My B bit my kid

Behavioral Issues

  • He is unusual though, most B's hate to be cuddled.

    Jazzy LIVES to be cuddled. And fortunately for her, in a family of 8, there's always someone ready to snuggle with her.
    When the kids or I hold her with her face close to ours, she'll lean in and close her eyes, like she's saying "ahhhhh". And if you kiss right between her eyes… yeah, she's a cuddle-bug.


  • Ohhhh, and here I thought Shadow was the only one who liked to be a baby-even held like one!! Everytime someone sees me holding Shadow in a cradle form they say, "Oh, I wish my B was like that!"

    Somehow I'm glad I'm not the only one who has 4-legged babies!!


  • Oh no. If you pick Jazz up, esp when she's tired, you can walk all over the place with her on her back, cradled like a baby in your arms. She'll often hang her head way over backwards..looks so uncomfortable, but she'll sleep like that.

    Sometimes she'll be facing me, kind of squished up against me, and put her head over my shoulder to sleep – kind of like a baby with its head on Mommy's shoulder.

    She's 2 yrs old, but very, very much a baby.


  • It seems to be an individual thing with Bs, just like with people…some love to be cuddled, some tolerate it, some hate it. Of our six, we have some of each :) Blondie loves to be cuddled....Ivy hates it....everybody else is somewhere in between.


  • Our B loves cuddling. If he sees anyone else in the house cuddling he will first look at us make his ump noise and bops his head, if we don't go to him he immediatly comes inbetween the cuddling due to his need of always being the center of the love.


  • Training both dog & child to respect each others spaces is so important. My son got his wish when Duke came to live with us. Duke 12 weeks, son 8 yrs. Wasn't about a week before we discovered we had taken responsibility for a devil dog - piranha - crazy, mean puppy. Son hated Duke because he'd been nipped (broken skin) and didn't get the cuddle bunny pup he'd expected. I did however advise son to feed and be the treat giver. Not too long after that, they became fast friends. But it took multiple reminders by me to son of what and what-not to do for safety. Also explained to son the cute little puppy needs to learn and be trained properly by us. When the time came, I enrolled Duke in Beginner's Obedience at Pet Smart. Brought son to every class and had him learn to train too.

    As far a cuddling - Duke doesn't like it. He stretches all fours straight out pushing away from hugger. Unless we're lying down, there is no holding Duke. He will however jump up on lap and hang over shoulder to look out window while I'm on the computer. Our new puppy, Daisy is a snuggle bunny. Yay!!


  • Dog "biting" kids… 9 times out of 10, the kids started it and the dog gave ample warning. Our Rocky grabbed our daughter's hand once when she starting playing with him too rough while he was trying to nap. He low rumbled (we told her to stop, Rocky not like that), then he low growled (stop, Rocky getting mad), then he just grabed her hand. Didn't break the skin but it was quick and for her, just the reprimand she needed. She was startled, not hurt, and she has never done it again.

    I'm not advocating teaching your dog to be agreesive with children or anyone else who walks in your door. The dogs view your kids like pups and discipline them as such.

    And for those out there who think I'm a horrible mom now, my husband or I are always around when the kids and dogs are together and we keep a very close eye on their interactions. If any of them start to step out of line or beyond the boundaries of politeness, the offender gets a time out to decompress and calm down. Both kids and dogs need to learn their boundaries. I often say I don't have two kids, I actually have four or five (but only two ahve two legs, the rest all walk on four!)


  • <>
    Ha, ha...another horrible mom here....the other day I heard Querk squaw..and Ethan shriek. I was in the next room for a SECOND! I said 'what happened?' Ethan says "Querk yelled at me!"...me: "what did you do to him?" Ethan: "I jumped on him on the couch" Nice....he's three...Querk's eight....can't really blame either one. But we talked about why Querk is allowed to tell him to stop doing something dangerous (not to mention irritating!).
    Luckily all of my dogs have WONDERFUL bite inhibition, and we have had very few snarking issues. But for the most part I agree with Rockyswoman...kids have to learn where the boundaries are...and *sometimes, *some dogs can teach that lesson when the parents' message is lost on the kid.
    Of course, we basenji people are a little wierd....most "normal" people would flip right out if their dog tried to reprimand their child ;)


  • I think it was a wake up call for Greggy. They both fogave each other. My ex husband however was not so forgiving. He demanded we get rid of the dog. I told him that was not an option. Dash is by no means an "aggressive" dog. Dash loves Greggy but Greggy hurt him and much like any other animal would he reacted. My ex has dropped it luckily. Not that it was an option. Dash is a second child to us.


  • Sounds lik the ex should be bitten-hard. Oh, did I say that in my outside voice? Ooooops!


