Basenji Training

@etzbseder: Yeah, I guess I'm still just thinking about the heat. I know it gets really hot inside my room at my parents, and then Medjai does really need water. If you have good AC, or it's not that hot, they could be fine. Our house has great AC and is very comfortable. Thanks for the comments.

We have a plastic crate…I think it is a vari kennel, but can't be sure- but it is at least that type. We had a wire crate in the beginning, but it was too big, he had enough room to make a messs and get away from it, so he got the point where he would go to the bathroom in his crate, and then lay down on the other side. So, we got the smaller crate. He doesn't mind going in his crate when I leave for work, but it is not his favorite place to be. He doesn't usually go in there without being asked to, but he doesn't try to escape. It was funny, when my parents were here, he got to stay out all day with them while I was at work, and then he was sleeping in bed with us. After the second day of this, at about 9:00pm, he got up from the couch, trotted over to his crate and lied down inside, with a huge heavy sigh, and took a nap. I think we were wearing him out.

I have always recommended that pups be carried from the crate to their "potty" place… at 12 to 16 wks, especially after waking up, there is no way they are going to walk all the way to a door, outside and onto the grass to pee... they just can't hold it that long. For us, I didn't care if they peed on the concrete, in fact 3 of my girls go on the concrete... one on the grass and my one boy mostly on the grass. And for cleaning up, really vinegar and water works as good if not better then all the store bought ones I have had over the years, and believe me, I have tried them all... Works great on concrete, tile, pergo, carpets....

I volunteer at my local shelter and see these dogs first hand. I know exactly why they end up in shelters and some of those reasons include their owners feeling like failures because their experiences are that they put in what they feel is a lot of work and see no improvement. Actually, most owner relinquished dogs, vs stray pick ups, are because the owners have reached a point where they have become overwhelmed with behavior issues they are having. Many feel that they have given an honest try at tackling their dog's issues. Our shelter has seen a very positive response by owners when they are provided with resources such as contact information for local trainers who do consults to help these owners work with their dogs. Yes, there is a huge homeless animal problem in this country and though there are some who truly don't want to be bothered to do the work that it takes to own an animal, a much larger segment just needs education and access to resources including low cost vaccinations, training programs, and general pet ownership education.

I love my martingales! I also really like the northwind collars. Kiora has a nice slip collar and a martingale lead from them. I also have a martingale from a lady who makes collars locally. It is really nice beacause they cannot back out of them but they are very wide so they don't cause neck discomfort. One of Kiora's collars is even lined with fleece..comfy! Also IMO The wide martingale's really enhance a long elegant hound neck. The Main thing is just like a slip/choke collar they are for walking only, you cannot use them as your tag collar because their is a risk that they will get caught by the collar and choke.

@Flash: I was really impressed by how your dog trusts you and stays even when you disappear behind bushes. Was the training time consuming? I am trying to train my 11 month old pup in the rudiments of sitting, staying and coming at so its good to see what is possible with these intelligent little creatures. Well done! Thank you :) The training is definitly time consuming. We started with sit and Mirtillo wasn't planning on laying down or staying for some time. I just waited untill I noticed that he was 'ready' for the next step. The laying down came when the temprature went up and the staying when it was too hot to move ;) For every new step he gets his favorite treat. For the things he already knows he gets some normal kibble. When I'm behind the bushes I'm still saying 'stay', so he knows I'm there. We are trying to get to 30 seconds without me talking.. But he's still a bit too young for that. And they are for sure intelligent creatures..

I used one of those giant 'corkscrew' tie-outs at the beach and had 3 attached to it. I put it as deep in the sand as I could get it and it didn't budge…of course the sand was packed, rather than 'fluffy'. Be sure and provide an umbrella for shade, they get hot and like to go in and out of shade. Mine don't like the water, but do enjoy the beach! Anne in Tampa

Wonderful…let us know how it goes.

@YodelDogs: I am eager to meet you guys also but things just haven't worked out. Will there be a get-together this weekend? I've been talking with Mauigirl, and she'll probably relay this to you later, but I can't do Saturday morning b/c I have to work. I'm free Sunday morning, and we're willing to drive to your area if there is a good park in your area. I don't know if there was a different thread yall were discussing this on… but I can't find it if there was.

