@Saving thank you very much for the suggestions!
Is this temporary???
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Interesting on the hormones thing. I had no idea. I think I might take her to the vet tomorrow just to be on the safe side. I have read on some of the other posts that sudden personality changes can be caused by pain. Maybe she is hurting.
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Dash,
How do you really know if one is becoming scared or nervous. When their hair stands up– when you can see their top teeth--when they are trying to bite after a long growl? We are fairly new and some of the ways they used to play seemed pretty rough. Bella has really changed though,,,,,shackles are up, teeth are showing etc. Im afraid of her hurting Dane.
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Dash,
How do you really know if one is becoming scared or nervous. When their hair stands up– when you can see their top teeth--when they are trying to bite after a long growl? We are fairly new and some of the ways they used to play seemed pretty rough. Bella has really changed though,,,,,shackles are up, teeth are showing etc. Im afraid of her hurting Dane.
Does Dane back off when she growls? If so, she is probably just telling him "enough!"
There is a reason why there is a certain connotation with the word "bitch"…or there is a reason why they are called "bitches"....often between a male and female there is a lot of noise, posturing, but not much danger. They do need to sort things out in the beginning of a relationship. But since they are both adults, be wary, but try not to intervene unless it looks like they are going to engage in a fight. If the female is being the aggressor, the male will let you know if there is going to a real fight or not (in my experience)...if he is acting silly, and hopping around, or trying to stay out of her way, he is not interested in fighting.
Hope that helps.....
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Oh, and the dog park thing….I just don't use them. Dog parks are (in general) a recipe for disaster for Basenjis (I know there are quite a few of you that use them here, so don't be upset) But Bs are hyper-critical of dog manners…if a dog acts at all inappropriately a B will take offense.
Bella was probably terrified when that dog was chasing her around..and yes, she is probably overly sensitive to other dog interactions right now. Don't keep Dane away from her...just try to distract them when they start to get snarky. It is way too early to tell how she will be with other dogs...it takes many months for some dogs to get settled into their new homes.
Did you get her from BRAT, or a breeder?
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Thanks for the info! One last thing. What do you do if there is a fight. Someone told me to use a baby gate or a broom to seperate them.
As for Dane leaving her alone– he act like he doesnt get it. He just keeps coming back for more, even after she is showing teeth, snarling and trying to nip at him. A few times he has shown teeth too. Thats when we were like "OK,,,enough!!" but my husband was home and he helped. I am worried that I would get scared and not know what to do (I feel silly saying that because I feel like I am a pretty stong woman). I know that would just make the situation worse.
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We got her from Brat. She is a beauty– so graceful when she runs!
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Thanks for the info! One last thing. What do you do if there is a fight. Someone told me to use a baby gate or a broom to seperate them.
As for Dane leaving her alone– he act like he doesnt get it. He just keeps coming back for more, even after she is showing teeth, snarling and trying to nip at him. A few times he has shown teeth too. Thats when we were like "OK,,,enough!!" but my husband was home and he helped. I am worried that I would get scared and not know what to do (I feel silly saying that because I feel like I am a pretty stong woman). I know that would just make the situation worse.
Well…I do what you aren't supposed to do, and I just grab their collars and pull them apart. That may make it worse, because as soon as you grab a riled up dog's collar, it escalates her adrenaline. Then I usually will sit/kneel/stand and talk calmly while still holding onto both dog's collars; until both dogs are calm...and then I will try to shimmy one behind a closed door (where there isn't another dog)...or I will try to pick one up one handed, and hold her high until I can get into another space; hopefully after the calming down phase the dog on the ground isn't still trying to get to the one in my arms. Sounds like fun huh?
Don't let this scare you...you probably won't see fights like this....we have multiple intact females, several of whom wish to be top bitch.
Other effective fight splitters are buckets/hose of water, laundry basket or garbage can (over one dog); brooms are had to actually get the dogs apart, and the more you bat at them, the more angry they will get.
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And remember that the basenji pack is typically ruled by an Alpha Bitch. You may have a combination of things going on that is not related to the dog park, I concur with Andrea by the way - I think Dog Parks are dangerous for health and wellbeing of all dogs and are particularly difficult to basenjis. After all the other dogs may not know that the basenji is the ruler of all she sees, or hears, or sniffs or….....
