Basenji Puppy - Indoor Fence/Crate?

[cognition]

I'm trying to get some opinions on indoor fences/crates. I am crate training him but I honestly feel bad leaving him in there when I'm home. I think he might be happier with like an indoor fenced area where he has space to move a little bit. I know the create is still important for when no one is home and he goes to sleep though.

Are there any good indoor type fence or space items anyone would recommend? Also would anyone recommend an ideal create for the basenji? He is only 13 weeks old now.

[tanza]

Depending on the area that you are looking to creating then you can determine what would work best. Do you have a kitchen area that can be closed off? Doorway? Laundry room? For crates, I use wire that are approx 25 high, 32 long and 24 wide, give or take. I use the next size down for travel (car,SUV,RV)

[Pawla]

Check out an x-pen (exercise pen). It's like a crate but bigger and you can put a top on it if needed. You can use it outside later on. I put mine across the garage opening and my b can be out there safely while I'm working on things. I took two up to my sister's house when we visited so I could make her yard secure. My friend borrowed it when she was helping to rescue a peacock. Lots of uses.

[RugosaB]

We also used ex-pens. Worked well.
I put an ex pen separating the table when we were eating, from the basenjis, probably 3 or 4 at the time. They were so funny, they'd sit right by the ex pen, but facing away from us, just sitting as nice as could be. I later was told that that's a 'coping mechanism' they use, to deal with stress, just turn their backs..

[Zande]

I have baby gates at the top of the stairs and into rooms dogs are (I WISH !) excluded from. Certainly the wee dog shouldn't be crated more than absolutely necessary - he is a hunting hound !

And I have saloon type half doors set close to the ground between the kitchen and the rest of the house. The theory is the pack stays in the kitchen with access to the garden unless invited through to the rest of the house to sit on laps, watch TV or get in the way of knitting.

[eeeefarm]

I never crated any of my dogs when I was home, and only briefly when they were pups or new to me adults when I was absent. My solutions were various when I couldn't supervise. When Tamu arrived as a pup at our first house she and Lady were In the finished basement with the wood stove blazing in winter, out on the sundeck in summer when I left them alone. At the farm, we had a wired gate to the kitchen, confining them to there and the breakfast nook, or alternately kept in the sunroom on a nice day. In summer at the farm, out in the dog run. But when I was home they had the freedom to follow me around, although access to a few rooms was blocked.

As my dogs got older and more reliable there were less and less off limits areas, until there were none. Pups learn very little when confined. Under your supervision they learn the rules of the house, what is permitted, what is off limits. Yes, you need a safe place initially when you can't attend to them, but that should be kept to a minimum, IMO. The more they are with you and learning, the sooner you have a reliable dog that doesn't get into trouble the minute your back is turned.

[cognition]

@tanza

Living room is probably what we are looking at. Right now using a travel hybrid like crate but know a bigger one will be needed.

@Pawla

I have like a little pen made of some stretch plastic but he keeps pulling it in and turning it upside down lol I see they are escape artists.. Is there a specific one you'd recommend that he won't be able to escape from?

@Zande

I'm thinking maybe using the kitchen is a good idea...

@eeeefarm

Unfortunately the basement isn't finished and don't have sunroom So far been using the living room/kitchen but the only thing gated off are the steps. I try to keep him out as much as I can when home and crate him only if I can't supervise. I heard they should get used to sleeping in the crate? Usually we fall asleep together on the couch and then I'll put him in the crate to sleep after. He is over 12 weeks now and still doesn't like going in there though.

[Zande]

@cognition Kitchen is good. Its where you possibly spend most of your time, or at least a good deal of it.

My litters were always born and raised in a huge pen in an alcove beside the Aga. Radio was on, pans were dropped, oven doors slammed. Resulting in bomb-proof puppies who weren't afraid of anything.

I crate trained them, of course, but I think not all breeders do. No, a puppy should be OK going into a crate (a LARGE one with plenty of room to sit, lie, stand and stretch out) for brief spells, but every night, sleeping in it, no.

My 11 week old sleeps under my chin while my yearling curls up behind my knees. The baby has learned to pull my hair when he needs to go out but we have this down now to once a night. Downstairs, out into the garden, perform and trot back in. No problems at all.

Basenjis need to be with their people.