  • Yeah - Duke used to scream when being pestered (to death) by son. I remember running into room where they were together asking, "What happened?" numerous times. Though, Duke was a very unfriendly puppy when we got him - I'd never known a puppy so mouthy with all those sharp puppy daggers! Ahhh - hands hurt all over just thinking about it. Couldn't touch him anywhere without being snapped on a limb. He has so outgrown it now at 1 yr 3 mos. Glad we toughed it out. I sometimes wonder where he came from. I'd bet he had very little human socialization. (poor baby)


  • It is funny that my basenjis, all of them, know when i am sad or they have done something wrong….like play a bit too hard....

    They always come up and try to cuddle with me as if they are asking for forgiveness....

    it sounds like you instinctually responded the right way.


  • I think the thought process Dash has is what makes me so amazed by this breed. I have never had a dog that thought as much as he does. He actually seems to think that something was wrong and try and make it right. Maybe I am puting human emotions on him. But there is something there.


  • Alani too knows when she has done something and tries to get forgiveness. When we play around and she bites to hard there's always an 'OWE' then I'll stop playing. She knows she's hurt me and will get in my face and lick me until I pet her and tell her it's ok. But she's very persistant with it, I've tried pushing her away (sorry, I was upset..felt bad later) but she'll jump right back up and get in my face until I forgive her. It's really hard to stay mad when she does this.


  • A cold Basenji is a cuddly one!

    Winter has it's advantages in cold parts of the world!

    I find Basenji's are like cats, sometimes they want tons of physical attention and other times. it's DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

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  • Newborn/Kids with My Basenji

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    eeeefarmE
    It would be useful to know more about this dog. Has resource guarding been an issue in the past? Has he bitten either you or your wife before? (a real bite, not playful nipping). Or anyone else? A dog that isn't used to children may be fearful of their loudness or quick movements. Perhaps you could do some socialization work with him, e.g. hanging around places where young kids congregate to accustom him to their noise and activity. Obviously not allowing any interaction as you are unsure of his behaviour. Dogs react differently to newborns. In my experience bitches are more likely than dogs to be tolerant, but it is very much the individual dog's reaction that counts. People have been blindsided when their supposedly tolerant and gentle dog turns out to be hostile to a young child. Bottom line, no dog should be left unsupervised around young kids, so in any event you would have to monitor his behaviour carefully once your baby arrives. On a personal note, of the five Basenjis I have owned, two bitches were entirely reliable with kids, the other was tolerant as long as they respected her space. One of the males adored children and was curious about them, the other curious but uncertain and would react to fast movements. I did not trust him and controlled any interaction closely. IMO, he would have bitten had he felt threatened. And kids, especially babies, tend to grab and pinch, ears, tails, whatever. Caution is always the safest route.
  • Help! My basenji is bitting

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    DebraDownSouthD
    @kjdonkers said in Help! My basenji is bitting: @DebraDownSouth No use for further discussion, if everyone outside your sphere of reference is a quack, a nut job, a con artist. Different planets. Stay healthy! Everyone outside of provable or at least probably science, especially when they peddle for money, does fit my definition of quack and cons. But I slept with a bar of soap in desperation with restless leg syndrome. I have tried things that have almost as little scientific basis, but I do so armed with knowing that. My issue is people selling things as science/proven when they aren't. My issue is vulnerable, desperate or uneducated people getting taken in by hustlers. Not a different planet, just the science based and honest part of the same one. Having seen too many people hurt, or their animals hurt, or children hurt, by false science/medicine/therapies... I am sorry that you think belief in scientific proof and honesty about what is or is not proven is wrong. If someone says to me, "I drink vinegar and it helps my arthritis, but there's no research proving it works"... good. I might even try it. But when some quack says "pay me $100 and I'll tell you why your dog bites or where your missing child is or if your husband is cheating on you or whatever"... they deserve to be horsewhipped. I am sorry if I sounded dismissive to you personally. It wasn't my intent. It was reaction to what you wrote. In general, we're on common ground. We don't have to agree on things to stay on the same planet. :)
  • Bad B

    Behavioral Issues
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    tanzaT
    That is usually one of the biggest problems… someone in the house is NOT good about remember to pick up after themselves... or putting things out of reach of the "Basenji"...
  • What does your B do all day?

    Behavioral Issues
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    wizardW
    Just before I leave for work, EL D goes crazy until he gets his kong toy with treats then he just sleeps until I get home. Then a walk and then he search the yard for squirrels and rabbits, unless he's hungry – he'll prance around the house carrying his food dish or sometimes throwing it. Sometimes he'll watch TV in the evenings or just tear up his toys. Every now and then he'll do the Basenji500 - though mostly it's when he needs to go potty.
  • A little bit of this and that

    Behavioral Issues
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    tashaT
    Sounds like that is his personality. No different than my beagle/dalmation mix who does not like to have his feet touched. If he doesn't like it, let him not like it. My cat does the same thing now that I think of it. She'll plop herself on my foot and as soon as I touch her with my other foot she takes off.
  • Ninjia and kids

    Behavioral Issues
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