how he is doing. I will visit as well. I'm really not certain that the kennel would let me know if he was stressing. I don't really know as this is the first time I had to use one. I think I will start another thread on what to look for in a kennel. Once again, learning on the fly!!! I am doing my best and asking as many questions as I can. I also think I may start a thread on how Bs react to Bordatella (I always say, Bortadella, isn't that sausage :D) since I know someday I will have to take Joey to a kennel. I am also going to look at kennels now so that I can choose the best one. So far I have been fortunate and the breeder has been able to board Joey. I think it's like going to Disney World for him!!! He isn't all wigged out to see me when I pick him up!

@michele: My 5 year old Basenji (we have had her since March) goes to the bathroom on our deck. We put her out the back door onto our deck and she usually goes no further tan the deck to go to the bathroom. Is there any way that I can stop this from happening? Put her on a leash and walk her to where you want her to go every time. Praise her when she goes, then let her off her least to run around.

@JoeyQ: Yikes, have we done something really wrong??? Joey has not been aggresive at all. When we play with him he will "bite" our arms, but not hard. If we say "ow" or "no biting" he stops immediately. Should we not encourage this behavior? or is it ok to do when we are playing which has been the only time that Joey uses his mouth? We do the same thing. Alani will put her mouth around our arms but never bite down enough to even leave an indentation. However, sometimes she will grab a toy to play fetch and if I don't respond or tell her I don't want to play she will lay the toy across my arm and act like she's chewing on her toy but feel for where my skin is and start pinching it. I know she's doing it on purpose and she thinks she's so sneaky…but I know.

@jys1011: Last night they both cried for what seemed like FOREVER…ugh! I don't even know why?? :confused: They were fine right before we put them in their crates for the night & then out of nowhere whimpering & crying non-stop. This is very unlike them...usually they fall asleep on the couch & then they get moved to their crates & they keep snoozing. It was so bad that at 2AM :EEK: we decided to take them outside to see if they had to go potty which they did but when we brought them back in it was the same incessant crying & whimpering. I gave up & just said let them cry :( I really needed to sleep! I would have had those babies in bed with us. Sahara knows that I hate to hear her cry, I am soooooooooo easy, haha

How far along is your dog? What is her due date? My female is very territorial about her "whelping space" with other animals in the house and will chase them from the room. Setting up the whelping pen and setting aside a quiet area for her whelping space helps to relieve anxiety and everyone seems happier. Do you have a whelping pen or box? Getting that set up and gathering your whelping supplies so they are all on hand for when they are needed is a good way to be prepared and to help your girl feel more comfortable. Also, have you planned on getting a pregnancy x-ray about 5 days before the pups are due. This will let you know how many puppies to expect so you know if there is a problem when she is whelping. Also, if any of the the puppies are too large, they can see that on the x-ray so you can plan for a c-section.

spitfire THANKS! It looks like the mentholatem worked :) my poor table will not be chewed down to hobbit size HA!!

@jys1011: How should you allow dogs to "meet"?? Neutral territory or in a home?? Should you use a gate in between first? Or just on leash?? I agree neutral territory is best - not in one or the other's home. if you must - do it outside. as for a meet & greet routine, I allow "first name, last name" first name = head or nose sniff. last name = toosh sniff. I let my dog meet & greet on leash, so I can correct any bad behavior. if all goes well, I let them play in a safe area (fenced or in house) and let them sort things out - supervised of course, incase a serious fight breaks out - but that hasn't happened (yet… knocks on wood).

<> Cute! Good idea too! I am truly not offended :) I think I just misread the post. Nothing worse than giving advice when it wasn't wanted...and I felt bad that I might have stepped on your toes :)

Hello I'm New , My Daisy Is A Biter. If You Touch Her Sometimes. She Seems Really Sensitive All The Time. She Can Be Fully Awake And Loving Than It Switches. She Has Gottin Us Good A Couple Times. I Don't Know Why She Can Turn Like That She Is A Spoiled Pooch. Do You Have Any Ideas What I Could Do.

