My previous males never had an opportunity to meet other basenjis (outside their breeder kennel) so don't know if the experience with my current female is "typical" or not. The first time she encountered another, it was a tri-color older female that was a real bitch and instantly got aggressive (now whenever they see each other its "hackles up"). The first time I took her to a lure coursing event, mine was friendly enough until a little blind female came up and bit her. The second time I took her to a LGRA event, a lady came up behind us (while mine was trying to potty) with her tricolor female and her dog attacked mine. So now hackles go up any time another female comes within shouting distance.
Looks like Binti's poop eating is over
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I've been posting and asking questions about poop eating on this forum, and I kept searching for clues and solutions. Seems like I did.
A behavorial expert I consulted told me it is a very difficult issue (she said guide dogs in training (in Holland) are disqualified for poop eating as they can't train it out of them), and she clearly didn't want me as a client to give it a shot.
So, when I did my Healing Touch for Animals, I heard the teachers/therapists work with essential oils a lot. So - with a biotensor - I tested my limited stock of Young Living oils and got a big yes for JuvaFlex, one of their blends. I now let Binti snif the bottle two times a day.
When I ordered from the USA the Animal Desk Reference by Melissa Shelton (an expert on animal & oils) I looked up coprophagia in dogs, and she lists JuvaFlex as one of the cures. So I got that right.Shelton also mentions minerals, in various forms, among them SuperGreens - we have it in our home, so I tested it, and got a big yes. Binti has been getting a teaspoon a day for about 3 weeks now - she loves it.
So I got even more curious and tested which mineral specifically she lacks most - it is zinc. So I added one 15 mg pill to her diet daily (also after testing the dose with the biotensor).
Then I checked the Bach remedies my wife has and I got a yes for Clematis - for dogs that don't hear you and often are in their own world - that's Binti to a T, especially on walks. She has been getting one drop of Clematis a day for 2 weeks now.
The results really surprise me, after just a few weeks:
- Binti does not eat poop anymore. Period. Not on leash, not off leash. She smells, then marks it, but that's all. Grass and some earth she still likes, but that is fine.
- She is way more responsive to recall - even when she is busy with her nose to the ground, she pays attention to my calls and whistles and more often than not, drops what she is doing, to take a big sprint towards me. It gets better every day.
Hope this is helpful. See some links below:
oils http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/wellness/system-solutions/excretory/juvaflex-essential-oil
animal desk reference http://animaldeskreference.com/?page_id=373
super greens http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=super%20greens&sprefix=super+greens%2Caps%2C253
zinc http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=zinc+15mg&sprefix=zinc+15%2Chpc%2C247&rh=n%3A3760901%2Ck%3Azinc+15mg
biotensor http://www.jochtom.nl/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.pages_showpage&selid=1031&mnitid=13 I couldn't find much in english… -
wow! sounds wonderful to find something that works so well. I hope others will read and learn this too. I was always told if the corprophagia was on the dog's own poop that pineapple worked. I had to try this and the pineapple does indeed. But some dogs may not like it? ??? so this is good information!
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Binti didn't eat her own poo, but everyone else's…
She loves all kinds of fruits and vegetables, but no banana (high on potassium). Pineapple we don't know - I guess it has a lot of sugar in it.
I'm very pleased how it went. -
Great work.
Jolanda and Kaiser
