Biting problem

[ComicDom1]

@sharronhurlbut:

Put some bitter apple spray on the bulldogs neck.
Often its so distasteful, the b will quit after one taste.
Some folks say this doesn't work for their b's, but it has worked for me.
You can find it in Petsmart or Pet Co.

You can use what Sharron suggested or use Tea Tree Oil. I can tell you from my experience the Basenji is just trying to play and get attention. When ours attempted to do this constantly I put my hand in his mouth and either put my thumb inside the bottom Jaw or finger up in the top jaw and held it there for a min and said no biting. This seems to work for us.

Jason

[Danny]

Your basenji is 11 weeks old, asking him not to byte is like asking a baby to change his diaper. Be patient with bite inibition, it works. Make sure to get him a lot of toys he can chew on, and again be patient.

My Rocky is almost 5 months now and he's improved a whole lot since we got him. He barely does it anymore and if he does it's usually because it's time for his walk or he wants food.

How did you get an 11wk basenji? I got mine when he was 13 wks and I still thought he was to young.

[renaultf1]

@Danny:

How did you get an 11wk basenji? I got mine when he was 13 wks and I still thought he was to young.

Just curious why you think 11 wks is too young. Most responsible breeders let pups go home at 10 wks. I believe I read on here that 11-12 wks is ideal. I think the problems are when pups are allowed to go home at 8-9 wks as they miss key time/lessons with siblings. Anyway, my pup Aaliyah came home at 11 wks and could have come home a week sooner had I opted for that. And she came from a knowledgeable and responsible breeder that fully health tests before and after breeding.

[Vicki]

@sharronhurlbut:

Put some bitter apple spray on the bulldogs neck.
Often its so distasteful, the b will quit after one taste.
Some folks say this doesn't work for their b's, but it has worked for me.
You can find it in Petsmart or Pet Co.

True, they don't like the taste, but my Bs roll in it!! :rolleyes:

[snorky998]

tuckersmom, my 1st basenji was brought into my home with a resident 5 year old Bulldog that was not only laid back and fully socialized, but a good role model for the B.(He was also born deaf and hand sign trained) The pup (Tyler) chewed the crap out of our Snorky's neck. We tried everything, squirt bottles, redirect, time outs in a crate, etc., etc., etc. It wasn't until Snork stood up for himself that Ty took him serious. He NEVER hurt Ty, but he certainly put him in his place, claimed alpha male, and ruled the roost until the day he passed. They were the best of friends for years.

[JazzysMom]

@ComicDom1:

You can use what Sharron suggested or use Tea Tree Oil. I can tell you from my experience the Basenji is just trying to play and get attention. When ours attempted to do this constantly I put my hand in his mouth and either put my thumb inside the bottom Jaw or finger up in the top jaw and held it there for a min and said no biting. This seems to work for us.]

I think that's great when the pup is biting humans. It's a little trickier and a LOT more difficult when it's going after another dog. At least, in our experience.

[ComicDom1]

@JazzysMom:

@ComicDom1:

You can use what Sharron suggested or use Tea Tree Oil. I can tell you from my experience the Basenji is just trying to play and get attention. When ours attempted to do this constantly I put my hand in his mouth and either put my thumb inside the bottom Jaw or finger up in the top jaw and held it there for a min and said no biting. This seems to work for us.]

I think that's great when the pup is biting humans. It's a little trickier and a LOT more difficult when it's going after another dog. At least, in our experience.

Oh boy,
There were two suggestions given from me in what you have quoted here. The first included Sharron's suggestion with the additional suggestion of using Tea Tree Oil.

The Tea tree Oil is a suggestion Tanza gave me after I had my Basenji neutered to keep him from licking and biting at the stitches. If the Basenji does not like the smell of Tea Tree Oil on the Stitches and leaves them alone it stands to reason that the Basenji would not like the smell of Tea Tree Oil on another dogs neck or collar and leave them alone too. We have used Tea Tree Oil on other items we did not want our Basenji to touch and it works great.

The second suggestion was what Miranda and I used when our Basenji was biting at our hands trying to play or get attention. We still use this when and if necessary but it is rarely called for now. This works very well for us and is similar to the situation described in the original post.

Both suggestions do address both issues.

As many know we have a Boston Terrier that lives with our Basenji. Typically our Basenji will bite at her neck to get her to play just like with the Bulldog mentioned in this thread, so we are familiar with the behavior and the problem.

Jason

[agilebasenji]

FYI - tea tree oil is great, however it is toxic to cat, so if you have cats, you may want to rethink (or at least not put it on the cat)

[tuckersmom]

thats what i've heard as well…10 weeks is acceptable.

[tuckersmom]

@agilebasenji:

FYI - tea tree oil is great, however it is toxic to cat, so if you have cats, you may want to rethink (or at least not put it on the cat)

Good to know about the cats…thank you we do have 2.