Skip to content

Anyone have advice for a male basenji afraid of kids? Brigs is 8 years old and will try try to bite

Behavioral Issues
  • Help my nephew ( 5 years old) is visit next week from out of town and my 8 year old basenji is afraid of kids.. Briggs basenji will go up to kids and growl and try to snap ..Cant crate..confine him , he trys to break out and will hurt himself doing so..

    Any ideas will be appreciated..My 10 year old female basenji is fine wth kids

  • Obviously, keep the dog away from the kid! If you can't crate him, is there a fenced backyard where you can put him some of the time? Otherwise, you could tether him to yourself and keep him away from the child that way. Or perhaps there is a kennel or doggie daycare where you could park him for a few days? You can't really afford a bite, so it is up to you to keep both your dog and nephew safe. There are possible longer term solutions, but IMO there isn't really enough time to work on it when the visit is so soon.....

  • Wow, I'm afraid that's pretty overwhelming to deal with and like eeeefarm said, no way on earth to do it in a week. However, you do need to begin working on it soon and plan on a very long time to turn this around. Because this dog has shown he will grown and try to bite, your risk of him actually biting, and your legal liability are huge.

    If you can buy or borrow a secure crate (they aren't cheap) that he can't get out of or hurt himself in, do so. If you can't, do what eeefarm suggested, and make darn sure that leash and collar are totally secure.

    Once your nephew has left, please get a trainer to start working with your family and this dog on both children and crating. They are very important and it can be overcome.

Suggested Topics

  • 0 Votes
    22 Posts
    5k Views
    J
    I'm no Basenji expert since I've only had one. And, I don't want to start a dog park argument. I'll just share my experience. Jengo LOVED running free, but he's a Basenji. Can't do that cause... cars. The dog park near our house is HUGE. A big completely enclosed lawn area the size of a football field with towering oak trees. We were OCD about keeping Jengo's vaccinations up to date. He was chipped and wore a collar with contact and rabies tags 24/7. He loved the dog park, but not all the dogs there. He hated any dog of any size that would try to dominate him in any way. He rarely instigated it, but he never tolerated it meaning regardless of size... he wouldn't back down. He also hated if another dog approached him from behind and would snap immediately. My solution was to stay near him and to keep moving. We would walk laps around the perimeter and by about the second or third lap he'd been or had checked out all the other dogs. Then things were good. If I saw that he was getting anxious I'd usually catch it before he reacted and would tell him "Easy". 9 times out 10 that was enough. I'd also make sure that he was aware of dogs in our vicinity so that he wouldn't be surprised if they came from behind. We went to the park for years. He never caught anything that I was aware of. I did pick him up and leave if there was another dog he and/or I weren't comfortable with. And, I also recall walking away before ever entering the park if there was a dog we didn't like already there. I guess my point is that part of protecting your dog and others is knowing and focusing on them without over-reacting at the same time. I don't want to set him off. But, I want to know what he's going to do before he does. You have to read him. All dogs give signals one way or another. Tune in to your dog, not the other people at the park. I liked the other people at the park, but I wasn't there for them. My focus was always on Jengo.
  • 0 Votes
    14 Posts
    3k Views
    auryA
    @zande thanks I will send you all the info 😊
  • Why is my 8 month old digging?

    Behavioral Issues
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • 12 week old basenji nipping my 5 year old

    Behavioral Issues
    16
    0 Votes
    16 Posts
    6k Views
    krunzerK
    Good for you for being proactive about the situation!
  • 5 mth old biting kids

    Behavioral Issues
    12
    0 Votes
    12 Posts
    3k Views
    myranM
    And also you need to train your kid´s to handle he pup it has to respect all humans.But yes they can play quite roughly although I didn´t start the rough playing until I was certain with the on/off button.Now we can play really rough and all I need to say is stop and he quits immediately my youngest son who´s 9 yrs old has the total respect from both my dogs.If screaming and water doesn´t help then making nipping unpleasant is worth a try but only by an adult if they nipped my hand I pushed not hard but deeper in the mouth and kept it there when they stopped and tried to lick I praised them.
  • 4mth Tri puts 1 year old in its place

    Behavioral Issues
    9
    0 Votes
    9 Posts
    3k Views
    tanzaT
    Years ago when all my kids were young… the girls would be under the covers and OJ's favorite thing was to walk on the top and paw the "lumps" to see what got a reaction.... it was pretty funny to here that typical Basenji noise from out of no place.... covered at they were.....