The NILF program is exactly the sort of thing your basenji needs. She has hit teenage time and like human teenagers is pushing authority. In this case, don't push her off the couch or yank the afghan from under her or any of those sorts of manuvers. Start by getting her attention just before she is going to jump onto the couch by offering a treat diverting her attention away from the couch. If she decides to come for the treat, she gets it, and then gets to be on the couch as a double reward; if she decides to complete her jump to the couch instead, she doesn't get the treat. Once she starts to look at you first ("asking permission") before she takes the couch then the reward becomes the couch. And to get her off the couch, use the reverse. Offer her a treat in such a way that she has to get off the couch to get it and click as soon as she decides to get off Once she understands that, add the "off" word. You might have to use treats just for this exercise that she wouldn't get any other time to make this more enticing to her. You might also want to introduce mat work so that she has to go to her mat or afghan or whatever, on the floor, instead of getting on the couch in the first place.
Dominant Male against humans
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I am concerned. We have two basenjis. The female, Stella, was a pet store dog who just turned 1 in late November. The male, Buster, we rescued through BRAT back in October. Buster has always had some separation issues, wherein he would try to grab our leg or arm (what ever was closest) to either keep us from leaving or from leaving him behind. We understood why, and have been working with him on that and he has made some improvement. Recently, he was sleeping in our bed (which is normal) and I went to push him over to make room (which has never been a problem), and he growled and bit me (pretty hard I might say). Luckily enough I had a sweatshirt on and he did not break the skin, but he left a large bruise on my arm. I don't want to return him to BRAT, he is usually such a sweetheart! Any suggestions with what to do about this?
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I read somewhere that the first thing to do when dealing w/ dominance issues is to make the dog sleep on the floor - not on the bed. When I first got Tayda she was having some territorial issues and made her sleep on the ground. It took a few days becuase everytime I'd push her off she'd jump right back on, but after about the 5000th time, she gave up and slept on the floor….
where in ct are you? I just moved to Wethersfield about 6 months ago!
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Thank you. We've tried the pushing off the bed too. And you're right, he just keeps coming back up. For a while, he would wait till we were asleep, and then come up (we would find him on the bed in the morning ).
We're in Branford.
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Well, I would start by not pushing him right now. He has shown you that he WILL bite to protect his space. I agree with the above post, he needs to sleep somewhere other than the bed, until he can earn bed privledges back. But you will need to do some ground work training so that you can ask him to get off the bed/couch/ whatever and reward him when he cooperates. And set it up so he can just go get on the bed whenever he wishes.
Finding a good behaviorist, or positive reinforcement trainer who has worked with independant minded dogs would be a great idea.
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I think he might benefit from "Nothing In Life Is Free". Start making him work for his priviledges. Does he know basic commands like sit and down? If so, ask him to sit before getting things like his dinner, going out the door, or even being given permission to get on the couch or bed. If he doesn't know basic commands, look into a good positive reinforcement obedience class.
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/leader.html
http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm -
Yep, a little time learning that the bed is a priviledge might help. Also you may want to have a full thyroid panel done just to help rule out medical reasons for bad behavior.
There are some dogs that just don't do well when woken up quickly too. Make sure you talk to him before you go to move him to let him know you're planning on doing something. And you could use it as a positive training opportunity. Ask him to move and give him a cookie when he does. If he thinks he might get a cookie, there's more incentive to having to move over.
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In addition to the above (especially the part about bringing in a trainer/behaviorist!) you may want to attach a 4 foot leash to a noncorrective collar while he is in the house. This way if you need to move him, you can do so without getting bit.
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Thank you so much for your help! I was talking to my husband about Buster. He and I are working on some of the things that you all have suggested (i.e. not letting him on the bed, making him sit before doing anything). What is nice is that prior to this event, I always talked to Buster before doing anything, so we aren't changing everything in his routine.