It's been nearly 3 weeks since my first post. No new updates really, but new observations. I don't think this is a domination issue at all. Actually of the 3 dogs, Bonnie seems to be the most dominant – she leads on a walk, is the first through the door, etc. But she isn't part of the problem. Watching how the males interact they don't seem to be fighting for position. Ramsey and Smitty are normally fine together. They can eat near each other, chew on bones right next to each other and sleep side by side. BUT when Smitty and Bonnie play, Ramsey nervously shakes and looks very worried. It may be a behavior he's not use to for the last 9 or 10 years. For example, just a few minutes ago Ramsey's anxiety was building. Smitty and Bonnie were just playing. Smitty actually didn't want to but Bonnie wouldn't stop biting Smitty's neck. Smitty kept coming to me as though to say, "can you get her off my neck!" I couldn't get Ramsey to calm down and knew were it was going. So I crated Bonnie in this case. She is now laying down in her crate and the 2 males are by my side asleep after 3 minutes. Quiet, calm and nice! 95% of the time it is due to playing, but we don't always know when they are going to play. I've taken some steps to address the behavior. I try to calm Ramsey down (never works). If he growls I'll correct him. If he nips as the others run past, I make him sit and don't let him go until he is calm. If he acts like his about to attack I force him to lay down. If he just can't handle it I put him in a crate in the other room apart from the others (I can't hardly crate 2 excited playing . Now if Smitty shows ANY bad behavior, I tell him NO! and make him lay down right away. He has a zero tolerance policy with that! But after 3 more weeks its only getting more frequent -- not exactly what I had hoped. Our vet suggested trying an anxiety medication. I hate to drug up the old guy, but we've had some close calls with the kids. So we're going to try Clomicalm. At $50 for a 2 month supply its not cheap, but what are you going to do? Our vet said to try it for 6 weeks before we come to any conclusion... though if it doesn't work I'm not sure what is next. Ramsey may just have to be crated any time the others want to play.

Hollie only growls when she sees someone she doesn't know or someone/something outside. However, she does make the funniest sighing and groaning sounds when sleeping sometimes, especially if we try to wake her up to play. She has never growled or snapped at us and for that I am grateful.

Ha! Yes, I have had Bs that do this….particularly one named Bubba Roi, who doesn't live with us anymore...but he would lick our pants! It was really a creepy feeling, and we tried to ignore it, but he definitely enjoyed doing it. Now anytime one of our dogs licks clothes we say 'knock it off Bubba' ;) I don't know why they do it...I think it is affection, but maybe they don't like the way we actually taste!

Amen to the leash. That was my salvation in terms of fear of Gibby bolting out or jumping on visitors. After many months of making this the norm, he now sits and waits for the leash to go on and allows people in without immediately jumping on them. Naturally, he is curious after he is unleashed but he doesn't feel the need to jump up to get attention. With B's it sure does take months of reinforcement to get the concept identified but they will respond if you are consistent.

My Sahara does the same, don't leave any paper out, toilet paper, and the latest cardboard boxes. She was opening our boxes left by UPS until my hubby put up a nice brass shelf for the boxes. Once we came home to find the box had been torn open and his new bedroom shoes were in the yard. We were so surprised, this was the first time she had done this.

Sandie diggs to destroy… she has torn up all my plants and anything she can get in her mouth.. I have noticed tho that she likes to eat roots she pulls up, thought it was wierd... and grass...and leaves...

I've tried this a few times. I think he's getting it. Although my husband is having a tougher time with it. I'm not sure he's using the right body language. I immediately stop my attnetion. And when he starts to play nicer I give him my attention again. I think C3PO is too rough for everyone in the house. Even Topaz my female B sometimes walks away from him when he's too rowdy. The stranger thing is that SHE (2yrs) is actually younger than him (3yrs). She'll sometimes get upset & growl & nip at him.