I've been doing rescue and breeding (not Basenjis, and not for 20 yrs now)... and I have to say that among responsible trainers, rescues, breeders and professional veterinary behaviorists, you won't find any who will say under 8 weeks is okay for any breed... and for many, 10 to 12 weeks is recommended. It is in fact illegal to take puppies under 8 weeks from some states and it should be in all of them. Call a few dozen rescues and ask them how many animals they deal with that have issues started from being placed too young. It is good you are working on things, just hopefully the physical responses won't continue. No breed needs to be swatted or even mildly hurt for training. Basenjis even less so than many. It hurts your relationship with the puppy, and you are punishing a baby for being a baby... there is no "rebellious thing"... just normal behavior you have to patiently train away from.
Puppy Crate training
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Hi
We just adopted a 7 month old Male basenji who we were told likes the crate but not the door closed. We have a 2 1/2 year old very happy crate girl and would like to work on his issues with the crate.
Any tips? when we did this before our girl was so small she didn't complain too much. For now he tolerates the door closed while he eats but when he's done he has tantrums. We ask him to sit, which he does and wait till he is calm before letting him out.
I just don't want to cause undue stress since he is new to our house and it is very different from his previous environment.
Any tips would truly help!
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This is a good brochure on crate training by Dr Sophia Yin, http://www.askdryin.com/movies/CrateDogLR.pdf
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Thanks, I printed it out and will start to work on it!
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How much time does the b spend in the crate?
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Right now he tolerates eating in the crate and about 5 more minutes. I am using the info
from Ivoss and adding more time each day with treats. he sits and whines a bit, but no more pawing at the door and spinning. He can do up to 15 minutes. He is going in on his own to look for treats too. Hopefully in another week I can get an hour. Then I can make it out to eat once in awhile! -
Oh yeah and his name is Ringo….
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Welcome Bella, Ringo, and Raquel. Glad to hear things are improving for you. Ivoss always has great info!! Best wishes for continued success!!
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