Skip to content
Basenji Forums
  1. Home
  2. Basenji Training
  3. cats and dogs getting along together. lol

cats and dogs getting along together. lol

Basenji Training
  • B

    Our new basenji pup is coming along very well with her training. She's four and a half months old and a total cuddle love bug. She's got a very good temperament with no aggression or fearfulness. She's been cool about the vet, no I lie, she loves our vet. She's quite the social little thing.
    She's housebroken knows the house rules for the most part.
    She also gets no unsupervised time out of the crate.
    She sleeps in the bed, but is crated when we are away from the house. We both work from home for the most part so she's never been crated for more than 3 hours She's cool with the crate for the most part though she does grumble when she thinks she's been put in there for 'no good reason'.
    We also have three lovely rescue cats. I say rescue because we have a cat dumping problem at the end of our road. Not cool. All of the cats we have decided we were their people.
    Our boy cat has made friends with Mrs. Walters. They are besties. As long as she doesn't puppy play too rough. I'm expecting their relationship to blossom as she grows out of puppyhood. Here's the thing, our two 'grey slayers' have learned that we have a 'zero tolerance' with puppy play with them. They don't run away from her, but they do hunker down and get a little hissy. We don't allow Mrs. Walters to bother them, or be on the same couch/nook with them. These cats have taken to hanging out near her and basically teasing her so they can take a swipe. The cats are too smart! They know this puts the puppy in a crate time out and they win!
    No one is pleased with this - except the cats.
    One of the reason we decided on a puppy was to increase the chance that they would all get along. And honestly I think it's going as well as can be expected.
    So here is the question. As far as puppy play goes, will Mrs Walters eventually get it and ignore the cats that don't want to play? Any training tips? (besides ejecting the cats from the house)
    My goal is eventually to let her roam around the home a bit with less supervision. But there is no way I'm gonna leave her alone with the grey kitties right now!

    0
  • DebraDownSouthD

    Cats are jerks. But they also are training the pup. My tendency would be to stay out of it as much as possible. Perhaps a spray bottle to get them from hanging to close and when he tries to approach them. Teaching "Leave it" or "to me" to get him away from them might help. I am sure those here with cats will have better ideas. Setting up gates to keep the pup away from them might help.

    I think the cats not running is a good sign that you have a chance of happy co-existence.

    good lessons
    http://www.clickerlessons.com/index.htm

    Debra

    0
  • tanzaT

    @betsy - sounds to me like you are doing everything right.... the pup and cats need to make their own peace... and sounds like it is going as good as expected. The pup will learn the body language as she gets older of the cats... and yes, agree with Debra... good that the cats done run... and if the pups gets "swiped" by the kitties... what a better way to learn to back off...

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

    0

Suggested Topics

  • wizardW

    Gossy the wonder dog.

    Basenji Training
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    4k Views
    NemoN
    Congrats. That is awesome.
  • G

    Getting Involved

    Basenji Training
    2
    0 Votes
    2 Posts
    3k Views
    AndrewA
    There are several different sports you can get into with basenjis, with varying degrees of work and effort on your part. Lure coursing is a lot of fun, and is pretty much an instinctual thing with basenjis. If your basenji has high prey drive (rips your arm off to dart off after squirrels while you're walking, etc), s/he will probably enjoy lure coursing. Since its instinctual, there's not a whole lot of training you can do, or need to do. Getting started in lure coursing… go the akc website & do an events search for Lure coursing tests & trials in your state. It helps if you're willing to travel to surrounding states, as there aren't a ton of great places for coursing, so you could also search nearby states at the same time to find events. Also, go to asfa.org and click on the events link there. AKC & ASFA are 2 different lure coursing bodies, so the points you accumulate in one are not applicable to the other. By looking at events in your area, you can find names of the clubs that host events in your area. From there, google them for their website & contact info. You'll be able to find people in your area who can help you further. Just doing an event search on ASFA & then googleing the host clubs, I actually found the Basenji Club of Southwestern Wisconsin http://www.bcosw.org/ and the Midwest Coursing Club http://midwestcoursing.homestead.com/. Those should be a good start for coursing. If you want to get into agility, google agility training facilities in your area. Agility takes a lot of hard work and training for both you and your dog. You won't be ready to compete for a while, sometimes people train for a couple of years before they compete. However, its a GREAT learning and bonding experience for both you and the dog. Its a lot of fun! There's also straight racing and oval track racing. I don't know much about those, but google NOTRA & LGRA & you'll find websites for both. Again, look for events in your area & then contact the host clubs. There are a ton of events, and you can learn about most of them at akc.org. There's scent tracking, conformation, weight pulling, etc etc. You could also look into getting a Canine Good Citizen & visiting nursing homes or children's hospitals. I'm sure somebody who lives in Illinois will chime in with what they do locally.
  • c-busC

    Dog door

    Basenji Training
    9
    0 Votes
    9 Posts
    4k Views
    c-busC
    Now that is compassion. I have only had my B for three weeks but what a character.
  • tanzaT

    Dog Whisperer

    Basenji Training
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • dashD

    Dog Park Etiquette

    Basenji Training
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    3k Views
    MantisM
    I am not sure how old you basenji is, but i found basic training very helpful at the park. Caesar could understand what i expected from him when out. crazy running is normal humping or biting is very poor conduct at any dog park no matter what size…it is an action often immitated and is to show dominance there is nothing wrong with a basenji that prounces around stiff when other dogs are sniffing them....that is there way of saying, " you may sniff, but not dominate me! I am basenji". the hair standing on the neck and back or posturing is another way the basenji asserts him or herself at the park.... typically hair standing means nervous or scared= i watch that more closely than posturing or puffing up.... i am weary of the large dog areas when there are more than one pits in the mix. they naturally translate the basenji running as game and will try to tag team as well as play more orally than i like. if your basenji is humping a lot and is fixed, the small dogs may not be providing enough exercise or stimuli.... I try to have my basenjis in dog pens with vislas, bird dogs and running physical dogs. chasing retrievers is a great way to burn that basenji energy when casear was young and had difficult times at the dog park that seemed only addressed by a time out, we would leave and tight leash walk together. as soon as he would pull i would stop walking until he sat. then we would walk again. i also used hide and seek at the dog park as another technique for the park. Both my boys know to keep me in sight at all times. this keeps them from going off and getting into too much trouble. i would hide behind a tree until they realized i was gone and they found me. also, leaving the park with the dog in the pen is another way to let them understand that they should keep you in their sites. i did that a few times when i had a friend there with me and they stayed in the dog area. there is nothing more annoying IMO than an owner with treats in the dog park. or an owner with a dog on a leash in a dog park. or a person holding their dog in the air in a dog park. or a small unsupervised screaming and running child. the best rule is to communicate well with your animal. realize that time at the fenced dog park is free time for them to learn how to socialize. i have learned that basenjis do guard. if i am standing in the dog park, they run, sniff and play. if i sit in the dog park they will post near me and not go to far away. have fun, try new techniques, and watch other dog owners and how they participate with their dogs. you may pick up some good tips and see bad behaviors that you may want to avoid. as socialization continues at the park, your basenji will adapt and learn how to communicate with the least amount of conflict, so they can sniff as many butts as possible....
  • birdbarsB

    Dock Dog

    Basenji Training
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    12k Views
    ChaseandZahrasmomC
    Dock Dogs was here in Chesapeake,VA today for Bark in the Park, it was very cool.