Training Questions

[Sohini]

Our house just welcomed our first Basenji. Personally I have always had large breeds GSDs, dobermans… and training/housebreaking has never been an issue. Honestly the GSD I have now was housetrained in 24 hours. We take her out almost every hour and she goes out in the yard and sits in the grass or on the driveway. She will not sniff or follow me. After 20 minutes or so I come back in to have her run straight to the rug and pee on it. Then she runs around like a crazy dog.

Other than that she does not respond to anything. We have tried the clicker, whistle, calling her with no luck. She will follow the GSD, but will not do anything without him.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[sharronhurlbut]

Make it fun. Leash her, walk her until she goes, have wonderful treats in your pocket, give her treats, with lots of praise, and you will have a house broken b in no time.
They are all about the "bribes"! How old is this basenji?

[tanza]

How old is she? Who/Where did she come from? And rule of thumb is you never go back in till she has gone. Do you walk her on a leash or just let her outside loose?

[eeeefarm]

Sounds like she is bonding with the GSD rather than you. That's one of the disadvantages of having more than one dog! Definitely we need more information on age and previous owner…..she sounds confused. Reminds me of a friend whose cat would ask to come in to use the litter box!

[Sohini]

She is 14 weeks, and we bought her from a breeder. She was an outside dog with her siblings and a yard full of other dogs.

Can you recommend any treats? I give the GSD the small Nutro Apple and Carrot treats but she will not eat them. I don't want to get her hooked on anything crazy but willing to try different things.

We just walked for an hour and she did not do her business on the walk, then came in and poo'ed on the rug.

[sharronhurlbut]

Ok, so she need to get into a routine. Use cheese or hotdogs for major treats. Cut them into small pieces and put them in a ziplock in your pocket. Walk her. After you feed her in the am, walk her. *I know you will have to get up earlier, we do here as well. When she goes, treat, praise. Home. When you get home from work. Do the same. She will learn that this is the time she "does her business" and will expect you to walk her to do it.
My b's do not poop in their backyard. We have a doggie door and they only time they use it to go in the backyard, is when they are sick. As our dogs are very clean, and like to keep their "areas" clean, they want to do their poo someplace else. Re your house, that would work, as you clean it up and they have a clean area to live in.

[tanza]

@Sohini:

She is 14 weeks, and we bought her from a breeder. She was an outside dog with her siblings and a yard full of other dogs.

Can you recommend any treats? I give the GSD the small Nutro Apple and Carrot treats but she will not eat them. I don't want to get her hooked on anything crazy but willing to try different things.

We just walked for an hour and she did not do her business on the walk, then came in and poo'ed on the rug.

Interesting… most Basenjis are born in Nov/Dec/Jan, so spring litter....... who is the breeder? And what were her living conditions before you got her? Most responsible breeders with pups at that age are most house trained.

[lvoss]

When it comes to treats you will need to try different things and see what works. Natural Balance which comes in a roll that you can slice up into small pieces works well with some dogs, hot dogs quartered and sliced works well, small pieces of cheese.

Next, if your puppy was raised outside in a yard where she could potty wherever, she may not understand the concept of pottying away from her living space because that is not what she has been taught up until now. You will need to really reward every time she potties away from the house which means always take her out on a leash so you are watching even for a quick pee and reward, reward, reward.

[Sohini]

Earlier than 3:45? I am kidding. There are 3 trips out every morning before leaving for work and as soon as I get home. I will try the hotdogs and cheese.

Any recommendations for using an electric fence (underground). I have read that it likely will not stop a B on the run so she has been on a leash since bringing her home.

The breeder said she did not know how this happened. They were born on April 14th. I will not say she was not the most responsible breeder, I will even call it a puppy farm. 5 different breeds and horses. She did seem to care for them, but you could tell they were income and that was it.

[Chealsie508]

I feel for you because Oakley always peed outside but only pooped in the house, we would walk, hike until the cows came home then, when we finally went in he barely made it through the door before pooping. After awhile I knew he was purposely holding it bc for whatever reason he thought inside meant poop- sticking it out and treating is key with basenjis and it's easier said than done– they are stubborn and love to play the " wait it out game"! Once Oakley realized peeing meant a cookie and pooping meant a dried sweet potato, it got a lot better. Hang in there!

[eeeefarm]

@Sohini:

Earlier than 3:45? I am kidding. There are 3 trips out every morning before leaving for work and as soon as I get home. I will try the hotdogs and cheese.

Any recommendations for using an electric fence (underground). I have read that it likely will not stop a B on the run so she has been on a leash since bringing her home.

Do you crate her when she is inside, and does she poop in the crate?

An electric (invisible) fence will not work unless you spend a lot of time with her on a long line conditioning her to the fence and making sure she does not learn that running through it works, and even then I would not trust it too far with a Basenji. (i.e. I would not rely on it when you are not around to supervise) She is also a bit young to learn with an electronic collar, IMHO, particularly with an invisible fence, where the correction is pretty harsh.

[sharronhurlbut]

I think invisible fences are the biggest rip off ever. They don't keep your dog from being hurt by any other dog who comes into the yard, if the b does get out, it won't come back because its getting zapped..really a barrier fence is the way to go…

[tanza]

Since she most likely came from a less then responsible breeder you need to start at square one as I would venture to bet that she has just went in a pen wherever she was kept by the breeder. With that many breeds, no way was any time spent potty training. So you are at a disadvantage right off the bat.

And I would search the Forum for information about Fanconi Testing as I would guess that was not done either before that litter was bred.

[eeeefarm]

@sharronhurlbut:

I think invisible fences are the biggest rip off ever. They don't keep your dog from being hurt by any other dog who comes into the yard, if the b does get out, it won't come back because its getting zapped..really a barrier fence is the way to go…

They work well for some people and some situations…..e.g. my girlfriend had three dogs on her farm, two spaniels and a GSD crossbred. These dogs were not inclined to stray but might visit the neighbour if my friend was not home. She installed invisible fence and it worked perfectly for the spaniels, and 90% of the time for the GSD cross. Occasionally she would come home to find her outside the fence, since she would run through it if the temptation was strong enough, but of course would not return through it and get zapped. But this was a dog who stayed home anyhow, and as a farm dog was always outside in the daytime....

I think invisible fence can be valuable as an addition to a physical fence if you have a climber or escaper, as it will keep them from lingering near the fence long enough for either activity. Or to keep the digger out of your garden!

[Basenjimamma]

With a breed like basenji..no way on using a invisable fence..they are(as a breed) way too driven when temptation shows up..just my opinion…I can see other breeds staying in, but like Sharron said, how do you keep harm out of the yard..?

[krunzer]

You can try the clicker training outside when she goes potty too. As soon as she starts give a quick click and when she is done then give her the treat. My boy figured this out real quick. He would go pee and I would click then he would come and get the treat. So as soon as she knows what the clicker means you will have to lengthen the time when you click, like almost at the end of her potty. If she poo's in the house instead of picking it up and throwing it in the garbage, maybe take it outside and put it where you want her to potty instead.

[caseeno8]

I think incorporating some crate training if none is being used will help. If you take him outside and he does not go potty, when you bring him back in, he must go in crate for about twenty minutes or so and not be allowed to roam or play. Then outside again to potty spot. If he does not go again repeat in crate for twenty minutes then out to potty spot and naturally praise like crazy when he does go. The idea is to get him to go potty when you want and where you want. I felt using the crate was extremely beneficial.

Chris Battistelli