[Dailydrool] Barking Hounds, dominance behavior & Kennel Cough

[oakrydgebh at q.com]

I have a few bassets here that will start barking the minute I go into the pantry to fill food bowls. What has worked for me is to make them wait their turn and feed them after the quiet ones. It has worked well for most of those who wxhibit this behavior. It takes longer to get through with some than others. My understanding is that they are attempting to assert their dominance over the rest of the pack and you by demanding their food first. Brandon was one of the worst for this. It has taken me a long time to get him to quit barking at dinnertime but he has finally "got the message" and waits quietly in his crate until his bowl arrives. I always tell him he's a good boy so he knows I'm pleased with his good behavior. Sheradyn however, is still not there yet. It's like she thinks I'll forget to feed her if she doesn't remind me where she is even though she's in the same crate every time and has never missed a meal. I make her wait her turn and tell her "Quiet" it's not your turn yet. I don't set her bowl down until she waits quietly. She is getting better about it. 


Brandon also has other dominance issues and I monitor him closely under all circumstances. Even as a young puppy, he was the dominant one in the litter. He had a loud ear piercing bark even back then. He was also a very demanding puppy. He was neutered because of his dominant personality. I'm still working on getting him to stop yelling at other hounds when they go past his crate. Usually, it's another male but he also yells at Jasmine (his mother) and she yells back at him even though she knows better. Since Jasmine has always growled or yelled at the hounds that pass by her crate even when she first came here, I believe this to be a learned behavior. Jasmine came from another breeder at about 4 1/2 months old. When I asked about this behavior, I was told "oh, that's just bassets." Brandon and Noelle (litter mates out of Jasmine's only litter) do not like each other at all. They will immediately go into attack mode if they see each other. I keep them separated as much as possible. I don't let them in or out together and they're crated in separate rooms at night. Noelle has learned that I am the pack leader and I will not tolerate her harassing the others passing by her crate and does not do this about 90% of the time now. Brandon is one of the most hard headed hounds I've ever owned and still barks if I'm not standing right by his crate when another dog is passing. Both Brandon and Noelle are otherwise very sweet loving hounds. Both are protective of me if strangers are around. In fact, Noelle has a very soft personality. Brandon is just a knucklehead although a very lovable one. He reminds me of one of my younger brothers who just has to act out even though he knows better. 


I've been dealing with kennel cough for over a week now. I showed two of my bitches at a 4 day cluster of dog shows in Boise in mid-October and brought it home from the dog shows. Neither one of the two girls that I showed there have gotten sick but they shed the virus here at home and I've had six hounds on meds for the past week. The meds treat the symptoms just like cold medicine does for humans. The virus has to run it's course which is usually about 7 to 10 days. It's important to start them on meds as soon as possible since kennel cough can turn into pneumonia. I was able to stop it from spreading to the rest of the pack by re-vaccinating the ones who were not symptomatic with nasal bordatella vaccine that I got from my vet, sanitizing their food and water bowls daily and re-washing their bedding. Knock on wood. None of them have shown any symptoms thus far. Those being treated have a few more days of meds to go. I asked my vet when to vaccinate the ones on meds and was told to do so a day or two before they're done with the meds. I'm so glad that I could get to the vet for meds quickly and have been able to prevent it from infecting the rest. Everyone will be re-vaccinated again in 6 months since I travel with some of my dogs and they may be exposed to other dogs who could be shedding the virus. If your dogs are going with you anywhere that other dogs may have been recently, even if there aren't any dogs there when yours are, they should be vaccinated for bordatella. Always consult your veterinarian and follow their recommendations. 


Jacqie Marvich 
Oakrydge Bassets
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20111112/31a36c2a/attachment.htm>