Basenji Training

O.k this will work when we are home but not when we leave. I will still the crate for when we are out of the house for the day but at least when we are home but unable to be in the same room as him for examplt when we are in the bathroom or my daughter in her room at least he won't have to be crated and will eventually learn so he won't be made to go in the crate by force. Is that correct?

Solid Gold is a great food, that's what I feed and I know several other people here feed that also.

If you haven't already, try placing the collar way up high on the neck so that it is just behind the ears on top. Use a thin show choke and make sure it is snug fitting without too much slack as you want it to be better able to stay in the correct position. You may need to try different positions to find just the right placement of the choke. Some work better with the lower of the "P" coming out the top of the head and others work better with that part under the chim. Use treats as previously suggest to keep her attention but don't be afraid to give the chain a little pop to get her attention. You will have to practice keeping the collar up high but keeping a wee bit of slack in it. Let us know how she does.

Cairo at first ate from 8-2pm every day….little amounts, lots of pee and poop. He is 12 weeks old today and he eats 1 cup of dry food every evening at 5:30pm. He poops once in the morning before work, and right after eating, and once about an hour later. Diet makes a big difference in the amount they poop and their coat and general health. I fed Caesar Eukanuba Premium Performance for years before Beta came down with her irritable bowel disease. Most of the basenji owners I know feed their dogs Innova dry food. Extremely healthy and you have to buy it at a feed store. I use Natural Balance Duck and Potato dry or wet for my guys. It is a no preservative, no soy, no wheat, no rice, and no corn product that is made for sensitive dogs. It is a complete diet from puppy to adult. I swear by it, super stuff!! Cairo is eating as much food as Caesar. I keep Caesar very lean and healthy. 1 cup is all they need with an occasional treat. You are right though. there is a point where they start gobbling food and then they can hold more and eat once or twice a day. they are funny after they eat! little round bellys!

you may want to post this topic in the behavioral area to see what responses you will get over there….i am sure other people will have a lot of feedback for you! :)

lucky you!

Lenora-how do you keep her on leash while she plays?? Just curious to see if this might work for us. thanks for the info!

@Mantis: when Cairo cries in his kennel ( in there with Caesar) it means he has to go to the bathroom….i have found that immediate potty once out of the kennel is a great way to help with the potty training.... yes I take her out after sleeping in the crate and when ever she has a nap it helps ~Kat

We also have tried a few different methods (for quite some time for each). The stop and turn thing, I thought was a great idea, but it didn't work with us either. She didn't mind changing direction she just liked leading in ANY direction. We finally got the harness type leash (not the head harness) and it has stopped her completely from pulling. It's kind of wierd because she still CAN pull but now when she gets to the end of the leash (we have a 16' leash) she will stop and wait for us to catch up (uless there's another dog or something that's very enticing and even that pulling is not as aggressive as it used to be with a traditional collar/leash.

hmm I was having a hard time getting Bindi to poop in the back yard, she was doing fine for the first week, she kind of went in the same places for the most part, she changed them every now and then, but now I can't get her to poop out there she's not really leash trained yet and often is too distracted by traffic to do her thing in the front yard :/ maybe she feels the back is her play spot? yet she poops right next to the toys in the living room sometimes sigh I hope she poops outside soon, she's been holding it for most of the day :/ ~Kat

I wouldnt be surprised if he does or would if you asked. I definately paid too much ($25) for mine when I was at an event and had to have one.

That is too sweet! Keep us posted on his progress…and more pictures, please!

Bindi gently chews on my fingers while we play, sleep, sit on the couch I figured it was like a baby sucking on their thumb should I stop her while she's still young as it might be a problem when she's older? or will she grow out of 'sucking my thumb'? I know some people say, don't let them 'bite' even if it's gentle because they might bite harder later in life? I have some toys and I try 'trade ya' and sometimes she just gets so frustrated that she can't chew on what ever she was trying to and 'umph's and rolls over lol I find her chewing on my bedding most of the time :/ and when she's in bed there's no toys to trade with ~Kat

one suggest is if you are feed him can dog food it seems to make the pee more and it contains water

Not quite, he still needs 5 more points towards his AKC field championship but will have an opportunity at those in March.

