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Walks and car trips

Behavioral Issues
  • TheMightyQuinnT

    My B Quinn is a little stinker. But he is at his worst if I take him with me while running around town. Everytime I stop to get out of the car he pushes his way to the door and tries to get out first. The best thing I have tried is a doggy seat belt but if left connected while I am out he chews the seat belt to shredds. I have tried a lot of things but as up for any suggestions. Also while taking a walk he goes crazy for cars passing by and if we pass a person he thinks everyone wants to pet him. For a little guy he sure is stong. I have gone from a regular collar to a harness to an antipull harness (which so far is the best)But he still pulls really hard. A friend suggested one of the spiked collars. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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  • WBLW

    I would try a gentle leader before a prong collar, their necks are way to sensitive and fragile for a prong collar. In fact I would NEVER use a prong collar on a basenji (or any dog IMO)

    As for the car, I don't know what type of car you have but I would suggest a crate if he is that riled up. If you can't put a crate in your car then best way is to desensitize him from you getting in and out of the car, you can do this by just sitting in your drive way, and getting in and out of the car with him, teach him the wait command so that he has to wait until you are ready for him to get out. And if he doesn't do anything while sitting just in the drive way, drive to the first stop sign, turn around and go back home and repeat the process of getting in and out, your neighbors may thing you're crazy, LOL, and it may take time, but have patients and stay calm. If you can use a crate I would still work on desensitizing him of getting in and out of the car and what is appropriate behavior. Use lots of praise and lots of treats.

    As for the seat belt, keep it on him when you are in the car, when you're not take it off him but leave his leash on him. If he is a leash chewer also try dosing it with Bitter Apple or something like that.

    Here are links to the gentle leader and bitter apple.
    Bitter Apple: http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=10575
    Gentle Leader: http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?ID=29

    Also want to add, the gentle leader is NEVER to be left on when not supervised, and there are many dogs that it can take a long time for them to learn to get used to it and tolerate it (some adjust quickly). And never is to be used as a form of punishment. Okay sorry I'm off my soap box now on that.

    Hope this all helps and can lead to a happier human and a not as naughty basenji

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  • QuercusQ

    I would suggest a crate for the car.

    Oh, and no to the prong collar for basenjis (sometimes good for other dogs, IMO). Try a Sensible harness (google it) or a Gentle Leader head collar for better control. And try some positive reinforcement training to teach him how to focus on you during the walk, instead of every passing thing in the environment.

    Good luck :)

    Andrea Walters

    Quercus Basenjis

    NW Ohio

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  • raye_hicksR

    @TheMightyQuinn:

    My B Quinn is a little stinker. But he is at his worst if I take him with me while running around town. Everytime I stop to get out of the car he pushes his way to the door and tries to get out first. The best thing I have tried is a doggy seat belt but if left connected while I am out he chews the seat belt to shredds. I have tried a lot of things but as up for any suggestions. Also while taking a walk he goes crazy for cars passing by and if we pass a person he thinks everyone wants to pet him. For a little guy he sure is stong. I have gone from a regular collar to a harness to an antipull harness (which so far is the best)But he still pulls really hard. A friend suggested one of the spiked collars. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    My female wants to also be a little crazy when a car goes by so I started stopping when a car is coming and I tell her to leave it and if she is good and stand still then I praise her. She is getting a lot better at this now as a car goes by we keep walking and I say leave it and them praise her after it passes. My last female was the same way I don't know if this is a female thing or what but my male is very good when cars go by.

    I have never been brave enough to leave my b's in my car to run into a store or anything I would be afraid I would return to a shredded car!

    rhicks![](images/smilies/rolleyes.png "Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)")

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  • lvossL

    Here are some links to the SENSE-ible Harness and the Easy Walk Harness.

    http://www.softouchconcepts.com/products/sense_ible_harness.html

    http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=74

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  • wizardW

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    My previous boy loved to chase cars also but I lived in an apartment complex with lots of "green" space where we could walk without being near the well traveled areas. There was also a 98 acre (I think that's the right amount) wooded area right next to the complex that was great fun (when it wasn't muddy). Very glad I don't live there anymore as those 98 acres are now a mall!! And the balcony that we had would have looked right to it. Can't even imagine all the basenji craziness from all the activity if we still lived there. Current boy really doesn't care too much about cars (thank-you previous owners, whomever you are) but he has still run a path in the back yard from running from side to side trying to watch the joggers/bike riders/even just walkers coming down the street…and they don't even need to have a dog with them, although its worse if they do. But he also chases all the squirrels that come to my hickory tree, the bunnies that (I think) live under one of my pines, the neighbor dog, etc.,etc. I'm not sure it can be completely stopped, its their nature, but it can be curtailed. Some good advise here. Good Luck!
  • bcraigB

    Digging in heels on walks

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    bcraigB
    We are now in an area that is covered in many dog training books and/or websites, so you are welcome to research this subject on your own. I think the leadership ideas are pretty much the same even though we are dealing with Basenjis, the issue is using the right technique for Basenjis. We had 4 sessions spread out over about 6 weeks with a positive reinforcement-based trainer. I don't think you have to use a trainer but it does really help. Each week we would have questions because almost nothing went smoothly but she always had ideas to help us get through. I would divide what we did into two categories–changes that we made in how we behaved around Ella, and obedience training (tricks and commands) that helped to strengthen our bond and reinforced out leadership position. The behavior changes are pretty easy to implement. The main ones for us were making sure we led the way out the door on walks and were the first to enter the door upon returning. Eventually we taught the "wait" command so that she will sit at the door and allow us to step outside before we release her. So she is calm and submissive in front of an open door before we walk out. That is huge. Sets the tone for the whole walk. We had to do a lot of body blocking while teaching this but eventually it worked. Treats are keys. We made an effort to eat our dinner before she is fed. Also, she had to sit and wait for her food. She is not given treats just for being cute or for having a curly tail. We are generous with treats but she has to do something (even just a "sit") to get one. She was so forlorn and sad for the first few months we had her we had created bad treating habits...making her see us a submissive to her. I think equally important was at the same time we began teaching commands. At this point all she knew was "sit" and that took a long time (a moth or two) to learn. With a trainer and using treats and a clicker we were able to teach about 6-8 commands in about 3-4 weeks. When Ella picked up on a new command and the excitement it generated, I really felt connected to her for the first time. And because I was the one issuing the commands it made me the pack leader. It gave me a way of controlling her behavior a little and getting her attention. All good things. We learned down, stay, touch, shake, wait, roll over (very tough), up, here and come (the hardest command for a B). The final piece of the puzzle is getting it to make a difference on a walk. Any trainer will tell you that the energy you bring to the dog will be reflected right back to you. We had gotten so stressed with this digging in of heels on walks that it gave bad energy to the walks. It is a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. You just need to have one good walk, or part of one good walk, and build on it. Relaxed shoulders, relaxed hand on the leash, a care-free gait, these are all things a dog will pick up on. As bad as the vicious cycle is when things are bad, they can turn around just as easy. One good walk begets another. One successful commands teaches another. Hope this helps. We were at a low point with our new dog when I wrote that post. She is far from perfect on walks but we have made huge progress.