[aprilk]

So I have to share a story...I wanted to keep my first basenji Sullivan in the kitchen as a pup so I built a half-wall, (it kept him in for about a week before he could climb it) My mom got out of work earlier than I did so she would come over to rescue my pup until I got home each day. One day she came home, opened the back door and called my Sullivan. She heard a noise and then a super excited, fast-moving basenji puppy came running to greet her with a large kitchen knife in has mouth (he was holding it by the handle thank goodness). My mom screamed and ran back out the door till he dropped it (it was terribly confusing for him). Apparently, he managed to climb on the counter and as he was pulling a knife out of the block my mom arrived. Fortunately no one was hurt, and now its pretty funny. Just be careful what's on your kitchen counters-they will climb them eventually! I ended up getting the largest crate I could find (for shepherds and labs) and used that for the first year until he could be trusted to have free roam of the house Good luck with your pup! You'll have great stories soon enough!

I also only crated when I was gone, you want to have them out as much as you can! I have had really good luck getting them to be trustworthy pretty quickly, my two now have free roam and are fine but a good base of training did this!

[Kembe]

@aprilk
That story is HILARIOUS! Could be a movie “Basenji in Friday the 13th”!

[cognition]

@zande Thanks for sharing! Are you a breeder too? I saw your link.

@aprilk wow that is some story! I try to only crate him when I can't supervise him. I actually gave him some free roam for a bit and he was doing really well until he bit through the thread on the leg to the couch This happend the other day so I've been having to crate him anytime I can supervise him. When you see your basenji puppy biting something he shouldn't what is the approach to train him to stop and be calm?

[elbrant]

@cognition said in Basenji Puppy - Indoor Fence/Crate?:

When you see your basenji puppy biting something he shouldn't what is the approach to train him to stop and be calm?

Just say, "no!", firmly (not yelling). Touch the area so he understands that he shouldn't be biting the furniture. Then give him a chew/bite appropriate toy (or treat) and say, "okay". And when he takes it, praise him, "good boy". Essentially you are disrupting the bad behavior and teaching your pup what is (and isn't) and acceptable chewing habit. He will (gradually) learn the house rules and gain more of your trust (and hopefully freedom from the crate).

Note: The key to this training method depends on you interrupting the undesirable behavior and replacing it with acceptable behavior. This cannot be accomplished if you are trying to correct something that has already happened. Your dog will not understand that chewing on the couch is wrong if you punish him for it (5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days) afterwards.

[cognition]

Thank you going to try this with him biting my pant leg as well lol

[aprilk]

So, My basenjis have always been pretty good about not chewing things they shouldn't (except for the occasional tissue paper-they all need to die apparently...) I haven't had any of the horror stories you sometimes hear. The way I did it was to keep a TON of bones around...All different kinds and anytime my pup was thinking about chewing something they shouldn't I stuff a bone in their mouth (gently of course, its more like "Here, have this!" you can't actually stuff anything in their mouths if they don't want it ;). When they were little we kept a pretty good eye on this, but it started to stick pretty quickly. It has seemed to work really well for me-I'm not yelling or getting angry, I'm replacing bad chewing with something good (Basenjis are pretty ok with that...)

Also, and you may know this already, but basenjis are crazy smart even as puppies and will do stuff (like chew bad things) to get your attention, especially if they feel you are ignoring them or not playing enough...basically you only get a break when they take a nap!

Oh, and if you were asking me, no I am definitely not a breeder, I can hardly keep up with my 2!

[Zande]

@aprilk Bones do it for me too ! My kitchen gets to look like a scene from Graveyard Robbers. The butcher gives me a large rump bone every week - sometimes two. I remove all the fat (and render it down for dripping - wonderful to roast potatoes in !) then I saw the bones into several quite big but more manageable pieces.

Dogs get them fresh for a couple of hours the first day, slightly longer the second and then they get left around the kitchen until I have a blitz on the ones no longer in use and remove them to the bonfire where they burn and mix with the ash to form an excellent bonemeal rich compost.

Vet is always delighted at the condition of the dogs' teeth too !

[aprilk]

So funny! I just walked in my living room the other day and my kiddos had pulled out like nine different bones and placed them in a pile in the middle of the room....I think winter is starting to get to them!

[elbrant]

doodle's "bone yard" tends to run alongside the bed... right in my path to the lavatory!!

[JENGOSMonkey]

@elbrant said in Basenji Puppy - Indoor Fence/Crate?:

doodle's "bone yard" tends to run alongside the bed... right in my path to the lavatory!!

So, back in December I sprained my ankle really badly while walking Logan. Still hurt in February. Got an x-ray. Turns out I'd fractured it, but too late for a cast. Fast forward to yesterday... when I twisted it AGAIN! I stepped on a bone after getting up off the couch. Basenjis should come with a warning label.

[eeeefarm]

@JENGOSMonkey, Basenjis are like kids. They leave their stuff everywhere. Fortunately they don't usually play with Lego!

[elbrant]

@jengosmonkey I do hope you feel better!