First Attack

Behavioral Issues

  • The scariest thing was when my injured dog screamed in pain and our other dog immediately viciously attacks trying to kill him, it appeared. It scared the heck out of my wife & myself!

    I saw the same thing happen in a nature show where the pack rips apart an injured member.

    I was at least able to pick her up off of him (then he bites me!)

    Our Female does this, and once again shows she is a very primitive, instinct driven dog. The same goes for killing small animals. It's instantaneous, no playing involved, all business- It certainly brings up her African lineage in the back of my mind. She turns into a wild animal at the flick of a switch.

    Our tri seems to be getting better everyday, but we are still trying to keep his activity down (no walks or jumping up & off things), still on meds


  • Glad that he is doing better… mine are the complete opposite... they "care" for the wounded and sick.. totally... Since Maggii has been in renal failure they all treat her with the up most respect and very kindly... when she just had the major dental last week, when she came home they all huddled around her in "protective" mode...


  • @Barklessdog:

    The scariest thing was when my injured dog screamed in pain and our other dog immediately viciously attacks trying to kill him, it appeared. It scared the heck out of my wife & myself!

    I saw the same thing happen in a nature show where the pack rips apart an injured member.

    I was at least able to pick her up off of him (then he bites me!)

    Our Female does this, and once again shows she is a very primitive, instinct driven dog. The same goes for killing small animals. It's instantaneous, no playing involved, all business- It certainly brings up her African lineage in the back of my mind. She turns into a wild animal at the flick of a switch.

    Our tri seems to be getting better everyday, but we are still trying to keep his activity down (no walks or jumping up & off things), still on meds

    Yes, bad fights will expose you to the ugly side of a Basenji. I've seen that, let's attack the bleeding one…..it is very very scary.


  • Again, I have seen that too, all jump on the bleeding one when there is a bad fight… but unlike Barklessdog, I have never had one jump a sick or injured one... like her bitch is doing to the Tri dog....


  • She is the most gentle loving dog. She never bites anyone. She's as sweet as she can be, then wham, the instinct switch gets flipped and all that goes out the window, then the sweet switch goes back on just as fast???

    It comes from genetic programming as this is not a learned behavior. The Tri does not have a clue on these instincts (except biting people). It's just so bizarre how they are so different, yet have their primitive sides, different, but just as bad.

    I guess you have to remember they are still animals and very efficient predators and as much as we would like them to have human values, they can't.

    99% of the time she's a huge love bug- it's just so shocking when they flip that switch.


  • @tanza:

    Again, I have seen that too, all jump on the bleeding one when there is a bad fight… but unlike Barklessdog, I have never had one jump a sick or injured one... like her bitch is doing to the Tri dog....

    Me neither, just the injured/bleeding one during/after a fight.


  • @Barklessdog:

    That's part of fact that on one side she is the most gentle loving dog. She never bites anyone. She's as sweet as she can be, then wham, the instinct switch gets flipped and all that goes out the window, then the sweet switch goes back on just as fast???

    I guess you have to remember they are still animals and very efficient predators and as much as we would like them to have human values, they can't.

    99% of the time she's a huge love bug- it's just so shocking when they flip that switch.

    I tell people all the time you have to remember, they are dogs. They act so humanlike at times we tend to not treat them like dogs and more like our kids.


  • I don't give mine human values.. just stating that my Basenjis do not attack the injured/sick…


  • Dogs provide a unique bond that many humans can't provide- unconditional love.


  • @tanza:

    I don't give mine human values.. just stating that my Basenjis do not attack the injured/sick…

    Thinking back,

    We did have a terrier mix that had a cancer growth removed and the day we brought her home from the Vet the Basenji's acted a little weird, hoovering around her with these strange looks and my wife thought they would attack her if we didn't keep them away. It was fresh from surgery, dried blood and so on…......it was weird though.


  • I would also like to add, that she only does this when he is screaming in pain.


  • My two have had such bad fights that they now live on separate floors in my house. Rosie attacks Willie - she's much smaller, but much more fierce when she fights than he is. It's pretty scarey stuff - the first time they got into it when I was around, I thought Willie's ear would be ripped off when he got up. She's quiet, but he's usually screaming because she's just too quick for him and she's pulling on some part or another. They worked up to this gradually and I'm now in the process of trying to get them back together, at least when I'm home. I don't think I'll ever feel okay about leaving them together when I'm not around.

    Your fight does sound like a little food frenzy rather than a real fight.


  • Just to weigh in…I haven't had my Bs try to kick each other when they are down...but they do get nervous when somebody comes home smelling like the vet (well, not the vet...the vet's office...you know what I mean ;) )

    But I have seen this in gorillas from when I worked at the zoo. It was instantaneous. If a gorilla started getting ill, or injured, the subordinate gorillas of the same sex (usually females, since generally you don't keep multiple males) would immediatey start to pick fights with the ill one. The two who were the worst were two sisters that were both wishing to have the highest status (non-Silverback) status in the group. They had status issues going on all the time, though...and you may see that same behavior in dogs that have ongoing, but supressed status issues when one gets sick.


