The impact of stress is cumulative.
If you strengthen his manners and impulse control particularly in settings of distraction that would help. The behaviors have to be strong for the dog to be able to act through emotion.
I would also suggest training Go to Mat or Go to a Crate. The mat/crate is a safe place to go where the dog doesn't have to worry about what is going on around him.
Some dogs simply get overwhelmed with a lot of people around. They pick up on emotion easily and can get stressed out.
I know Kananga doesn't like it when I have a lot of people over at my home. If it's just 1-3 people he's fine. Any more than that and he's stressed. I keep his crate in a quiet spot in our home and he knows he can go nap there if he's overwhelmed. It gives him a safe spot away from all the noise/people. Never have had an issue.
My guy gets stressed if there are too many people and not enough couches/chairs. "What, me sit on the floor? I don't think so!" 
I second the idea of "go to mat" or "go to crate" if he doesn't already know it. I also don't think his reaction to crowds will likely be reflected in therapy work, as that is typically a quieter setting…..
I would really back up before these behaviors become set and stress related to being with people. You may seriously have to reevaluate if his temperament is suited for therapy work also.
Walk and play the heck out of him so he is tired for a few days. Then set up small group visits with people. Keep him leashed, have people utterly ignore him unless he is settled. They can toss him treats. Once he has learned to settle next to you (may take 4 or more visits), try without a leash. You need to build up a routine of calm and if it requires leashed for 4 visits or 10 visits til he gets it right, you do it.
For the grabbing clothes– a brisk NO, and put into a down with whoever he is grabbing totally ignoring him. Have them do the tree thing. Obviously safest to eliminate this behavior with home and family.
Once you have him settling around a small group, work to get a few more, more noise, more activity and build up so that he is adjusted and not stressed.
It sounds like simple overload/stress, but if you don't fix it with a lot of work, you can forget therapy work.
You might also write KDiamondD@aol.com. Copy your story to her, and ask her advice. She trains both therapy and service dogs and truly is amazing. (Kathy Diamond Davis also has books.) Tell her I referred you to her.
I was also going to suggest more exercise. Also if he is not neutered, it is breeding season and perhaps it is hormonal. If he is neutered, I would get a complete thyroid test done. If he is not neutered, I would wait for a few months when breeding season would be over for Basenjis. I would ask his breeder if low thyroid runs in the family.
Jennifer
I was also going to suggest more exercise. Also if he is not neutered, it is breeding season and perhaps it is hormonal. If he is neutered, I would get a complete thyroid test done. If he is not neutered, I would wait for a few months when breeding season would be over for Basenjis. I would ask his breeder if low thyroid runs in the family.
Jennifer
Even if he is neutered (and I think that was already stated that he was) it is Basenji breeding season and neutered dogs know this and can react differently to situations.
My first Basenjis, Maggii and OJ were never really comfortable with a crowd. As baby puppies they really didn't care, but as they grew it changed. We found that they were much happier greating people and then going to their crates in a room with the door closed (to stop young children from fussing around them). On the opposite end of the stick, our Mickii loved people, children and crowds. In the middle was Kristii who as a young dog did not like crowds, children and really people in general. She was the classic aloof with stranges and even sometimes with people she knew. However the older she got the more she wanted to be with everyone. As an elder her favorite people were children of any age.
That said, I would agree with the stress factor. Even if he has been around other family gatherings, remember he is starting to grow up… things change.. just like with human children.
I feel its important to think of the difference between nipping because he is excited and/or playing rough, or being aggressive towards people.. I think they both deserve great concern.. but i think , and I'm no expert, but I would think you would go about the solution in a different manner. Ayo loves to be around people, and Ive never had too many people over at one time, but he has been with me on vacation in houses full of people and lots of children, and he has nipped a couple of times while playing. He gets very excited and pulls on your clothes and has jumped and nipped. A strong NO,, and ignoring him for a while has worked every time, but he hasn't stopped doing it, i mean… he stops at the moment. But, a few months later, in another place he did it again. He has gotten better as he has gotten older, but he still does it every once in a while. It really helps to tell people to ignore him when they first meet him and if he gets overly excited....This is by no means, acceptable behavior and it hurts when he does it, but its not an aggressive attack bite..... I would never describe him as an aggressive dog..
My guy got quite excited when my friend and I headed down the hayfield with him. It was novel to have her along, and he jumped and grabbed her sleeve…...an attempt at play, not aggression. I just said "oh, I don't think so!" in THAT tone, and that was the end of it. Sometimes Basenjis get carried away with themselves and just want someone else to join in their play......so it may all be quite innocent, if unacceptable. It can be useful to have a disapproval look or phrase that is slightly less emphatic than "no!" (which should always mean exactly that!), to inform a dog he is slightly over the line without totally squelching his enthusiasm......or at least I find it so.
I'd suggest Control Unleashed - the book, the dvd's or both. This book talks alot about stress, learning, and over threshhold. Also remember that stress is cumulative. Sometimes it works out that 1+1=2 but sometimes 1+1=4 (in terms of stress anyway)
Really appreciate the advice everyone, very helpful!
Debra, thus far he is fantastic with strangers that we encounter, minus the Thanksgiving situation at family parties. So I do hope that the setting matters, and a therapy setting would bring out a 'different,' more work-like Dexter. We are working very hard to prepare him for therapy work, and I work in the hospital, so I won't be taking him nor taking the certification exams until he is ready.
Dmey, how you described Ayo's actions is near identical to what I encountered last week.
I will be trying Control Unleashed. I do give an emphatic "NO" for the over-excitement and rough play, but like dmey has explained, it only lasts for a few short minutes. Any way to make this understanding last longer? Should I put him away for a while to settle down when it happens?
My Arnie does fine at lure coursing events, show events, etc. where things can be noisy and with barking dogs but he does not like screaming playing kids or if they are on skateboards on sidewalks-something about the wheel noise. He also does not like gunshots. I find it odd how some things upset dogs while others do not. I rescued him when he was a pup almost 4 months old so I do not know if kids teased him or since he was born in rural MO if he was near hunting/gunshots.
Jennifer
I will be trying Control Unleashed. I do give an emphatic "NO" for the over-excitement and rough play, but like dmey has explained, it only lasts for a few short minutes. Any way to make this understanding last longer? Should I put him away for a while to settle down when it happens?
Yes, IMO. If he is acting out because he is over-stressed/over-stimulated, the best thing is to remove him from the situation. You also want to pay closer attention to his body language and look for cues that he is getting stressed so you can head off the issues from occurring. I like the Control Unleashed philosophy too, just reading the book gave me a very different perspective on how I looked at my dogs regarding stress and behavior.
He just sounds stressed to me. Give him frequent breaks from all craziness around the holidays. I don't think it is necessarily fair to expect him to be perfect when all of that activity is going on. One of my dogs gets a stressed more easily than the others so I limit her exposure to large crowds of people, particularly when she is tired. When dogs get stressed, it can get more difficult for them to respond to commands they more reliably respond to under normal circumstances. Plus they can act out.
I agree about the stress. So, with that in mind, maybe give him a rigorous exercise before the party starts and then, after awhile….the 'break' could be a walk with a number of the guests even around the block to help the trust with the extended number of people in his world! Just a thought!
