Skip to content

Leash training

Basenji Training
  • Hi there, I have 2 Basenjis ( 1 male 1 female ) and they like to pull…..especially when they see another dog. It seems to come and go as an issue. My wife is 6 months pregnant and she will sometimes have to walk the dogs alone with the little one and having dogs that get crazy when another one shows its face is not good. Pulling in general isnt good. Another thing, its usually one that is super excited/anxious/crazy to see the new dogs and when they start pulling the other usually lashes out at the puller. Im assuming trying to correct it. You im sure know the noises basenjis make and this creates a big scene as well. Just looking foradvice as to how others have handled it. I know patience and being calm are an asset or must, but it is trying at times. Thanks in advance, sorry for the ramble. :)

  • My most hated thing is a dog pulling on a leash. Fortunately, loose leash walking isn't that hard to train. I can take a feral dog and have it loose leash walking in a week. Unfortunately, because their pulling is related to excitement over other dogs, you have quite a bit more work to do with this.

    Loose Leash Walking
    http://www.clickerlessons.com/looseleash.htm

    Leave it
    http://www.clickerlessons.com/leaveit.htm

  • @DebraDownSouth:

    My most hated thing is a dog pulling on a leash. Fortunately, loose leash walking isn't that hard to train. I can take a feral dog and have it loose leash walking in a week. Unfortunately, because their pulling is related to excitement over other dogs, you have quite a bit more work to do with this.

    Loose Leash Walking
    http://www.clickerlessons.com/looseleash.htm

    Leave it
    http://www.clickerlessons.com/leaveit.htm

    Very good articles, Debra. Kipawa still does some pulling, so I am going to work with him on the suggestions given. I am not 100% happy with the obedience class we are in. There were 12 dogs there last week, which is a huge distraction for my social Kipawa. Of course, he needs to focus on me, so in a way, the number of dogs there is a good training item for him too.

    Thank goodness there are folks on here like you on this forum that over the years have found all of these excellent websites.

  • My male rottie was definitely male dog aggressive (except little dogs that he allowed to terrorize, chase – I swear you could see him laughing -- and pretended fear of). The best command I ever taught him was "look at me". It enabled me to take him into crowded dog shows and anywhere because the second I gave the command, he locked his eyes on me. I then gave the "leave it" command. Once a dog at obedience (my 8 yr old child did obedience with him for HER practice) a Great Dane puffed up and challenged him. From 20 feet away he obeyed both look at me and leave it. (They removed the Dane from the class permanently.)

    Loose leash walking is so simple. You stop, or back up, the second there is ANY pressure on the line. No pop jerk, just back up.

    THAT said, if you plan to show, you want a dog working the line to show enthusiasm so don't make the pressure too light, lol. Show dogs don't look good heeling. :)

  • Has your breeder helped you at all?
    If they are pulling as bad as you say, it sounds like it would be easier to work with them if you were walking them one at a time.
    Yes, it means more time on your part, but you have two dogs that need training.
    You could also try using a Halti-Collar..those work great for training a BADsenji. Don't go by the sizes on there… unless your dogs are monster-sized... Basenjis actually wear a Size 1.

  • Love that Kathy…. BADsenji!!!!! Too perfect

Suggested Topics

  • Any leash training tips?

    Basenji Training
    21
    0 Votes
    21 Posts
    5k Views
    elbrantE
    @malik said in Any leash training tips?: so she isn't able to sniff around where I can't see. Honestly, "doodle's" nose is becoming legendary. I'll think she's smelling the bush (or urine on it) and she'll come out with a bagel in her mouth! (yes, this actually happened!) I have learned that she can find all manner of things that are clearly obvious to her nose and undetectable to my eyes. If your pup is intent on what she's smelling, there's a reason for it.
  • Training Blog

    Basenji Training
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    3k Views
    P
    This a very interesting article, Andrea. I'm not a professionla trainer and only have little experience in the field of professional dog trainers here. Those I do know mainly use positive reinforcement but I also know some old school trainers who while professing to now use positive reinforcement do rather confuse the two. I love and totally agree with his statement that 'training is not something we do to our dogs: its something we do with them'. This I think sums up completely the way we need to train our Basenjis for the best results. Toughand Prissy, thank you for posting that excellent video link.
  • A good leash

    Basenji Training
    9
    0 Votes
    9 Posts
    3k Views
    P
    My Basenjis agree that leather is much nicer!! They eat them asap.!! So far the metal parts have escaped! Any one would think I don't feed them!! However I think that there is nothing nicer than a good leather lead, I keep mine for best or when I don't have too many dog out together so that I can't watch them all at the same time. I use a 2cm for walking and a 1cm for showing.
  • Off leash

    Basenji Training
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    5k Views
    JannekeJ
    Mirtillo isn't allowed off leash either. Only when I'm sure there is no traffic within a radius of 10 km.. When we go to such places I ask other dogowners if their dogs listen well and if it's ok that I let Mirtillo off leash. When Mirtillo doesn't listen.. the other dogs will and I can 'catch' him. It occasionally happens that his leash slips through my fingers, but when I call him then, he always returns immediatly. (knowing I'm having some very yummy treats)
  • Clicker training

    Basenji Training
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    3k Views
    lvossL
    Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.
  • Loose Leash Training a Basenji

    Basenji Training
    21
    0 Votes
    21 Posts
    13k Views
    J
    Wow. I didn't realize it was so difficult to get Bs to walk nicely. I guess we had a lot of the "dirty work" done for us by the breeder. Joey, we got him at 10 months, walks superbly on his leash. I do need to remind him sometimes, but he gets back in line right away. The breeder tells me to be sure they know who is boss with every issue. I do see a difference with each of my kids that take Joey out and Joey knows who he can be tougher with and who he really has to listen to.