  • I'm guilty of treating my Bs like kids sometimes and like they have human values/feelings….but I did see a program on tv recently about a study done on animals feeling "love" and other emotions--like grief. It was very interesting. And I do know some people whom I think my dogs have more feelings/values than :)


  • After all things said and done - today for the first time ever - Duke laid in his crate for an afternoon nap. I was up & down doing errands and think - it's strange one or both aren't following me! hmmm . . . I find Duke in his crate and behind him on the rear half of his comfy fluffy bed is Daisy - snoozing away! I couldn't believe my eyes - I had to look twice to see if it was really Daisy lying with her head resting on top of Dukes behind. Duke would never-never-never let her come close when he rested - always he sounded a warning growl. I went and grabbed my camera and darn if the thing crapped out on me today. Yeah - it's dead. New batteries wouldn't wake it up. Darn - I had a Kodak moment and don't know if I'll see that again. I hope maybe that scary attack on Daisy was a turning point in their relationship. Is there love after all? :) :confused: :p


  • :confused: Okay! Am I going nuts? Here is this thread about Daisy and Duke's fight and suddenly in the midst of the thread (top of page 3), I have a picture posted by Barklessdog that is so funny that it is almost disturbing. It is of a tricolor B in a Santa outfit. Now…the picture clearly has nothing to do with the thread but no one else has even commented on it.......which leads me to wonder if I'M the only one who has the picture. Tell me....are the voices in my head now showing me pictures!? Does anyone else have the picture? It is funny.

    Pat


  • No, we all are seeing it… personally I think it is a little over the top


  • @BasenjiDiva:

    :confused: Okay! Am I going nuts? Here is this thread about Daisy and Duke's fight and suddenly in the midst of the thread (top of page 3), I have a picture posted by Barklessdog that is so funny that it is almost disturbing. It is of a tricolor B in a Santa outfit. Now…the picture clearly has nothing to do with the thread but no one else has even commented on it.......which leads me to wonder if I'M the only one who has the picture. Tell me....are the voices in my head now showing me pictures!? Does anyone else have the picture? It is funny.

    Pat

    What? Does that strike you as strange? ;)


  • I posted that relating that to dog owners who like to humanize their dogs, but when they go primal that image goes out the window.

    The point was, people can dress up their little dogs and give them names, but deep inside they are primal animals. The Santa Basenji illustrates that idea.

    That how it relates, to me, that's why I posted it.

    We have a Christmas pillow with that picture!


  • @BasenjiDiva:

    :confused: Okay! Am I going nuts? Here is this thread about Daisy and Duke's fight and suddenly in the midst of the thread (top of page 3), I have a picture posted by Barklessdog that is so funny that it is almost disturbing. It is of a tricolor B in a Santa outfit. Now…the picture clearly has nothing to do with the thread but no one else has even commented on it.......which leads me to wonder if I'M the only one who has the picture. Tell me....are the voices in my head now showing me pictures!? Does anyone else have the picture? It is funny.

    Pat

    I had seen it before, it does have a comical quality to it.:D

Suggested Topics

  • 5 Votes
    45 Posts
    14k Views
    K
    @patty and others that reference a responsible breeder: I got my Jessey (my friend dubbed him the Jester because of his loveable zaniness) - who is my second Basenji - from a responsible breeder and he was well socialized by her and then me. I took him to the dog park which he loved at first, but then after many visits, he became scared. He used to walk the neighborhood, but then became scared. Any boom/bang/bounce - he bolts home. My other Basenji was nothing like this. Jessey has his pack of BFF's but is usually snarky to other dogs (typical B!). My point is, it's not always the breeder. Dogs - like humans - can develop "head issues". It has been very frustrating for me having a neurotic dog, but I've come to accept that's him and would never love him any less! The vet gave me Solliquin to try, but I've been hesitant. Anyone out there tried it?
  • Posesivo Basenji attacking Rott pup she grew up with

    Behavioral Issues
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    4k Views
    tanzaT
    @nikikob - Wish you luck, but I fear to say that things are going to go badly. When bitches fight, 99.9% of the time you will never get them back together and while it might work for a while, when the "mood" hits... the fights become worse and worse.
  • Attacks when he doesn't get what he wants

    Behavioral Issues
    34
    0 Votes
    34 Posts
    16k Views
    K
    Patty this is heartbreaking and disgusting. How can there be so many sick people out there?
  • I had a minor heart attack today.

    Behavioral Issues
    23
    0 Votes
    23 Posts
    10k Views
    tanzaT
    Or the other sure fire method for my kids is to open a car door and yell "go for a ride"…. Of course that would do me no good now, since Kristii in her elder years is a deaf as a door knob.....
  • Attacking People!

    Behavioral Issues
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    tanzaT
    Has he had a full medical check up? Especially a full Thyroid panel done? I really would doubt that his being neutered has anything to do with it… certainly I have never heard of that before.... but I would first get a full medical done (including an eye exam with a Ophth), with full blood work and full thyroid panel (which typically must be sent out separate from normal blood work that your Vet might do) and then contact a behaviorist to work with him (and the family).
  • 0 Votes
    7 Posts
    3k Views
    bellabasenjiB
    @Quercus: …I can't imagine a dog in a real fight taking the chance of turning his back on the attacker. Though, I am used to seeing girl, girl fights...where neither girl is willing to surrender...it could be that a dog who really doesn't want to fight will try to protect his head and neck by offering other 'parts'...it would definitely indicate that the other dog wasn't reading his signs correctly...either by the dog offering surrender, or running away...it isn't really appropriate for the attacking dog to continue attacking... This is probably what may have happened. I don't think anyone actually saw the fight… So it's hard to tell, but my friend now thinks it is a part of male dominance fighting! I told them I would ask on here and see if it is common or not...