Help with House Breaking


  • Hello all,

    We have a six month old half basenji and half corgi female. She looks and acts mostly like a basenji. She can sit and shake and go down and we are working on come. The mistake I believe we made is when house breaking her we used the puppie pads. She is getting better with peeing outside but she thinks the pad is where she has to go #2. We take her out and then she can be in the backyard for a long time and then she will come in and go on the pad. We have tried the baby gate and she just jumps right over it.

    We realize we have to be the pack leader and are doing that but not in the house training part. Any suggestions on how we can change her thinking about where she should go?

    Thanks!


  • I know there will be others with better ideas, BUT I think I would put the potty pad outside the door, then each day move it farther out until it is in the yard where you want her to go. Then remove it.


  • Jazzy's mom suggested just what I was going to, some dogs it can't be a drastic move, maybe 6-12 inches at a time


  • @JazzysMom:

    I know there will be others with better ideas, BUT I think I would put the potty pad outside the door, then each day move it farther out until it is in the yard where you want her to go. Then remove it.

    I think that is a great idea! Put the pad out there while she is watching. Just a little at a time. You may have to set it IN the door the first. Lucky you that you live in Florida, so you can GET your puppy to go outside!


  • I would also try taking her on walks regularly. The exercise & marking/ sniffing should get her to go regularly if you do the walks at appropriate potty times of the day.


  • The directions on the box of potty pads I bought for my pup says that as time goes on you not only move the potty pad closer & closer to the door you take them out of to eliminate but you also begin folding it to make the area smaller. Eventually you actually move the pad outside to the area yuo want the pup to eliminate in & by that time the pad should be fairly small. Try that & hopefully it would help!

    What part of FL do you live in?


  • Thanks for all the sugestions. We haven't tried making the pad smaller and will do that along with moving it a smaller amount. We take her on long walks and she will not go…it's wierd. I am near Clearwater Florida and the temp today is 78. Sorry to all you who are living in the cold. I am traveling to Chicago next week and will get a taste of it. Thanks for the helpful tips!!


  • @Zoey:

    near Clearwater Florida and the temp today is 78. Sorry to all you who are living in the cold. I am traveling to Chicago next week and will get a taste of it. Thanks for the helpful tips!!

    Ah I live in Melbourne, Fl on the east side of the state where the temp today is around 78* as well. I love it as I am sure my basenji does as well. No cold paws/butt for him! :p


  • I was going to take some days off this week to go to Florida as my hubby had some time off - but he decided no he really didn't want to - so I'm in MN where it was -15 this weekend (without counting the wind). My basenjis are more resigned to the cold weather than everything but really don't like it much.


  • Nice place you live in Nina! Carty I envy you wearing lots of sweaters and coats and pretty scarfs to keep warm. In Zoeys world today she had a blast! After waking up and eating she decided that while I worked she would get into the bathroom where my son left the cabinet open on his way out the door to school. Oh yeah….you guessed it! Toilet paper all over the living room and a pink and blue sponge added in for color!
    Ahhh a day in the life of a puppy...I hope we all make it through this stage.
    It has been raining buckets here today so I am thankful for the puppy pads.
    On a brighter note...she learned the command down or as my son says..."get low". I know she is a bad girl wanting to be good...lol

Suggested Topics

  • House training

    Basenji Training
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • Basenji House proofing

    Basenji Training
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    5k Views
    H
    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.
  • Peeing in the house…help!

    Basenji Training
    13
    0 Votes
    13 Posts
    6k Views
    P
    Me too, Pat - I swear by it.
  • Need HELP!

    Basenji Training
    27
    0 Votes
    27 Posts
    8k Views
    JannekeJ
    @lvoss: My basenjis learn new things very quickly but they also get bored more quickly. In classes that ask for you to repeat over and over again to make sure the dog "gets it", basenjis start to goof off. All of mine get to a point where their behavior and attitude clearly say, "What is wrong with you, didn't you get this the first 5 times I did it?" This is so true! Tillo starts to talk when it takes too long for me to get the fact that he already understands the command.. so there's no need to practice anymore :D
  • Leash Pulling…HELP!

    Basenji Training
    11
    0 Votes
    11 Posts
    7k Views
    JannekeJ
    I just stand still when Mirtillo pulls. He has a normal collar and leash. I wait untill he makes a turn and comes to me or makes eye contact. When he comes, he gets a treat. (just his normal kibble) When he makes eye contact I tell him he's a good boy. We are now at the point that when he comes he doesn't immediatly gets his treat, he first has to follow, sit, follow and then it's ok. On the flexi I mostly try to call him to come to me before he is at the end of the line, he gets a treat and he is 'free' again. On the normal leash Mirtillo also gets rewarded when he just looks at me and/or walks next to me. That way I'm way more interesting then the ground… When there is a dog/cat/bird and he pulls, I don't expect him to pay attention to me.. so I'm happy when he sits when I stand still and gives a quick glance at me. I also tried the method of just making a lot of turns, until the dog pays attention.. I didn't like it.. it was frustrating for me and for Mirtillo. I don't like to pull back.. I believe it is way too easy for the dog.. When I stand still, Mirtillo has to figure out how to get me walking again.. It's more of a positive game. When he pulls, I don't think... Ooooooohw.. here we go again........... But I think: ok, this is a great opportunity to get him to pay attention to me.. And I just stand still.. first he will ignore me, he will sniff somewhere else (there is no pulling anymore), then he will try to pull again to make me clear he wants to go there.. then he cries.. And then he thinks: I HATE YOU.. and he looks at me and comes to me with a face like: IS THIS OK??? And then I praise, give something yummie and we're both happy.
  • House Breaking a 9 Month-old

    Basenji Training
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    4k Views
    C
    Thanks for all your advise so far. Here's the update… patience and persistence seems to be paying off. We confined him to whatever room we were in so we ALWAYS caught him. After just 3 weeks of this he started running to the door! I completely thought he'd never get it. He didn't seem to be connecting "outside" with "potty time". But its been nearly a month now and he is about as house broken as our other 11 mo old. We still have accidents, especially when its wet out, but all your advice seems to be paying off. Thanks.