Basenji Help!!

[Henna420]

Hi. A bit of history to start with. I have gotten some great advice on this forum before and just need some more. I have had a 8 years old female since she was eight. About 2 months ago i decided to introduced 8 years old male. He is from the breeder where i used leave mine when we went away. They got along really well and thats why i didnt think there would be a problem.

From day one she didnt want her in the house. Now, 2 months later…there is no problem going for walks, no problem just hanging out at home, no problem when left alone.

PROBLEM 1:They are fed them in their crates and my girl who used to take an hour to eat her food, finishes it in 30 seconds goes crazy wanting to get out her crate and eat his. She literally goes crazy biting the crate. He just minds his own business and finishes his food at his pace. When i let them out once they finish their food, she immediatly attacks his crate and goes in to find food. My female has always been food driven. What do i do to stop this?

PROBLEM 2: Same behavior when i let them out of their crates in the morning. I have tried both ways, letting her out first and letting him first. If she is out first she will attack his crate biting and pulling on the crate and if i let him out first she will attack him. In both situations she gets crazy and all worked up.

I really need her to calm down and get along with him. I got him fixed about 2 weeks ago. He is easy go lucky but when she pushes him, he knows how to defend himself. He is a lot stronger than her. Please advise...

Thanks in advance.

[sharronhurlbut]

Oh, it does sound awful. I don't have anything helpful to add, but I am sure someone on this list can help.

[Henna420]

I really hope so….a friend of mine suggested hiring "BARK BUSTERS" I am not sure what their reputation is like. I am in Surrey, BC, Canada and if anyone knows of any trainers with basenji experience?

[Nexa]

You might want to get her one of the bowls at the website below to slow down her eating. This would at least give him time to finish. I know it doesn't really solve the problem but it might help.

http://www.brake-fast.net/

[nomrbddgs]

Really crating both of them while eating is the best. You may want to put a blanket over her crate so she can't see what is going on and only let them out when they are completely finished. It may also help to leave them in for a couple of minutes until they settle down after eating before you even take the bowls out.

[agilebasenji]

if you'd like her to slow down her eating, put her food in a food dispensing toy (think buster cube). it sould engage her brain and slow her eating. and covering her crate is a good idea too.

[Henna420]

Ok…i will try the above BUT what is the reason behind attacking his crate....food or no food?

[nomrbddgs]

Personally, I really wouldn't like to give an opinion without seeing what works up to this. It could be as simple as jealousy, domination, odour, anything.

Ohhh, sorry, just thought of something else too. When my younger bitch used to come out of the crate, she would bolt and run around like an idiot growling at everyone. I started opening her crate and not letting her run out. I would get in front of the crate, (she would always have a collar on) and grab her before she could run and spend a little time quieting her down while she was kind of standing inside and outside of the crate. It did take a while, probably a month or two, but now she just walks out and is a lot calmer coming out. I find with her attitude, she needs some slow petting and time to calm down when she gets a little excited about something. Her prey drive kicks in and goes into overdrive. If I calm her down a bit, she's a lot easier to handle. Just a thought. This is kind of like what I mean in you have to find out what the behaviour stems from before you decide on what correction to take.

[Vicki]

Move the crates to different rooms. The female won't be able to see what's going on. Give the male his food first, then feed the female a little later. Don't let them out of the crates at the same time.