Hello all!
We got our third furbaby over the weekend (he is BEAUTIFUL!!!) Now we have him home and we think things are going fine but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,he is marking all over the house– and now our house broken dog Dane is starting to do the same,,,,,,,,is that normal? Also, they seem to be (the males) trying to mount each other,,,,,,,is that normal also? There have been a few squabbles over food -- we learned fast that with three they MUST be fed in their crates whereas with the first two they could eat outside there crate with no problems. I have taken off today to take the pack on a long walk and try to get them oriented. Anyone have any suggestions to make this transition as easy as possible?
With two males marking is not unusual-as well as your first male trying to cover up the second male's scent as well. Mounting each other is a dominance issue-not sexual. To get rid of the smells (unknown to you, but dogs can still smell it) get an enzyme killer available at the pet stores.
Are both the males neutered?
Yes….......both are neutered.
Hello all!
We got our third furbaby over the weekend (he is BEAUTIFUL!!!) Now we have him home and we think things are going fine but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,he is marking all over the house– and now our house broken dog Dane is starting to do the same,,,,,,,,is that normal? Also, they seem to be (the males) trying to mount each other,,,,,,,is that normal also? There have been a few squabbles over food -- we learned fast that with three they MUST be fed in their crates whereas with the first two they could eat outside there crate with no problems. I have taken off today to take the pack on a long walk and try to get them oriented. Anyone have any suggestions to make this transition as easy as possible?
The situation you describe is something we've seen in our house over and over again with our Buddy "forgetting" housebreaking when a new foster comes in. Most of our fosters were housebroken, so it wasn't a major problem, but a few were real "markers." Best way is to stand and watch like a hawk each of the offenders and catch them in the act, then carry them outside to let them finish relieving or to get the understanding of the "right" place to do so. In most cases, doing that 1x or 2x did the trick. The enzyme stuff does work, but you have to be very diligent about it and get every spot, not to mention the cost of the stuff too.
The mounting behavior is, in my opinion, very normal male (and sometimes female) interaction between our resident Bs, fosters and visiting basenjis we dogsit. Unless it creates undue tension to a mounted B, we let it be.
Regarding the eating patterns, if you talk to any responsible breeder, I believe that most of them will tell you that they feed all their B's in their own crates. Just not worth the trouble of feeding them in the same room or even in the same floor without appropriate separations of some kind. We quickly learned this during our fostering experiences. B's, to me, are about the most jealous of dog breeds when it comes to food.
As an aside, Tippy, our newly adopted puppy, is proving to be a difficult housebreaking challenge. Other than that, he's a perfectly balanced basenji in terms of temperament, mischeviousness, cuteness, and loveability. We are being patient with him because we are aware of his history of being stuck in a pet store for 4 months. Hard to untrack a pattern of relieving himself in his eating and sleeping spaces during that time. There are good days and bad days for him. The current rain (oh, how badly we need it) here in Maryland seems to really have set him back a few steps. Oh well, what do they say? Love conquers all!
Thanks for the info! Yes we just got over the rain for the most part,,,,,,,thank goodness! What part of Maryland are you from? My aunt lives in Cumberland and the last time we were there we went to Rahobath beach (not sure of the spelling). We had a great time except for the DC traffic – we here in Southeastern Ohio are NOT use to that type of traffic! It was funny once my cousin (from Cumberland) came in town for a visit and we were going down one of our main drags on a Sat. morning and I said "Man,,I cant believe this traffic,,,,,its awful!" and she laughed and said I didnt know what traffic was! Well ,,,,,,,,,she was right,,,,,,,I couldnt imagine dealing with the DC traffic every day.
About the furbabies though,,,,,,,they seem to be getting familiar with each other. Only a few minor scuffles today over a rawhide I forgot to get out of the backyard . Also, the marking has seemed to end-- we were a little worried. Lastly, the eating in there crates thing has worked out except our Bella (1st BRAT dog) has been dealing with some seperation issues again after we left her for the weekend to drive to Missouri to get Wrigley. Anyway, hopefully we will be one big happy family!
One last thing, kudos to you and your wife for fostering so many dogs. My husband and I are considering volunteering for BRAT after this spring. My son is a senior and I am afraid as we get closer to the spring things will get crazy around here with all of his senior stuff.
