New update: Tika is no longer in heat! Yay! Remy got neutered and is doing great! We got a dog trainer to come in assess the situation and she thinks it is starting to improve compared to how I described it when I booked her to come. Only Maia seems to need the muzzle, she seems to be very unsure of the puppy. We are working with her to build her confidence. The puppy doesn’t seem to have any stress with Maia around and won’t start anything. The muzzle is on just in case when I am home alone as I don’t want anything bad to happen when if I can’t separate them. The puppy is getting lots of training time to help her learn how to behave properly. With 2 people here we can have the girls on short leashes and they are fine together. They did have a small altercation of snarling but no biting and no one got hurt. The older female backed down and walked away. As much as I want her to be the top dog it seems that the puppy has a much more dominant personality. If they figure out the pack hierchy hopefully everything will settle down. The trainer says there are no pack instincts in domesticated dogs, but after having 6 basenjis I can’t agree with that in regards to basenjis. We can walk the girls together without muzzles now so I think things are more positive and they seem to be improving every day. When Remy is healed from his neuter I will get the puppy spayed and hope that calms things down even further. So far there is a lot more peace in the house. Please anyone let me know if there is anything else I should be doing to keep these girls on track. Thank you for all your advice and guidance! I am so grateful for this forum as what is normal for other dogs is not so much with these guys!
How many of these play behaviors does your Basenji have?
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Don't forget the butt check!
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Anubis likes to do quite a few of those behaviors, but her two favorite moves when play fighting with doggie friends are the neck grab, and the butt push (she pushes the other dog with her hip). It almost looks like she's dancing.
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Kaiser does a lot of play on his back, neck grabbing which is so gentle most times he's just grabbing air, but not to all dogs, when excited he does the b500 with grouch bows with legs spread curved outwards which looks so awkward - to invite me to chase him, toy shaker - everything gets shaken especially if it's stolen - when I hear it and I know he's been somewhere he shouldn't I know he's stolen. When chasing a faster dog he has been known to grab their tail in frustration, could have learnt this from having it done to him often. Loves to been snuggled under a blanket or armpit etc even if it's just his head underneath which means I am going to sleep. He is not really into wrestling or leg biting have seen him only do it with a puppy we know and when he meets a dog he hits it off with at the park, he prefers to chase and be chased and usually with bigger dogs. Haven't seen him ponce but he does a stop,lay,charge greeting which he saves for dogs he likes and is eager to meet.
Jolanda and Kaiser
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Mine do the neck grab some also, but definitely the "butt slam" – before she had her stroke, my female would even butt slam us when she'd get really hyper and playful.
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Sorry for the late reply to your response about the neck bite and other play behaviors. Very interesting. My dog also does the crouch and bounce which is so cute!
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Lela and Binti display most of the behaviours you describe. They will, however, in a state of excitement, shake a toy or shock, but very briefly.
The neck and leg biting is not so popular with some other dog owners - they think the b's are aggressive. -
Mine do all those things as well. We a table with 4 chairs around it in the kitchen breakfast area and they will run right between all the legs all the time, at high speed. They also will run pretty much full speed into a wall and crash into it sideways to stop their momentum so they can change direction. At my last house, I had to patch a dent in the drywall just above the base molding where they hit it so hard.
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Ah yes, the ricochet method - my B mix is all over that as well! Luckily, my dog's favored "bumper"tends to be the backs of couches rather than the wall directly. It is amazing to see her rebound off the back of the couch, and then sail over the coffee table and the other dog.
Below is a quote from an article that references this behavior in Africa. - http://www.basenji.org/african/bolt6403.htm
One tale that enchanted me was of a trip into
the bush, when he was walking down a narrow
game trail quite restricted on either side by dense
vegetation. Suddenly, coming at full speed to-
ward him was a bush-buck pursued by four red-
and white Basenjis. The bush-buck was as start-
led as he was and, fortunately, instead of impaling
him on his horns, he banked off a tree, striking it
with his hoofs, and dashed off at right angles into
the undergrowth. The Basenjis did the same man-
euver one after the other, glancing off the tree
trunk and following their quarry. The whole action
was so instantaneous that he said it was only in
retrospect that he could follow the sequence of
motion. The dogs were followed shortly by their
master in hot pursuit. -
My little terror "Zsa Zsa" does all the above except that my two big boys hide in their crates or I have to give her a timeout because she just won't stop even when sprayed with water.
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My girl does most of the above listed things except that she does neck grab other dogs, but when she once caught and killed a squirrel, she grabbed and shook it, killing it immediately. Thereafter she was not at all interested in the prey and walked off. Another dog, a labradoodle, went over to grab the squirrel and started playing all over the field with it till its owner got it away from him. Shaye had no interest at all in this exchange because she did what she set out to do - catch and kill.
