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Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors!

Behavioral Issues
  • C

    We adopted our 4-yr old Basenji-Shepherd mix, Corky from the dog shelter. Little by little we are working on her issues! I think after 2 years, the excitement/submissive urination is almost gone. Phew!! Now we are working on her obsessive compulsive running. She fixates on things outside our yard and runs laps over and over. We have invisible fence but had to put up boundaries so she didn't loop the outside of our house every time someone walked past our house. When neighbor dogs are out or she spots a squirrel, etc. she runs her laps. I know that she is wearing herself out. She is a great walker. We can walk her off-leash and she stays calm and in control when she sees things that set her off when out in the yard. I am now trying a backpack with her when in the yard with only tuna cans. I don't want to stress her joints more than they already are. Any suggestions of how to deal with this behavior? Is this behavior common in this breed?

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  • BDawgB

    My dog Miles, also a dog shelter rescue, exhibits these same behaviors. We have had him a little over a year now. Anytime we tried crating him, he'd pee. We have managed to get rid of that, thank God. But he will pace incessantly (holy annoying) when he's stressed or when he wants to go out. Even when you're getting the leashes, he'll continue to run in circles around the furniture. It drives me nuts. He knows he doesn't go out until he sits and puts his collar on– But he will still do this frantic pacing thing until you stick your hand in the middle of a lap and calmly ask him to sit down. My other dog, Lexi, is not a rescue and does not exhibit this behavior. I don't know if it's a personality thing or if it's a result of being in a high-stress situation (like the pound). I will be curious to hear what others have to say... But Miles is otherwise VERY chill. He does not spook easily and he does not get overly excited when in public like Lexi can.

    Miles & Lexi's Mom

    www.stelladot.com/barrick

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  • Robin_n_JackR

    You know- Jack does the same thing when I am putting his leash on….running around in circles around the furniture until I block one of his laps. Didn't think about it until you mentioned it. Haven't had a fenced yard yet, so I don't know how he will act outside.

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  • JazzysMomJ

    Is this the same as what we call the Basenji 500 – where the dogs simply ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun around the house, the yard, whatever?
    They run laps around and around, and they are FAST!!

    If that is what you are talking about, then yes, it is normal and yes, it is a breed thing.

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  • Robin_n_JackR

    Well, as far as Jack- it isn't the same as the B500….at least as far as he is concerned, he just kind of trots around in a circle, until I block him and tell him to sit down. He knows we are going outside- its weird...

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  • BDawgB

    No, this is separate from the B500.
    The 500 is usually a fun-play time sort of thing. The dogs usually chase each other or we chase them or they chase us.

    The incessant circling is different. It's a stressful thing. I'll try to take a video of it sometime. His body posture is very different.

    Miles & Lexi's Mom

    www.stelladot.com/barrick

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  • J

    My dog Tosca might do something like this, I am not sure if it is what you are explaining or not though. If it is, it is not a stressed thing, its an excited thing. She does it when we are going to walk. I often make the mistake of asking her if she wants to walk well before I am ready, so she has to wait while I get dressed, put hair up, get ipod, shoes, etc. The whole time she just paces around the living room from me to the door, me to the door, nonstop. Sometimes she is silent, sometimes she whines. The way its done though, I wouldn't say its a stressed/scared thing, she is excited. Its like she is saying, "Come on! I wanna go! How much longer do I have to wait for you, slowpoke!" She definitely loves her walks :)
    Like I said, I am not sure if this is what you are describing or not, but if so, while its annoying, I don't think its anything to worry about.

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  • C

    Corky's laps do not seem to be induced by stress but excitement. I'll try to describe it….She's standing on our deck, looking out over Her Kingdom. She spots a dog two yards away (that acts like she isn't even there...so there is no reinforcement) she barks twice then bolts...leaps off deck like superman (over 3 stairs...can't be bothered.) She then will do a big lap of the back yard...pauses, barks twice, then comes back up onto the deck, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT until she is out of breath or we stop her in her tracks. Another move is in the front yard....someone walks by....she does a figure 8 around two trees until the person (who never paid any attention to her) is 4 houses away. She gets SO fixated. We spend time in the yard with her and walk her (off-leash in parks, woods, neighborhood streets- she's very well behaved.) However in the house looking out the window or in our yard she is an excitement junky!! We can live with the behavior. However, she is very lame almost every night and is favoring one leg. She can barely move...yet if she has a "trigger" she's off and running. I can only imagine the wear and tear she is putting on her joints!

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  • S

    If you think its compulsive, you should ask your vet for some medication to help your dog take the "edge" off. Porzac comes to mind…
    Then, I would talk to a behaviorist to help you redirect the behavior.
    I hear dogs do well with this type of approch.
    Good luck.

    Sharron Hurlbut

    BRAT, basenji rescue

    Evergreen basenji club

    Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

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  • L

    I would agree with Sharron on this one, with one exception. If this is truly OCD (Which some dogs do have). Then I would reccomend the behaviorist first, and the meds only as a secondary if needed. A good amount of dogs who fixate on things to an obssesive point do quite well with redirection training. The sooner you can see a behaviorist the sooner you can start practicing redirection techniques. Good luck, and keep us posted. :)

    To you

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  • S

    Daniel, I bow to your order of things re this issue.
    I have not had a dog with these issues, but I do know that the 2 things, drugs and behavior modification can work with this issue.
    So, thank you for the correction.

