New update: Tika is no longer in heat! Yay! Remy got neutered and is doing great! We got a dog trainer to come in assess the situation and she thinks it is starting to improve compared to how I described it when I booked her to come. Only Maia seems to need the muzzle, she seems to be very unsure of the puppy. We are working with her to build her confidence. The puppy doesn’t seem to have any stress with Maia around and won’t start anything. The muzzle is on just in case when I am home alone as I don’t want anything bad to happen when if I can’t separate them. The puppy is getting lots of training time to help her learn how to behave properly. With 2 people here we can have the girls on short leashes and they are fine together. They did have a small altercation of snarling but no biting and no one got hurt. The older female backed down and walked away. As much as I want her to be the top dog it seems that the puppy has a much more dominant personality. If they figure out the pack hierchy hopefully everything will settle down. The trainer says there are no pack instincts in domesticated dogs, but after having 6 basenjis I can’t agree with that in regards to basenjis. We can walk the girls together without muzzles now so I think things are more positive and they seem to be improving every day. When Remy is healed from his neuter I will get the puppy spayed and hope that calms things down even further. So far there is a lot more peace in the house. Please anyone let me know if there is anything else I should be doing to keep these girls on track. Thank you for all your advice and guidance! I am so grateful for this forum as what is normal for other dogs is not so much with these guys!
My basenji bites
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Yell and ignore.
Walk away from the pup.
Repeat until it works.
Takes time, but it does work. -
…Takes time, but it does work.
IMO, this is hardest thing for people to understand: It takes time. And one person's idea of "time" can be way different than another person's.
In the past, way before I got a B, if my dog didn't learn something within a couple of training sessions, I gave up. Now I know. It takes time. In fact, it takes as much time as it takes.
I'm always thinking to myself, "eventually"! -
At what age did you bring Noel home? This can really effect how long it takes to teach bite inhibition. The earlier they are separated from their littermates the longer it can take for them to understand bite inhibition because they didn't get the message from their siblings that biting hurts.
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At what age did you bring Noel home? This can really effect how long it takes to teach bite inhibition. The earlier they are separated from their littermates the longer it can take for them to understand bite inhibition because they didn't get the message from their siblings that biting hurts.
Exactly… which is why breeders recommend that pups go home at 10+ wks... and at 12 wks is ideal.
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imo - time-out does not apply to dogs - there is no reasoning behind it. Walking away is also not an option - they need to know who is in control. I found that a loud NO, or snapping your fingers loudly immediately followed by a poke in the front shoulder or rear hip works best. Solved the same problem in under 3 minutes
G
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Actually, time out does apply to dogs and is part of dog language. One way that dogs communicate that they do not want to interact with each other is by doing a Look Away or by turning their body away from the other dog. If you turn your head away and turn your shoulder away from your dog you are sending it a message that you don't want to interact.
When I do agility and obedience with my dogs I have to be very careful to keep my shoulder open to the dog I am working with so I don't accidently convey the wrong message to them.
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Exactly… which is why breeders recommend that pups go home at 10+ wks... and at 12 wks is ideal.
Had not heard the 12 weeks as ideal before. Is there any detriment to a pup leaving it with its siblings longer than 12 weeks - say 13 or 14 weeks?
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Had not heard the 12 weeks as ideal before. Is there any detriment to a pup leaving it with its siblings longer than 12 weeks - say 13 or 14 weeks?
If the pups are kept together 24/7, never spending a minute away from each other, past about 10-12 weeks then they are prone to develop separation anxiety.
If the pups are given a lot of individual socialization and time is spent working with each pup as an individual, then it doesn't matter how long pups are reared up together.
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Thank you all for responding and giving such great recommendations. I brought Noel home at 6 week. (May have been to soon). Yesterday on another thread I read how someone takes a squirt bottle of water and does a quick spray when she bites and then says no. I tried that on noel and it worked perfect. I just have to grab that bottle and she goes and lays down. She hasn't bitten me once today. I know it will take more than one evening to train her not to bite but I will be patient.
Again, thanks everyone. I am so glad I found this site. It is wonderfu.
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6 weeks is not only too young for a puppy to leave its siblings and mother, it is in many states illegal to sell an animal at that age.
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I agree, 6 wks is way to young for a pup to have left their littermates… And I thought in all states it was 8wks that you could sell/place a pup? I know for flying them them must be at least 8wks (within the US)
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There are a few states where the 8 week rule only applies to "pet dealers" so it is a grey area as far as private sales but these states are very few compared to the number where it is outright illegal to sell an animal under 8 weeks.
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I brought Noel home at 6 week.
When puppies play with each other, they learn that if they bite another puppy too hard they hurt it. The puppy learns to control the amount of pressure it uses on another puppy, and on humans, this way. It is called bite inhibition. Noel was taken away from her siblings and dam before she learned bite inhibition and this is why she is so rough with you.
FWIW, when I did Basenji rescue work, virtually every biter I dealt with was removed from it's dam and siblings prior to 8 weeks of age.
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Yesterday on another thread I read how someone takes a squirt bottle of water and does a quick spray when she bites and then says no. I tried that on noel and it worked perfect. I just have to grab that bottle and she goes and lays down. She hasn't bitten me once today. I know it will take more than one evening to train her not to bite but I will be patient.
The problem with this method is that Noel will not learn to soften her bite so if she ever does bite it will probably be with full force and result in serious injury. Though it takes longer to train, it is much better especially with young children in the house to use the method described in the link given in the other thread.