Ok, I understand! My male lifted is leg in the house the day he sired my female, I was quite surprised and upset :mad: , he was 4 years old! He did it for 2 years every now and then, especially when angry with my other male or during the females seasons! Then sure neutering would have been an answer! (but in France you are not allowed to compete in agility, racing or lure coursing with a neutered dog or spayed bitch then I won't do it!)

Wonderful site!

IMHO, please be careful with the alpha roll over, I used to do that when I first started dog training many years ago, I eventually had an aggression problem with the dog, got bit pretty good. I guessed it was my fault and never rolled one since. I never used pacifiers with my son, so no dog troubles there, but his blanky got stolen often. gg It sure cannot hurt to put the litterbox there and see what happens, its easy, fairly clean, and better than cleaning the rug often. You could also try using a scatter rug over the other rug, see if that helps any! I have one spot where one of the dogs, having gotten too excited, peed, they still go there if excited. I love my dogs, oh well its only in the hall. ggg Good luck, hope you find a solution! Carole

How exciting! Caesar never had training problems, but Beta was a wreck. She was an angel the first 6 months and then she began peeing in any room that i wasnt in. At the time i had a townhome where the bedrooms were all upstairs. I had the stairs gated and my basenjis had full roaming of the living room dining room and the kitchen which was visually blocked by the kitchen countertop from the living area. Once Beta hit 6 months she began changing or adjusting to the home and the other animals (Caesar and the 4 cats). She became snarfy, she became food aggressive, and she started to sneak out of my sight to pee on the kitchen floor or in Caesar's bed. The downstairs wasnt huge, so I didnt understand that the area was too big for her. In her case, she was asserting herself as alpha to the other pets in the house. Beta had a very difficult life before I adopted her and it took me 2 years to finally teach her that you pee only on grass. I am not saying that your pup is pooping for the same alpha reason, but here is what I had to do to get her to stop. I was so frustrated and knew that she was no where near ready for basic training. I knew she was adjusting. I understood that what she was doing was behavioral not physical. I brought in a trainer who becan to work with her because I was out of ideas. He suggested that the area she had to roam in was too large even though it seemed incredibly small to me. He told me to keep her harness and leash on inside the house. This made Beta aware that I was on top of her. If she went into the kitchen, I was there holding the leash. If she was in the living room sitting, I was there. Sometimes I just attached the leash to my pants to make it easier. She never peed in front of me and basically stopped the behavior because I was with her. The other major thing I found that helped Beta with settling down was exercise. She required a lot more exercise than Caesar. When I moved to a place with a fenced yard or took her to the dog park she could just burn that energy off. I found with Beta, that treat training would just not work for her. She would get extremely excited about treats, but her behavioral problems were mostly affected by my actions and attention. Food didnt matter. Caesar was really easy with training because I adopted him as a puppy. I could use the crate for time outs and he understood and would improve. Beta lived in a cage for over 1year and a half straight which was too small and in her own filth. I couldnt and wouldnt use the crate as time out for her. She liked going to the crate, and going to the bathroom in her crate was easier for her because it was her environment for so long. Her problem was adjusting to the world outside. So, restrict the area and keep a leash on her. She may be getting too much free roaming space too soon. Can't hurt to try it. She will soon forget what she was doing. And dont forget to get that Natural's Magic (I think that is the name) for pet smells in the carpet at your pet store. This should keep her from revisiting the same spot if she is doing that.

quick tip, buy your lure coursing collar ahead of time. They sell them online and are much cheaper than buying at an event. I had to buy one for Caesar when I was there for him to participate and they were over the top with pricing….