I've been involved with Basenjis for many years and can only remember one occasion where one Basenji was startled by one particular noise ( ice cream mixer van starting up), otherwise they seem completely immune to noises even the loudest ones. Of course there will always be the odd exception.
Loud noises and anxiety
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We live very close to a Marine Corps base. Lately, they have been doing a lot of practice bombing, and it's driving Cody crazy. This morning has been horrible for him, and it's been going on for hours. He paces around the house and whines while it is going on and a few minutes afterwards. Then, when I finally get him settled down, the bombing starts all over again.
I feel so bad for him. The first time it happened, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I grew up here and have been tuning out the noise and vibrations since I was young, so it took me about an hour to realize that the bombing was scaring him.
Anyway, I've tried 2 kinds of herbal calming pills, but they don't seem to help with his anxiety. Luckily the bombing occurs while I'm at home, because I'd hate to leave him alone while it was happening. The bombing happens for about 2 hours. He's not destructive to the house, himself, or Moe, but he's so scared. Any suggestions on what I can do for him?
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If your home maybe could take him and just leave for a little while maybe go on a car ride? Loud music maybe.
Rita Jean
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I was in the Marine Crops and the bombing can be pretty scary. This is tough one and I feel bad for Cody. You're trying the herbal which other than some drug is about the best you can do. I don't know other than holding and comforting him. If you know what time it starts maybe taking him for a good long exhausting walk to help relax him.
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We live very close to a Marine Corps base. Lately, they have been doing a lot of practice bombing, and it's driving Cody crazy. This morning has been horrible for him, and it's been going on for hours. He paces around the house and whines while it is going on and a few minutes afterwards. Then, when I finally get him settled down, the bombing starts all over again.
I feel so bad for him. The first time it happened, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I grew up here and have been tuning out the noise and vibrations since I was young, so it took me about an hour to realize that the bombing was scaring him.
Anyway, I've tried 2 kinds of herbal calming pills, but they don't seem to help with his anxiety. Luckily the bombing occurs while I'm at home, because I'd hate to leave him alone while it was happening. The bombing happens for about 2 hours. He's not destructive to the house, himself, or Moe, but he's so scared. Any suggestions on what I can do for him?
I started Kananga on herbal drops in his water a month or two ago. It took a few weeks to take effect, but I don't see it as a 100% solution.
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I live right off Ft. Bragg N.C. and coming from Boston where there are no bases/posts It took alittle while for the dogs to get used it to what worked for me is when they started setting off the Artillery I would try and get them to play so they would be distracted . After about a week they where ok the only down size was everytime they heard it they look at u like "Ok mom time to play come on come on come on " LOL The only thing is the Artillery here can go off for hrs threw out the day and night . But i noticed it helped them alot there not scared of it anymore they proberly look at it now like kids look at the school bell ringing LOL
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Thanks for the suggestions! I don't know why I didn't think about going for a ride, I guess I was over-thinking it, lol. I will continue the calming aids just in case he hasn't be on them long enough for them to kick in.
I can't walk him here while it is happening because he's too scared, and even after a very long walk this morning he still paced for 2 hours. It broke my heart because he was so exhausted, and every time he started to nod off (he was still sitting up, BTW), it would start again and he would jump up to begin his pacing again. But I will try to divert his attention to playing instead of being scared. That is a really cool idea, thanks! I think I'm just going to have to figure out which days/times they bomb and work a new schedule for him around that.
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Will he eat during this? If he'll eat, just treat the loud noise kind of like you would to prime the clicker. Loud pop = treat. This goes along with diverting his attention. But if he won't eat during the noise, it means he's too stressed to try this. Drive a little distance and see if it is quiet enough (but where you can still hear the noise) and try to feed. Find out where that distance is, and slowly decrease the distance. Sort of like the Look At That game if you've read Control Unleashed.
Otherwise, IDK, maybe cotton balls in the ears? (But do this first w/o the noise to see if he'll tolerate it. make a game out of it.) And yes, that may be a totally crazy idea. I have several crazy ideas daily.
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I was thinking about it, and it may not be the actual noise that bothers him. The fireworks in July didn't bother him, and neither did the parade (firetruck sirens, marching bands, and all) that recently went by our house. It may be the vibrations. We are close enough to the base that our house actually shakes enough to knock the pictures and stuff off of the walls (we actually quit hanging photos on our walls because we had replaced so many frames).
I'm still going to try some of the suggestions and will definitely figure out a new schedule for him. Thanks again.
