Houseproofing Revisited!
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Hi everyone!
I will be getting my little pup in a little over a month and all of a sudden I can totally see everything in my apartment being a potential danger! Maybe not everything haha, but I wanted to at least revisit the idea of puppy-proofing. I have only a bit of wood furniture, but how instinctual is it for basenjis to chew on wood furniture corners or even dig up carpet? Does Bitter Apple work well as a solution or precaution to these issues? The shelves I will put child locks on, but I am mostly worried about the cables. Does anyone's basenji have a current or past issue with chewing power cables? The only solution I can think of for that is getting those chain meshes to protect the bundle of cables, duct-taping it to the floor or getting a cheap plastic tube from Home Depot or such and running the cables through there.
I saw on one of the past posts that someone suggested to run through a current basenji-owner's house and see how it is proofed, which I will do with my breeder next time I see her, but if anyone is available (and willing) to give me a quick run through in the San Francisco Bay Area it would be much appreciated!! Any notes or suggestions on proofing (any area, ,not just the aforementioned things) are greatly appreciated!! Thank you guys in advance for reading and responding :)
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I find tht bitter apple worked for my dogs. Also a squirt bottle works wonders too. Biggest thing a B will teach you is to pick up after yourself and make sure your valuables, ie shoes, clothing, etc., are put away behind closed doors! I never had a problem with cables but make ire to watch out for it.
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Bitter apple never worked on my Basenjis, not ever… for anything... well, maybe for 2 minutes, but not long term.... and I block cables with a wood panels or you can use PVC pipes also... wire need to be protected... for sure. and yes, you will learn to pick up after yourself... and if you don't and the puppy "eats/chews".. remember it is your fault...
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Preparation is good, but do keep an open mind as to what YOUR dog will or will not do. There is such variation within the breed.
You will probably be supervising him/her at all times, so you will figure out soon enough what his/her inclinations are.
Our two B-sisters have never been interested in power cables, but safety is obviously important here. We always keep a lot of chews around, and we experience very little trouble: the occasional pen left in an accessible place, minor stuff like that.
One big thing: give your dog a good long workout in the morning, preferably off leash so it can really stretch its legs. That will tie them over to the afternoon.
Enjoy! -
Puppy proof as much as you can, but honestly like kjdonkers said, there is much variation between Basenjis. As a puppy, Loki learned very quickly what to chew and what not to chew. Never once did he try to chew on shoes or the furniture, but I also made sure we had plenty of chews around. Kaia is another story. Anything and everything is fair game to her! I can't even have my hair down (or lay sleeping with my back to her with it pulled into a ponytail) because she will literally pounce on my head to chew my hair. Don't get me wrong, I see the humor and laugh about it afterwards, but trying to wrangle a squirmy B puppy off your head is not easy! It does not matter that there are at least 10 antlers, nylabones, etc for her to chew, she will go for anything she can…though I'll admit it would be worse if we didn't have Loki as he is by far her favorite chew toy ;)
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Thank you guys for all of your input! Sorry it took me so long to reply, puppy preparations took up a lot of my time! Haha. I followed your guys' advice and puppy proofed the obvious, made sure to get used to not leaving anything on the floor haha. Since he will be home when I am home I will just observe and see what his tendencies are so I can make changes accordingly, as some of you suggested. The breeder gave me great advice on chewing and things like that too which also helped, including her own homemade concoction to prevent chewing. Will definitely keep you all updated and hopefully you all don't mind answering some more questions later! :) thanks again!