I would expect that she is positioning herself in your 'pack' and her need to exert this dominance may have been precipitated by the dog park incident but likely would have happened anyway. She is likely not an alpha either because a true alpha would have cleaned the Whippets clock. More likely an Alpha wanna B - trying to control something when she clearly doesn't have control of the dog park.
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I realized that in all the posting I did, I never actually answered your original question
Is it temporary? Probaby, yes. That would be my hunch… -
Thank you all sooooooooo much!!! I love this site!
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Sounds to me like they are trying to work out the pack order… remember typically it takes a new dog in the house a couple of weeks... to get settled... so the "honeymoon" is now over and they need to work out the issues.... and who is "top" dog...
Also sometimes throwing a big heavy blanket over them with distract them enough to stop a fight...
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It also takes time for a dog to be comfortable and confident at dog parks, many people forget that.
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It sounds like there is a lot of posturing to start with which gives you a chance to distract and redirect.
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Well…I do what you aren't supposed to do, and I just grab their collars and pull them apart. That may make it worse, because as soon as you grab a riled up dog's collar, it escalates her adrenaline. Then I usually will sit/kneel/stand and talk calmly while still holding onto both dog's collars; until both dogs are calm...and then I will try to shimmy one behind a closed door (where there isn't another dog)...or I will try to pick one up one handed, and hold her high until I can get into another space; hopefully after the calming down phase the dog on the ground isn't still trying to get to the one in my arms. Sounds like fun huh?
This is exactly what I do if mine get into an altercation. I place the subordinate in a down position (submissive position) and the alpha in a sit (neutral position) with me in the middle. I keep the dogs in these positions until they are calm. I can usually turn them loose and its all over but if they are still feeling fiesty, I crate them for a cooling off period. This process works and it has been a key to my being able to run large packs of Basenjis together with very, very few altercations.
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I must say Robyn, I do EXACTLY the same thing!
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<_>
Do you just use your familiarity with the dogs to decide who should lay, and who should sit?_
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<_>
Do you just use your familiarity with the dogs to decide who should lay, and who should sit?_
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Disclaimer: The following is answering how I do things and is not meant to be advice for others to follow.There is a distinct pack order in my home with a male hierarchy and a female hierarchy with me as the supreme alpha. My male alpha is 11 year old Baron and my female alpha is 9 year old Pippin. Both of these animals have extremely stable temperaments and I support and reinforce their position in the pack. I will NEVER allow a quick tempered or insecure animal to try to raise up the ranks as they make horrible pack leaders and create instability in the home all the way around. There will be a time when Bindi will move into the role of alpha bitch but she is not mentally or emotionally ready for that yet. I will keep her in her place until she is ready._
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Disclaimer: The following is answering how I do things and is not meant to be advice for others to follow.
There is a distinct pack order in my home with a male hierarchy and a female hierarchy with me as the supreme alpha. My male alpha is 11 year old Baron and my female alpha is 9 year old Pippin. Both of these animals have extremely stable temperaments and I support and reinforce their position in the pack. I will NEVER allow a quick tempered or insecure animal to try to raise up the ranks as they make horrible pack leaders and create instability in the home all the way around. There will be a time when Bindi will move into the role of alpha bitch but she is not mentally or emotionally ready for that yet. I will keep her in her place until she is ready.
That is really interesting Robyn. I don't seem to have that amount of control over my bitches….when they decide they hate each other, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do. Of course, they are all unrelated...and I think that makes a difference...I think families of related dogs get along better over all...what do you think about that?
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Oh, and it seems like the status seems a little more flexible at our house…especially among our older girls....Ivy can displace Blondie in most cases, but Ivy lets her go out the door first.
I understand what you are saying about a dog needing to have leadership qualities to succeed though...an insecure, but driven animal is a pain to have around...
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That is really interesting Robyn. I don't seem to have that amount of control over my bitches….when they decide they hate each other, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do. Of course, they are all unrelated...and I think that makes a difference...I think families of related dogs get along better over all...what do you think about that?
I think that having families of related dogs does make a difference. In my house all 4 are related and though right now with the girls more hormonal everyone is a bit testy, they all get along pretty well. I also see the flexibility that you mention you see in your girls. What I mostly observe is that each dog has certain things that it values, it may be a chewy, a sleeping spot, being first out the door. My alpha bitch will give up certain chewies to her daughters because they are not of high value to her but not let them share her sunny spot or will let Rio but not Sophie.
