Basenji Training

I agree with Pat. Its best to put the crate in the bedroom where you sleep. It helps if the puppy can see you so they feel safe. In the old days, we used to use a windup alarm clock because the rhythmic ticking reminds the puppy of the mothers heart beat. Of course you do not want to put it in the kennel/crate, but you can put it on top or next to it so the puppy hears the sound. You might be surprised, but another thing that can work is music. I do not mean rock and roll (lol), but soothing soft music can help. You want to make sure the bottom of the crate, towel, pad, or whatever is on the bottom remains dry. A wet cushion, towel, or bottom of crate can put a basenji puppy in distress and will eventually cause them to scream. They do not want to be trapped in the crate if they have an accident.

Kipawa despises bitter apple. Twice a week I soak down my seatbelt in the car (which he can reach from behind the barrier). Works like a charm. Last year I sprayed it on a few things in a hotel room we were in. When we left, there was still a perfect white duvet on the bed. :)

Oakley does the same thing, when a dog barks he looks at me or them like, "mom,what's their problem?" As a puppy he got startled momentarily by dogs barking….he still stops and tries to find the dog barking if he hears one

This is an old thread, but we'd love to hear updates. Still very fitting with our on-going issues with Mowgli's separation / confinement anxiety. Lola? Mldawson?

Patty-try Pparkpet.com-Under the I series tab!

He's gonna have a great time! It'll be Greta's second time and I can't wait to see how her older B mix brother does. See you there!

I posted pics/comments on the new girls on this link….http://www.basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?13139-KS-Wichita-Eureka-Free-Bs-2-M-1-Yr-Old-amp-1-F-1-Yr-Old-amp-1-F-7-Yr-Old-On-Craigslist#post156254

child gates/fences/room dividers are nice if you want to keep them out of an area. At least thats what we had to do in our sunroom/daughters playroom. Daughter has her toys in the sunroom behind the fence with gate. Other toys she knows she has to pick up and keep track of or Ginger will get them and take outside. Shoes, socks, underwear always get put up. I just got some shoes sleeves for the backs of 3 different closet doors. They help alot. My wife actually has to put her shoes up. Ginger taught her in about a week what I couldnt teach her in 12 years. anything on the floor if fair game. anything on a low shelf withen reach is fair game. Ginger has finally stopped tearing shoes up when she get them for the most part. She just takes them outside now. We have a doggy door so im always checking the backyard for her prizes. Lots of chew toys. Got ginger a few antlers 6-7 weeks ago and wish I had known about that sooner. I cant praise those enough. Took her a week or so to actually want to chew on them but now she will take one and chew for 30-45 minutes at a time. They last forever too. out of 3 6-8" pieces we still have 2 left after 6-7 weeks.

That is awesome they know so much already! I JUST started clicker training my girl TODAY she is 12 weeks. She was having issues with food because she had no appetite but she eating good now and is interested so I decided to give it a whirl. She learned to sit, lay down, and roll over pretty well for her first day. I did not expect her to do so well. But I am so going to try to have Dolce try and "find John" my bf hahha such a good idea. He is jealous she likes me a little more than him right now because I have been able to spend the most time with her. I guess ur daughter and him have similar feelings.

The one thing you want to avoid is letting him think growling will get him what he wants (to be left alone). Ignoring it will usually work. However, it is unwise to provoke a reaction you might not be able to control. With my guy, I will be diplomatic if he is comfortable. I might sit beside him and complement him, stroke him, then pick him up. Usually that defuses his annoyance. If I do start to pick him up and he growls, I just go ahead with what I am doing. The snarking is usually only momentary. But be smart and keep your face away from his, just in case!

:) Watching basenjis coursing really makes me smile. They truly love it. Congrats on the results. Darn those plastic bags! I remember last summer Kevin and Therese had to have a significant number of replacement bags on hand.

He does only poop in his crate, no urine usually. I am trying to gradually get him to like his crate, but I do think it might be a lost cause. But yesterday I left for about three hours and left him in the kitchen. When I got back, I opened the door and looked down to see not only my cat waiting for me but my dog as well… He found a way to get out of the kitchen and have the run on my apartment. I now know why basenjis are called escape artists. I was happy to find that although he had an accident in the living room, he didn't destroy anything. But I won't count on one time to trust him alone. I am going to stick with the kitchen and try to make sure he can't get out.

I missed this post somehow. Pat, great work with Franie - congratulations!

Congrats! Jennifer

My male, Corin, is a marker. He is 14 mos old, and likes to mark curtains, or hanging clothes. We were at a puppy play date with his breeder and several other pups from 2 litters when he was 8 weeks, and the little stinker tried to lift his leg at the play date. Everyone was like "Whoa, and he is going to be yours" :) He has marked ever since we brought him home at 12 weeks. He even marked me once when I came home from work. I'm a vet tech so I smelled like other dogs, and even though he had just been out, he lifted his leg and peed right on my scrubs. His dad, Kita, is a marker too. -Nicole

There are many different ways to train loose leash walking. I like training it in a class with distractions and for my baby puppies that is really where they learn what a leash is. I took my boys to class for the first time this week and the only thing we worked on was loose leash. We started just standing in place and click/treat for loose leash. Then we would like a step and when the puppy followed we click/treat again when the leash is loose. The boys were walking pretty good with me and my husband for most of the class. I also like using a long line for loose leash, it really seems to help them understand that being near me is the behavior I want since they have the choice to go quite a distance from me but are only get a click/treat if they are close enough for me to touch them. Make sure you are using really yummy treats in class, it helps you to compete with the distractions. Many people bring kibble or other so-so treats that the dogs are happy working for at home but can't compete with the excitement of class.

Way to go. Congrats to all

chocolate is a no no.

@Lisa67: I have a 10 week old puppy that I'm crate training. She's doing pretty well but does have accidents because, as I mentioned in a previous post, no one in my family watches her as closely as they should when I'm at work. Fortunately, I work nights 7pm-7am (3 night/week) so she's asleep most of the time that I'm gone. She does make it outside the vast majority of the time. When she does go in the house she usually goes on my older dog's bed. I guess because it's absorbant. So, I see a lot of talk here about litterboxes. I have never heard of litterbox training a dog and I'm curious how it works. I don't really like the idea of the her peeing or pooing in the house at all, but since I'm having this problem I think its better than letting her go on the dog bed. Will it slow down the housebreaking at all? Thanks!!! If she is peeing on your other dogs bed, I would first look at the reason being she is wanting to be dominate over the other day and "marking" the bed. Consider this: I sent a puppy home with an experienced Basenji person (except it had been quite a while since they had a puppy around)… they had a 10yr old son, Stephen. The second night the puppy (Crystal) got on his bed and peed.... They called me cause they thought that was pretty funny, I said, she is marking his bed, she wants to climb the social ladder and be above him. They didn't believe me.... After she did it 4 more times, for 4 nights in a row, up went the gate so that she couldn't get in that room.... and very, very few times did she ever have an accident in the house She was 9wks when they took her home.