    Sharron Hurlbut

    BRAT, basenji rescue

    Evergreen basenji club

    Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

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  • C

    Thank you everyone for your suggestions and concern. I'll keep you posted.

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  • MaxieM

    My B girl runs fast in 1000's of circles. When she's happy, or wants to go outside, feels "inconvenienced", if we stay up late, when we cook, or gets excited about her walk, etc. When she's upset or has separation anxiety, looks like 40 mph! None of my other b's ever circled. She's a rescue girl.
    Is that the basenji 500 or is this odd behavior?

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    I can only comment on my experiences with Kipawa, my first basenji, who is just shy of 2 years old. @viv58: 1. OBS #1: they were only affectionate on their terms and didnt like to be petted or picked up.Is this more common than not. They wanted to be by you, but hands off for the most part. 2. OBS#2: Off the leash - they are unpredictable and may not come when called. Had some wild roaming experiences at the off-leash beach. Always kept treats -and 95% of the timeit worked.Can you train them to counter this? or is this a stretch ? 3. OBS#3: Not snuggly 4. OBS#4: Only looked me in the eye when I had food- everything was a distraction. 1. Kipawa is just an extremely affectionate dog. His affection for me is special, but he recognizes all family members and care aides who come into the house and enjoys their attention and gives it back. He loves being petted and adores being massaged, but has a preference for it being from someone in his 'pack' (family members and care aides). He will tolerate being picked up by anyone, but prefers it when I do it. He is a little uncomfortable when turned on his back, however, we practice this quite a bit and he's getting better at it, especially if tummy rubs are included. 2. The only areas Kipawa is off leash is in our backyard or dog parks that are fully fenced. For these places, he is predictable, because he is very used to them. He usually comes when called, but if it doesn't work, I carry the squeaker part of a squeaker toy with me, and that most always brings him back. If he needs to come to me based on an emergency situation (say he got onto a street by accident), I have a word/sound that I only use in emergency situations. He is excellent at responding to that. All this said, if he spotted a bunny in the dog park, I don't think the emergency recall would work. Based on his breeders seeing him this summer, they have indicated he has a very high prey drive. 3. Kipawa is super snuggly all the time and is also a 'velcro dog'. We are tightly bonded. He is on my lap when I watch TV, or at least laying against me. He sleeps under the blankets on my side of the bed. 4. He easily looks me in the eye. If I am talking to him, we have full eye contact. He enjoys when we give each other 'soft eyes' - the slow blinking a person/dog might do when fully relaxed or before settling down for a nap. If he is distracted (only happens outside) I use the command 'watch me' to get eye contact. Usually 95% success rate, but that would go down to zero should he see a bunny. I can't answer your other questions. Kipawa will be a solo dog in our home. As for the breeders, his breeders were Therese and Kevin Leimback (FoPaws Basenjis) from Washington state. We researched for a year before selecting them. Their breeding program concentrates a great deal on temperament. Hope this helps.
  • KipawaK

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    I agree that Basenjis are drama queens (and kings I guess, from this thread). When going to the dog park, my two girls are clipped by 4' leads to grommets in the back of our SUV. They sometimes walk around each other and get tied up, and the "fights" they get into when that happens would make anyone think total death and destruction was the only thing on their minds. But when we get to the park and untangle them, there's never a mark on either one. Same when they are "play fighting" at home - the noise they make, especially the B-mix, is really scary until you realize no damage is being done, and they are not serious about the whole thing.
  • sabaS

    Weird Behavior ???

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    KipawaK
    @DebraDownSouth: Fran, there are times when I might mean to be condescending, but I assure you that it won't be "a little" or usually any question. That you could take my comment above as condescending… I can only suggest you may simply want to block my posts because it is entirely unlikely I will write 100 words to say what I said in under 20 because SOMEONE might see my observation as insulting. Now if I had said it condescending, such as: How could you THINK it could be that? Don't you think any dog living with females would already have reacted? How silly! The person threw out the idea of periods, which sometimes could be it .. and btw, pregnancy hormones set some dogs off… but it hit me he had lived with them too long for that to be probably. It wasn't an insult to the OP, just a response. People contradict my ideas daily on here, doesn't make them condescending or insulting. THEN, I could see it. I simply tossed out a quick response addressing that logically it probably wasn't that. If you read that as condescending instead of my own view, I am sorry. One helpful rule for forums is that you look at any post and see if there is another TONE than the one you ascribed. If there is, take the other. Like your post. I COULD think you are a jerk, not at all "friendly," addressing this here and hijacking the thread instead of sending me a private message. Instead, because I see you post a lot and like you :), I took it exactly at face value... you simply are expressing your view and trying to be helpful. So please remove any tones you might ascribe to the answer. The tone in my head is simply factual, that I am not responsible for your taking that as condescending and probably won't be able to stop you seeing other posts that way. Now if I actually say something you cannot take any way than as an insult, feel free to let me know. But the above... sorry, Fran, it was simply a logical observation. LOL, and in fact, let me now be "condescending" to my post. (I am joking while making a point.) SOMEONE (but it will be me, since it just hit me where I could easily be wrong...) could have responded to my post and said: Yeah, but dds, you are wrong because maybe she has an infection or urinary tract infection also with a period, that might do it. See? Debra, not a problem. Thank you.
  • basenjiprinceB

    Very bad behavior

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    Buddys PalB
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