Territorial basenji or just mean?

I have a 2 yr old basenji male. I just started bringing him over my boyfriends to play with his male dog. When there outside they run, play and have a great time together. when they come inside the house, if theres food around or if my dog jumps on his bed they will start fighting....this happens everytime there inside the house together. My boyfriend tried to break them up...and my dog turned around and bite him so hard....my basenji has done this twice....he just gets soo mad and turns around and bites me too. Its not a nibble bite its a mean bite! what do i do? why is he doing this??????

Welcome to the world of the Basenji!! This behavior is fairly typical of the breed- especially the fighting with the other male.

Both dogs are displaying typical resource-guarding, posession aggressive behavior towards each other. The fighting over food and bed space, etc....is basically territorial. Both dogs want to "own" what is "theirs" and this is very typical of ALL dogs, especially Basenjis.

As far as him biting your boyfriend....it is a bad idea to try and physically break up two fighting dogs. Most any dog will bite at whatever gets in his way, during a fight. Keep in mind, Basenjis are primitive dogs who live in a "survival of the fittest" environment in their native country....there are still Basenjis nearly identical to your dog who live amongst native people in tribal Africa. They are considered to be nearly feral by some experts. They will not show the same bite inhibitions that, say, a Golden Retriever would, in times of stress, pain, or conflict....in other words, if you don't use caution when approaching or handling a Basenji who is in a heightened state of stress, you will likely get bitten. This is why most breeders and even Basenji Rescue are very hesitant to sell/adopt a dog to families with young children.

Most "territorial" fights between male dogs are "all talk and no walk". They sound bad, but unless either dog typically comes away bleeding, it is not a severe enough fight to warrant you or your boyfriend sticking your hands in there.

I used to go to "Basenji Meetups" where I used to live....we'd have 20 of them at a dog park at once, and you should have heard some of the 'arguments'.....Angry Basenjis make different noises than most dogs and it just SOUNDS so much worse than it is.

For the most part, if a fight happens, give it a minute or 2 for the dogs to settle it. Yelling, clapping, or making loud noises sometimes distracts them. A squirt from a GOOD squirtgun (super soaker) might deter them, since Basenjis don't usually like water. If you need to seperate them, grab a thick blanket and throw it over the dogs....then seperate them. The blanket makes it easier to handle them and offers some protection from teeth.

The best way to deal with a problem (especially with Basenjis who can be resistant to other training methods) is to remove the opportunity for it to arise. Let them play to their heart's content outside. Inside, feed them seperately. Remove any of the toys or bones that seem to cause a conflict. Provide a comfortable place for both dogs to lay down, seperately....and try to discourage either dog from being on the bed with you. If this doesn't work, you can seperate the dogs by crating them, or putting them in seperate rooms with their own toys and chewies. The key is to diffuse the situation before it has a chance to escalate.

I would love to invite you to join the Basenji-L chat list.....a real wealth of knowledge, great folks who can offer insight to most anything Basenji related. The website is: http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=...

If you don't want an email based chat list, many of the Basenji List people also use the Basenji Forum, online:
www.basenjiforums.com