I trained Zenu to use the bell as well, but I dont have a fenced yard so it means me getting her leash and taking her out for a walk. I can usually tell if she needs to go pee or poo or just wants to go for a walk and look under parked cars for cats, and if she's being silly about it I just tell her, "no you already went out" and she'll give up after a few rings. If she can be distracted from the bell with a ball or rawhide stick its a pretty clear indication that she doesnt really need to go to the bathroom, she's just bored and wants to do stuff. Usually she doesnt even need to ring it since we're on a good routine of walks throughout the day, but this morning she had a bit of diarrhea and she woke me up at 5:00am and ran right to the back door and rang the bell several times to let me know it was Very Serious and Can We Please Hurry. So, even if you ignore him sometimes when he rings the bell, he'll probably still ring it to let you know if its a real emergency.

What is a "training leash"? Is it a long line? Long lines are great for teaching loose lead walking and working on recalls. Many people seem to think that walking a dog off leash is a good thing, when in reality it is in most places breaking the law. There are some places that you can walk your dog off leash without being in violation of the law but in many places there are not many safe places that you can walk your dog off leash. As Janneke said, a real benefit to working on a long line on recall is that if your pup ever does get out then you have a tool to get him back. Name response, coming to his name with various distractions and in various places could very well save his life some day. You can play the come game in the house having people in different rooms call his name and give a treat if he comes. You can work on a long line outside calling him between two people. Only treat if he comes when called not if he is just running back and forth between you. As for him listening to you, are you taking him to training classes? What is your role in training him? The more you work him, and the more consistently you work him, the more he will listen to you. You can start really by just taking a handful of one of his meals and just ask for some basics before giving him the main meal. Sit, down, stand, I practice targeting, what ever you may be working on until you have used your handful then when you are done ask for a sit and then you can give his bowl.

One thing I discovered with my B is that he likes ANYTHING plush (such as slippers, balls of yarn). Even though it makes a mess. I'd rather have him take out his need to destroy plush things on his stuffed toys than on any of my belongings. As long as he has his toys he seems less likely to find the need to seek out my belongings.

I got my pup when he was 7 months and he was sort of house broken. When I took him to the vet I found out that part of his house breaking issues was that he had a bladder infection. If you continually have problems house breaking (like very frequent urination or peeing in the crate) you may want to have your vet test for a bladder infection just to make sure. Another problem I discovered was that he didn't know how to tell me he had to pee. I hung bells on the door and by having him ring them every time we went out I taught him to tell me when has to pee. It has been great. Some times he rings them just to go out and play, but mostly he rings them when he really has to go out. Now the only "accidents" he's had is when I ignore the bells b/c I am busy. (he literally peed all over the living room the other night because I ignored him) One other suggestion, make sure you use an enzyme cleaner on any "accident" spots. These really eat away the reminants of the feces/pee so that your b will not recognize the area as an ok place to go to the bathroom Other helpful tips I got was to be sure you use the same door when you take your b out and take it to the same part of the yard. Give your b LOTS of praise for going outside (and a treat if it is food motivated).

I got my easy walk harness at PetCo, so if you have one near you it may help relieve any "sending it back" fears. The one near me had a whole display of easy walk harnesses apart from their regular harnesses. I only had to use my EasyWalk harness for a few weeks before mine learned to not pull so much. I still use it on hikes since he gets so excited about making "new friends"

I use bells with my B. He learned to use them in like 2 days. Since then, I've only had "accidents" when I ignore him b/c I'm busy. Sometimes he rings them just to go out to play, but other times he rings them when he REALLY has to pee. The best thing is, they are portable so when I go visiting with him he always knows how to tell me he has to pee.

@Duke: Just try and convince a trainer that doesn't do the "positive reward" or "treat based" training methods that their methods are not as effective. The guy who installed our underground fence has since gotten into dog training. He tried to sell me his services when I ordered a collar for Daisy last year. When I asked if his training methods were click and treat based, he said "behavior modification". When I tried to discuss the benefits of the positive reinfocement methods that helped me with Duke, he scoffed that dogs should learn without bribery! Well - I ended the chat since I knew we disagreed. And that is when you just "agree" to disagree and know that is one person you will never use…...

Wow, she's very intense.

I have always feed morning and evening… if by chance you are free feeding that will add to your problem of trying to get her on a schedule.