Roxy behaving badly!


  • Can anyone help me?! I have such a stubborn little B!!! she doesnt listen unless i have somthing to offer in other words food.

    Roxy has a few uhh…issues...
    She seems to enjoy biting me or jumping up and nipping at my fingers when im walking, shes recently started eating SHOES! im not happy about that! she gets mean when anyone is eating something whether your just standing there enjoying some chips or your at the dinner table having a mean she sits in front of you and then starts howling at you to give her some if you dont right away or you simply ignore her she will jump and put her paws on the table or you knees and sniff your plate! if you push her off genltly she does it again and if you still dont listen she howls even louder for a longer period of time and then grunts.if shes not begging for food shes usually running alllll around the house as fast as she possibly can jumping on furniture and finally landing on the very top of the lazy boy to look out the window...shes doing that right now btw. What do i do?! help!!!! i have basenji problems!:rolleyes:
    Thank you!!


  • hi, welcome to the forum…i am sure you will get tons of good advice here! how old is roxy? how did you acquire her? my mom has a dog that begs, and she just crated him during meal time (he had been raised by someone who had obviously been feeding him from the table) have you ever tried a squirt gun? just a little shot of water...after a few times she might just get the picture. i am looking forward to reading responses.


  • oh yeah and as for the chewing…first make sure you have plenty of things just for her to chew on, bones, toys, etc. there is a chew deterrent available called bitter apple that lots of people swear by, just spray it on whatever you dont her to chew on (shoes, table legs, etc). make sure she knows what is hers and safe to chew on. there are probably other threads on this. good luck.


  • I was also going to suggest crating her when she begs, or grabs at food.
    Might be a good idea to feed her ONLY in her dish, no matter what or why she's being fed. Even training can take place near the dish so rewards can be set in the dish.
    I would avoid giving her any "people" food, or tastes of what you are eating at least until she catches on.
    I would not let her eat meals or treats without sitting first, and holding the sit until released.
    She really needs to learn that you, not she, control the food.

    When you catch her chewing something she should not, ie a shoe, take it away with a firm, NO!, and give her something she IS allowed to chew, be it a stuffed animal, stuffed Kong, rawhide, whatever.

    Good luck!


  • thank you so much! ill try it ALL shes a handful THATS for sure! as for the bitter apple…she likes it lol yes i know...it got on my fingers and i ate an apple (even though i HAD washed my hands vigerously) and it was a nasty surprise....idk HOW she loves it so much but she does :yuck: Ambered Roxy is 13 months old, and i rescued her from the pound, her mother and 12 of her puppy brothers and sisters were all up for adoption they went FAST! if ya guys come up with anything else let me know!!!
    Thank you soo much for all the advice!


  • <>
    12!!!! That's a record for sure!


  • @ANG071905:

    She seems to enjoy biting me or jumping up and nipping at my fingers when im walking, shes recently started eating SHOES!

    keep her on leash, even in the house for a bit. when she nips, correct her. a quick "pop" of the leash accompanied by a "no bite!" command (not a full "jerk", obviously don't cause injury, just let her know that behavior is NOT tolerated) when she learns to behave better, she earns freedom off the leash.

    @ANG071905:

    she gets mean when anyone is eating something whether your just standing there enjoying some chips or your at the dinner table having a mean she sits in front of you and then starts howling at you to give her some

    I would crate at meal times too. Once she learns begging (howling, jumping, demanding) is NOT tolerated, teach her to lay in ONE spot (down-stay). You can also teach this by having her on leash by your side. the leash is used to enforce the down-stay.

    For example, when we eat in my house, I tell Tucker "on your blanket" - he goes to HIS blanket in the livingroom, and does a down-stay, then he is released when the meal is over. THEN he gets his dinner. he eats AFTER me. basically I reward him for the calm down-stay during our meal.

    rewards need to be earned. You may want to read up on the "nothing in life is free" method of training.


  • il try doing that too….my boyfriend mother actually told me to do that as well, im going to look into it for sure...shes just soooo stubborn! she wants her way all the time, but ill try my best! thank you again!!! oh btw ill be posting pictures of roxy as soon as i can figure this thing out lol


  • Or you can crate her at dinner time or when you are eating.. If you feed her in her crate, you can feed her at the same time that you are eating…. or just crate her and then feed her when you are done eating... and yes they should eat after you do... puts them at the bottom of the food chain..

    How old was she when you adopted her? I would suppect that things that she would have learn from her Mom and littermates didn't happen seeing that she was in a shelter... I would guess that she is showing signs of trying to be the dominate one in the pack... she needs to understand that she is not.. however that is by positive reinforcement.


  • she was only 2 months old when i got her. i started crating her last night at meal time and i fed her after i ate…she looked at me and cocked her head to one side she DEFINATLY tries to dominate me and in all honesty she is succeeding, someone told me to hit her on the nose with a rolled up news paper I however do NOT believe in hitting any animal its just not right, so that was out of the question, she rebels against everything i say or try to do with her, last night it was the biting again, she left little welts from her teeth on my hand i kept saying NO!!! and giving her a toy to play with...she was much more interested in my hands and kept bitting, so id say "no roxy! NO BITE!" and shed stop for a moment, then pick up where she left off i finally crated her. she was being rediculous.... shes also started grabbing my heels and eating them if i tell her she cant do something...shes like a 6 year old its incredible! i think i may have to take her to a trainer any more suggestions?! anything is appriciated!


  • Yeah, I would refrain from the rolled up newspaper method. I like a lot of the suggestions here, particularly the "nothing in life is free" method suggestion.

    Is this a sudden behavior change? You have had her for (if my math is correct) 11 months; has she been unruly all this time? Has anything else changed? Is she healthy physically? I wonder if it's worth having her checked out at the vet, just to be on the safe side. Is she getting good exercise otherwise?


  • I absolutely agree, no rolled up newspaper. Basenjis have essentially 2 responses to that type of training - the newspaper becomes a new toy and you have to play tug of war or they get upset and can be aggressive. The way to use the rolled up newspaper is to clean up whatever she got into, then whack yourself on the head for leaving it in her reach or not watching her!! LOL…

    Living with a Basenji is like living with a permanent, very bright and inventive 3 year old...

    Terry

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