Basenji Growling & Aggression

[Alex]

Basenji Growling & Aggression

If your dog has any aggression or growling issues you need to do some basic training things. Seek professional help if you can from a referred dog trainer who has had experience with basenjis. Be sure your dog is not sick or ailing.

You and your family have to be very consistent. You can’t back off once your dog start behaving aggressively, you give them an inch they take a mile. You need to be the alpha dog in his eyes, if you are not that type then don’t pretend to be, they can see through it.

You can control your dog other ways by:

• Do not let your dog sleep with you
• Do not let the dog eat before you, your dog eats last
• Do not let your dog enter the room first
• Do not let your dog pick games to play, which way to go on walks, when he can sit on you. You decide everything, not the dog. No playing any aggressive games like tug of war or wrestling with you
• Do not confront, yell or hit your dog. That creates a mistrustful and dangerous dog. No means nothing to a basenji. He does not care what you think
• Do not stare your dog in the eyes, approach from the front, wake up abruptly, and reach behind his/her back. Let a sleeping dog lay
• Use only positive rewards to get your do go to do what you want & praise praise praise the instant he your dog does something positive

Set your dog up for success not failure. Avoid bad situations, where you can’t control your dog, until you can train through these situations. Don’t expect your dog not to damage or destroy things if you leave them where he can get them. Pretend you own a monkey. everything needs to be put out of reach & locked away.

Crate training is a good idea if you can do it. It’s another way to control your dog. Never force a dog in a crate, make it positive only, his sanctuary & bedroom if you will.

Exercise your dog; many problems will be solved if you tire your dog out. It exercises their minds as well as their bodies. A walk once a day should be essential if your dog is bored or destructive. it’s not bad for you either.

Compiled by: Barklessdog

[Christygi]

I have a Basenji an he very jealous of people an a cat anyet best friend with at times with the cat

[CyrusVirus]

Does anyone else have a B who gets growly when he is sleeping? Cyrus loves our other dogs when he is awake. When he curls up in go to sleep, he gets a little snarky. If I move him or if Oscar (our weiner dog) gets too close to him, he growls and snips. Thankfully he hasn't hurt anyone, but his intentions seem bad. Is there anything that we can do before he bites Oscar's head off? Interestingly enough, our larger dog Hemi is clearly our pack leader, and Cyrus will let him get close even when he is sleeping.

Jenn

[Flootoole]

My beautiful 3 year old F Basenji has gotten growly, has bitten and it is escalating. She has been trained to sit, stay, heel, but this is getting so bad my husband wants to give her up. Any advice? Please??? I love her sooo much but I don't want her to her another person.

[tanza]

@Flootoole:

My beautiful 3 year old F Basenji has gotten growly, has bitten and it is escalating. She has been trained to sit, stay, heel, but this is getting so bad my husband wants to give her up. Any advice? Please??? I love her sooo much but I don't want her to her another person.

Has she had a full health check up? Especially a full/complete Thyroid panel? Many times a thyroid problem (which is common in our breed) can have drastic changes in their temperament. That is the place to start….

What is happening before she growls?... or bites? How long has it been going on? Have you talked to her breeder about it?

[sharronhurlbut]

Did you take her to any gentle obedience classes?
If not, its not too late.
This sounds like a behavior issue and if so, it can be reversed.
BUT you will need to do some work.

[Flootoole]

Hi, thanks for the timely responses. Yes, she has had training but the training at home has been inconsistent. Also, our trainer had us using a shock collar so she couldn't run away.
As far as the biting/growling…it started about a year ago, occassionally...I would be holding her and people would approach and her hair would go up and she'd snap. Also, if she is lying with me on the couch or in bed (she isn't allowed to anymore) and someone approached they would be attacked, like a snake striking out of the blue. She has only growled at me and I have firmly held her down and won, she has never bitten me and interestingly enough, I don't fear her biting me. She now growls at strangers that approach her while we are walking. She is very loving and playful otherwise but this has escalated within the last six months.

[Flootoole]

Hi, thanks for the timely responses. Yes, she has had training but the training at home has been inconsistent. Also, our trainer had us using a shock collar so she couldn't run away.
As far as the biting/growling…it started about a year ago, occassionally...I would be holding her and people would approach and her hair would go up and she'd snap. Also, if she is lying with me on the couch or in bed (she isn't allowed to anymore) and someone approached they would be attacked, like a snake striking out of the blue. She has only growled at me and I have firmly held her down and won, she has never bitten me and interestingly enough, I don't fear her biting me. She now growls at strangers that approach her while we are walking. She is very loving and playful otherwise but this has escalated within the last six months.

[sharronhurlbut]

A shock collar should never be used on a basenji or any dog IMO.
Also, holding her down isn't the way to get her past this issue.
It can make her respond in an even more angry manner.
Hands and humans should never be something a basenji fears..that makes fear biters.
I think you really need to get a basenji smart person over to your home to watch the dog and the family interact.
If you listen to what they say, they can help you get past this.
IMO, and I don't mean to be critical, your going down the wrong path here with this manhandling.

