I've come home from being away for three months, and Chris has been a busy boy! Basenji-inspired changes to our apartment include:
-A wooden based bed with drawers for our shoes, as opposed to the old metal-stand-with-boxspring setup we used to have. Paco used to always crawl under the bed and munch on our shoes and the bottom of the boxspring: no longer!
-New nighstands with cabinet doors on them rather than just open shelves; it was impossible to put anything in there that we didn't want shredded in the morning.
-The closet still only has drapes rather than doors, but at least now everything has been cleaned out from the floor of the closet (and stored in the new bed base) so that when Paco hangs out in there, there's nothing to chew on. I'm sure doors are the next project.
-New DVD rack. The old ones just weren't cutting it.
All built by Chris and our friend Luc.
Has anyone else had to make changes to furniture, etc. because of their b's?
You are lucky chris is so handy! We don't have a coffee table, and only have 2 chairs at our table, and have had to replace fabric sofa with a leather one, but not all in so short a period of time! Paco could be a decorator's assistant.
I'll be needing a new couch eventually. The constant digging, that basenjis require before naps, has taken its toll.
We cannot have the toilet roll on it's holder anymore, it lives high up on the window sill. The bathroom door has to be kept shut otherwise she uses the bath mat or towels as roughage.
The tea towel lives up high, there are no ornaments within Basenji reaching distance and everything has to be pushed back to prevent counter surfing. The wires are buried in the walls and the house plants are used as face wipes after eating. But hey apart from that are lives are just the same 
Remember when your kids were young and you vowed to replace carpet and/or furniture once they were older and more responsible?? That's how we determine redecoration, only now it's the dogs, not the kids.
Love it when they're through the puppy stage at about 4 years old :eek: A new look for the house by default:)
Love it when they're through the puppy stage at about 4 years old :eek: A new look for the house by default:)
I'm sick of my furniture - Daisy will be 4 in a few months - I caught her chewing the cording along cushion last week - don't think I'll ever be able keep furniture nice. :mad:
When I moved last month, I bought furniture and unpacked with Cody in mind. Nothing on low shelves or on top of my short dresser, desk with metal legs, nothing plastic within reach (actually the only plastic in my bedroom is my trash can, which sits on top of a high dresser… plastic is his weakness), etc. I also warned my roommate about his somewhat destructive tendencies before we moved in, so rolls of toilet paper are kept up high, baby gates are used if the doors can't be closed, trash cans all have lids, food isn't kept it low cabinets, and a few other changes. Fortunately, her dogs have similar tendencies and then some others (the dachshund is obsessed with shoes, the more expensive, the better), so it was beneficial for both parties.
Sounds as though it might be worth going away for a few months!!
I live in a ranch house so we installed a baby gate that you can open and walk thru in the hall so our dogs cannot get to the bedrooms or bathrooms unless we want them to. Best thing we ever did, the gate just has vertigal bars so Kahirah cant climb over it.
I'll be needing a new couch eventually. The constant digging, that basenjis require before naps, has taken its toll.
that is interesting! my b does this too before sleeping and loves to dig our bed. makes me laugh as i havent seen another dog do it before unless diggin a hole in the backyard 
Simon does that digging thing, too. It still keeps me from letting him nap up on our bed. I hope he grows out of it or at least takes it easier!
Funnily, we had to teach him to dig in the sand at the lake. He kept looking at us like we were silly creatures for even touching that stuff.
As far as furniture, we're doing the usual "put everything up high, not high enough, higher – do we care about this thing or should we give into that cute face?" And this puppy can JUMP! He can leap onto the kitchen counter from the floor without a running start. Egad.
See, I don't worry about my bed. Usually I throw a blanket down for Kananga, so the blanket suffers the wear and tear.
While I'm away during the day he has the full roam of my living room. There's one couch cushion that sees this "digging" wear. I had to flip it once because he managed to dig through the fabric, now the other side is toast. Weird how it's just the 1, must be his sleeping spot during the day.
Oh well. I consider this "minor" wear and tear for a Basenji after reading all the stories on here.
See, I don't worry about my bed. Usually I throw a blanket down for Kananga, so the blanket suffers the wear and tear.
I am the same and when she starts digging her heart out i put the doona down to let her dig at it too which gets her going even more. I havent had wear marks yet. She does it to the couch occasionally
Oh well. I consider this "minor" wear and tear for a Basenji after reading all the stories on here.
Likewise!!
Over the years mine have all done the digging thing. Not a dog basket in the house survived it and I have a thick wool blanket over the new lounge chair I recently bought to replace the old one with the seat scratched out. 
Anyone know if leather and Basenjis go well? I've considered going leather with my next couch, but fear the digging.
Otherwise I might just get a couch from Ikea, where you can purchase replacement covers. Oh the joys of having a Basenji around.
Now that it's fall – well, almost -- I'm going to put a thick Simon-durable blanket on the bed. Until now it's been filmy silky stuff, which frankly is just not a great idea with a goofball puppy
I don't care at all about the sofa digging at the moment, since I hate our sofas. I'll take any excuse to replace them. Maybe I should put some liver between the cushions to get him going.
Our only modification with these two is that the bathroom trash cans reside on the sink and of course the kitchen trash is well secured under a cabinet. Previous generations required all bottom shelves be used as dog sleeping zones. Our first girl, Keisha, used to turn off all the touch sensitive lights in the bedroom when she felt it was time for us to go to sleep, and Fritz was quite capable of standing up and turning door knobs to gain access to whatever room he wanted.
Oh gosh! I am not going to show my husband this thread. It will be a deal killer! Just kidding, as our cats right now do just about what they want with the furniture, and we just roll with it.
Kananga, I remember someone said many moons ago on the forum about leather furniture … don't do it. It costs more to replace/repair and can be destroyed just as easily.
Paco used to dig on the bed, but we started just taking him off the bed each time he did it. We also had to "teach" him how to dig in the sand at the beach…strange!
He still digs at his dog bed, which he thoroughly de-fluffed his second week with us. I let him dig at that all he wants: I don't plan to replace it until it's literally in tatters.
