Hi!
We have recently put in a new fence, including a sliding gate that will soon be automatic. At the moment, I am tying my 7 month old Jessie up while I open the gate to go in or out with the car, but I'd like to train her to stay in while the gate is open for the short time that I drive the car in or out. But I'm not sure how to go about it. Would anyone have any suggestions in training her to stay in? We live in a quiet street, so it's not a catastrophe if she gets out, but it always seems to happen when I'm in a hurry to go out somewhere. She's not too good on the recall so I get the bag of treats to give lure her back inside.
Anyway, I'd love to hear any ideas,
Sheree
Try training her to stay with the treats. Use short distances first-no more than 2 ft at first for a couple of seconds-say 10 to 20 and gradually increase time and space between you. This should help somewhat. Once you can get her to stay on - leash, start with the gate opening on-leash and stay command. Am I making any sense to you?
So train her to stay for starters, then when the gate is open as a distraction, to continue staying, getting to the point where even if I haven't told her to stay (when I open the gate from the outside) she will anyway?
I think I'll have to rope my husband into helping to do some practice when I open the gate from the outside. I already get her to sit and wait when I open the gate and wait until I go through the gate and call her through (although if she's not on the leash she'll happily make a run for it!). Maybe I'm just impatient, wanting instant success! I really have to get more regular training done with her, maybe smaller multiple sessions each day, rather than a longer one every couple of days. It all comes back to my input in the end, doesn't it!
re: quiet street and not catastrophic
I lost my first basenji on my quite street
the first puppy I placed - at the age of 4 was hit by on of the 2 gravel trucks a month that went down their road WAAAAAAAY out in the country.
You can train - but if a bunny or squirrel happened by - I am not sure training would over power instinct.
heaven knows i'm all for training, but i don't think i'd trust training in this circumstance. Like dmcarty points out, what happens if something chase-able chooses that time to run by? personally, i wouldn't risk it.
this would be my solution:
keep a leash in the car
slip in the fenced area
leash the dog and put her in the car
close gate behind the car
drive up to the house
let dog out to play, keeping leash in the car
if i had lots of extra money, my solution would be:
have a second automatic gate with an "airlock" type area
I love the airlock idea! Unfortunately, we don't have enough space for that (one of the reasons I went for a sliding gate), but I wish I did!
What about electric collars or electric fences? Dare I ask. I don't know if I like the idea myself, but I do like the idea of her staying in the yard when the gate's opening for the car. I don't even know if I could get something like that in my town. Obviously I would try the stay training first and see how she goes, but I'm curious to know if anyone's gone the electric collar for this sort of thing.
I know of a couple of folks who use e-collars but they are always out with their dogs. I also know of more whose dogs "take the hit" and just run through the painful zone…then won't return to the yard because it will hurt. I'm with Agilebasenji, an extra 2 or 5 minutes each time you leave to ensure the dogs safety is worth it in the long run. Even her basenjis, who are arguably some of the best trained in the country, might break a 'down stay' for that pesky cat if it wandered by when a gate was open.
Good luck!
Ha! "might" nothing, especially Diggie with his 20+ titles. Even now as a 12 year old, he'd be after that chase-able faster than you could blink.
Well, I went for an automatic gate for a number of reasons, but I can see myself continuing to get out the car to tie Jessie up for the next couple of years until we move to another house! And having the yard separate from the driveway is going to be one of the musts on the list of what we'll be looking for!
It feels like it takes me a good 10 minutes, and sometimes I think close to 15 minutes by the time I put the two kids in the car, tie Jessie up, open the gate, reverse out, close the gate and then go let Jessie off the lead. Which is a bit of a hassle when I'm in and out a bit during the day. But oh well! I'd hate for anything to happen to Jessie.
yes, better safe than sorry. even my neighbor's labs get out once in a while when they drive through their gate. of course, labs being labs (and grossly overweight) don't go anywhere.
I have another question - if you and the kids are going off in the car - does that mean that the dog is in the yard - alone and no one is home? Leaving a basenji (or most any dog for that matter) alone outside (no matter the weather) is also a recipe for disaster. If someone is home - I would suggest put the dog in the house and they can let him out after you are gone.
Did I make a statement that the dog should be off leash? No training should be off leash to begin with. If you can't control your dog on-leash, by your side you don't have a hope of off leash. I always start with a 6 foot lead and then go to a long line. 25' ones can be purchased at the dollar store. I'm simply taking this as going in and out of the gate, not leaving it open for any amount of time.
Jessie's mum and dad are in a yard that is only 3 feet high believe it or not. And they don't get out. They do live at the end of a road, though there is a walking track that starts at the end of their road so they get walking traffic going past. And a school at the rear.
I had a three foot high mesh fence before we got the six foot fence put in. It wasn't only for Jessie that I had it put in, but I just didn't feel comfortable leaving her in a yard with a mesh 3 foot high fence. So far she is only 7 and a half months. If she starts to jump the fence I'll have to contain her in a smaller area, but my main job is a mum, so I'm home most of the time, and tend to only go out for 2-3 hours at the most, and not every day. There's no one at home to keep her in the house while I go, except on weekends when my husband is home, and we do keep her in the house while the other one goes.
This whole training business is so dispiriting. Although we have been haivng fun with roll over and shake hands. She picked that up very fast, unlike walking on a loose leash and come!
Well my expericene (25+years) is that a 3 foot fence will work till it doesn't. You are fortunate that it has worked so far. If you ever get a basenji that climbs however - all hope is lost for any chain fence - I have not had one but maybe someday.
My dogs are less concerned about people coming by the fence as critters - other dogs, racoon, deer etc - if it was something they really wanted to hunt or chase - with a 3 foot fence they would be gone. They wouldn't jump the fence for bunnies cause the bunneis are so dumb they come right into the yard to get eaten. 
I just wanted to add that my Basenji jumped a 3 foot high solid plywood wall from standing still at 7 weeks old!
So yeah, a 3 foot climbable fence seems almost silly to me.
As soon as the snow melts we are getting a solid 6 foot high vinyl fence and putting that in.
3 Foot high fence really can be jumped by a Basenji. When Chance was 2 mts old he was climbing a 3 footer! We have a "modified" 4 foot metal gate at the top of the stair case which we know can not be jumped over. If it were on a flat surface and not at the top of the stairwell I bet it could be jumped over too!