[tanza]

@sharronhurlbut:

A shock collar should never be used on a basenji or any dog IMO.
Also, holding her down isn't the way to get her past this issue.
It can make her respond in an even more angry manner.
Hands and humans should never be something a basenji fears..that makes fear biters.
I think you really need to get a basenji smart person over to your home to watch the dog and the family interact.
If you listen to what they say, they can help you get past this.
IMO, and I don't mean to be critical, your going down the wrong path here with this manhandling.

I agree… but still first I would make sure there is nothing medically wrong.. and especially her Thyroid.... You might also want to look into a behaviorist instead of a trainer that uses manhandling and shock collars... dogs, all dogs and especially Basenjis respond to reward based training, not force...

Have you talked to her breeder?

[sharronhurlbut]

Try an earn to get approch to training.
She has to sit before she eats, sit before she gets to sit by you on the couch, sit before she can go walkies..
Try to be calm and consistant.
That is what I would do..

[tanza]

@sharronhurlbut:

Try an earn to get approch to training.
She has to sit before she eats, sit before she gets to sit by you on the couch, sit before she can go walkies..
Try to be calm and consistant.
That is what I would do..

And great advise…. first (OK, so I am the broken record) please make sure there is not a medical issue going on... however that said.. the advise above is correct medical issue or not

[Buddys Pal]

Hi I'm new to this, and was scrolling down the forum on Basenji behavior. What ever happened to your dog's escalating aggression? what did you do? thanks

[TerryampZoe]

I think I read that Basenji's are on duty at night. Protecting. They want to sleep with their back to you, so they can be ready to protect you. It could be that the doxy alarms the basenji. Just a thought.

[sharronhurlbut]

Often, when you change your behavior to change your b's behavior, they get worse before they get better.
They want to see if they can make things go back to the way it was, ie, the way the did what they wanted to.
Does this answer your question?
You just have to stick to your rules and going to a training class can help you.
Myself, my dogs sleep with me and there is no rule about entering rooms.
BUT they can't show any type of "issue" when I move them from a sleeping spot, or
want them to quit begging at the table.
It didn't happen quickly, but just took the whole family being consistant.

[tanza]

In our house, first when the kids were young they all slept in crates… when I traveled to shows they were beds dogs... as they got older, the oldest ones some of the nights had bed priviledges... and when they were old elders total bed dogs... However that said... if they ever growled being moved or when you got in bed, they instantly became crate dogs again.... and they got the message, period...

[sharronhurlbut]

I have found that now, all I have to do is give whatever b is in trouble, a hard eye stare, they look away, yawn and stop what they are doing.
But I also practice soft eye talk with them.
So, it helps us both read each other.

[Maria Elena]

Hello to all, well a lot to say about Manolo, the first thing I can say is that he fell from the fifth floor of my building when I was 2 months and half. Because of the impact had cracks in the last vertebrae of the back in the sacral area so it needs a lot of care sense that happen.
But is a very strong dog and Today it?s doing pretty well, he just gets sore when is playing hard with bigger dogs.
During his recovery, was very pampered but was socializing with other dogs in a normal way; but if the games were tuff, he had to stay a few days limited and recovering, and of course way from parks and walks.
A month ago, his hormones are beginning to emerge and have become quite aggressive with the male dogs, is very dominant, it?s always trying to put his hands on the backs of the dogs and is very possessive with the dog he choice as a friend.

This has caused many fights in a nursery, where they have big groups of dogs, somehow is the same style of Cesar.
Actually they told me that Manolo needs to be castrated. This recommendation is also confirm by an ethologist and they agree with the fact that if him is not castrate quickly, will be very difficult the process of socialization and to have a normal happy life, and especially the training process.

I write because I am a little confused, I need a little advise base on your perception and knowledge.

I have the Cesar book and I have to say that I learn a lot, it?s very helpful. I started to do lots of things that is suggest, for example the long walks which have helped a lot with his over-anxiety, but I still cannot release him. I am afraid because of the fights (he likes big dogs, and does not measure the size and do not respects the hierarchy in flocks) and once he try to escape, it?s also a very fast dog, and he doesn?t like very much the orders.

Manolo is a great dog, very intelligent, very energetic and also very difficult to train, which is a characteristic of his breed. However I know that I have made many mistakes and I am trying to fix them. I had lots of dogs my entered life, all kind of them, and I never had any problem, it?s my first time whit a case like this. So please I will appreciate any suggestion because I feel sad by thinking that the castration is the only way to defuse his aggression, or I should do anything else.

Thanks, for the space to my comments, and I apologize for my mistakes writing in English.

I will be waiting for any recommendation, tks

Maria Elena

[sharronhurlbut]

Get him fixed..it will take a bit of time for the hormones to leave his bloodstream, but it will be best for him and you.
Also, have you taken him to any obedience classes?
If not, get him into a gentle class that uses positive reinformcement.

[Maria Elena]

Thanks’ a lot for you fast answer.. I appreciated… well I will do it.
He was taken obedience classes but the owner of the place say to me that was impossible to get his attention been like that, so he recommend to start again after the castration.
But I believe that can be very useful to get any recommendation or information abouth the positive reinforcement for the trainer. Do you have any recommendation, can I get tips about it?.
I ask you because I found that very few people know the basenjis, especially here, nobody knows them, and they are definitely different than the normal dogs.
Again I appreciated, thanks’ for your attention.
Maria Elena