Housebreaking Setback

Basenji Training
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  • BettawhippetB

    Kiora hasn't had much trouble with accidents in the house…with one exception...when it is raining she will only go outside if I make her. So when it does I keep a close eye on her keeping her leashed to me and taking her outside frequently. This weekend however was terrible. Last night it was raining and I took her outside right after her dinner, and then agian two hours later right before going to bed. I didn't just put her outside, I went out with her and made sure she went and praised her afterwards. Then I went to bed her with me and half an hour later she peed in my room! So I got up and cleaned it...then stood outside with her for half an hour...nothing...she had already emptied herself in my room. So I brought her in and put her in her crate for the rest of the night. In the morning I it had stopped raining but I went outside with her because the ground was still wet. Then I ate my breakfast, fed the dogs, and went to shower and get ready for work, leaving the backdoor open just in case....Well after I was ready for work, I came back into the living room...And she had pooped on the floor...not een 1/2 an hour after I had taken her out! So I cleaned it up took her outside...agian nothing...she was done. I had to leave for work but I left my brother to watch her and told him to keep her on the teaching lead and take her out in two hours. Well when I came home my brother had left for work, she was crated like she was supposed to be...and she had peed in the living room agian! So i cleaned it up and took her outside where she eliminated and I praised her. Then i took the dogs for their walk, came back home, Keoke and Kiora played a little bit, I did a short training session, and then fed them. Right after I fed them I took Kiora outside and she eliminated and i praised her. Then I went and took care of my fish and when I came back in the living room I caugt Kiora crouching to pee. I said "Uh-Uh!" scooped her brought her outside and shut the door I walked out to our potty spot and set her down....And she ran over to the door pushed it open (It is a sliding door) ran inside and finished peeing. :eek: I didn't get to her in time to stop her. This has been the most frusterating day in the history of me housebreaking dogs that I have ever had. And today has been very sunny and the ground dried up. This is a major setback in a run of zero accidents, previously the only problems she had was when it rained and since I took her out regularly during rainy weather that wasn't a problem either.And i did use Nature's Miracle when I cleaned up her accidents. Am I going to have to start treating her like a young puppy who doesn't know anything about housebreaking? Keeping her leashed to me and crated and taking her out all the time? I really hate to do that. She is very active and likes to run around the house and yard and plays with Keoke frequently. Unlike a puppy who plays un short bursts and then sleeps alot she has constant steady energy throughout the day. I just can't believe that last one.......She opened the door and WENT INSIDE TO PEE! I have never had anything like that happen to me before. It is almost like she has figured out that she can get away with peeing in the house...and so willl. I have never had this problem with her before...Any advice?

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  • ciarasmomC

    I don't know … it sounds like you're doing the right things and had a bad day? You might want to keep her leashed to you for a day or so, crate her a bit more for a short while. If it continues, you might give her the benefit of the doubt and see if she has a bladder infection.

    Brenda Phillips

    at home with Ciara and Lucy in Renton, WA

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  • QuercusQ

    I can't remember how old she is, but it is really common for dogs to have a major regression in house training between the ages of 4 mos to 6 mos…I don't know why, but most of my dogs have done this, and many of my clients have experienced the same thing. Usually it seems to last for about a week, then they go back to their normal housetrained status. But to me, it sounds like you are doing everything just right...keep doing what you are doing. It couldn't hurt to take her in and check for a urinary tract infection if the behavior doesn't change in a week or so.

    Andrea Walters

    Quercus Basenjis

    NW Ohio

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  • BettawhippetB

    Kiora is 11 months old, but I also have no idea what kind of housebreaking training she recieved before i got her. I will stick to a strict puppy regimin…and if nothing changes by the end of the week have her checked out at the vets.

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  • jessi76J

    I agree a vet checkup is a GREAT idea

    11mths old… sounds like Kiora is in the "idiot phase". that glorious time around 10-12mths when they test you at any given moment, and also seem to "forget" training.

    when my dog was this age, I had to remind myself daily "I am smarter than the dog!"...

    shut the door so she can't open and get back in to pee... limit her freedom in the house (if she's going to muck up the livingroom she doesn't get to be in there off leash).. if she's peeing in your room, then she doesn't get access until she learns to respect it (I'd crate her all night, not just after she's had an accident)

    good luck! I hope it's just a training issue, not a health issue.

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  • youngandtiredY

    My Sahara had a hard time getting the idea that we pee outside and not in the living room. She had this special rug that she loved to soil, so I closed the door to the living room. She would not pee or anything in the den, I also got a pet door which seemed to help, just make sure it is closed good. I even put the cover on it a few times to make her stay out long enough to get busy with potting. It took patience on my part as I have not had a housedog in about 20yrs. She is completely housebroken now, I was told to just stay with it and she would get the idea all of a sudden, and that is exactly what happened. It is possible that she is marking her territory like a cat against the other dogs. Also she might just be uncomfortable with the new surroundings right now. Stay the course and she will get it, I Promise!!!:D

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  • tanzaT

    Yes it can be fustrating… but set backs are normal... really... the thing is, unless you "catch" them in the act... there is no point in even having any reaction at all... just clean it up... and go back to basic Housebreaking 101... That said if you do catch them in the act.. then you can make a big deal over "No"... "outside"..... and of course when it rains, makes it twice as hard... but if you are consistent they figure it out...

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

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  • AmberedA

    fender was partially potty trained, but he seemed to forget all of his manners when he moved in. i just went through potty training my son, so i figure it cant possibly be as hard! but if it werent for all my freshly learned patience, i would imagine i would be very frustrated! on a side note, everything else is going great. he seems very comfortable here, isnt trying to bolt the door, and adores my little boy. he wags his little tail when we come home and gives us a little baroo. it makes cleaning up all the little accidents worthwhile :)

    ![](images/smilies/rolleyes.png "Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)") why, yes, i have a very full life-full of little catastrophes!

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  • ChaseandZahrasmomC

    I have to tell you guys that I have had a hard time with Zahra getting the potty training thing. Everytime that we thought she was trained she would just pee in the living room or you would step on a spot in the kitchen. We even took her to the vet to see if it was a UTI or not.

    After reading this post I just went back to basics and you guys made me realize that I am not alone, that there are others with the same housebreaking problem. I am glad for this forum.

    Things are getting better but I don't want to say that out loud because I don't want to step in a puddle in the kitchen when I walk in there! LOL!

    Jenn

    Chase and Zahra's Mom

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  • jys1011J

    Our B's are a little older Topaz 2yrs and C3PO is 3yrs so I've have the housebreaking issues of an adult.

    C3PO is older & he always goes outside just on HIS terms. I'd like him to go in a certain spot but he does so when he feels like it otherwise he'd rather do it on our walk/runs. Is this ok??

    Topaz much bigger challenge she stopped doing pee in the house but now refuses to go in the designated potty spot. She ALWAYS goes potty during our walk/runs. The prob with her is that if it's raining she won't go at all!!???

    Should we only let them go potty in the designated spot?? Is it ok for them to go during their walks?? Are we sending the right message???

    What do I do when it rains/snows???

    Basenji Mom of C3PO & TOPAZ

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  • listemeL

    My new boy, Will, is also 3, and it's taken us (me and him) a little while to figure out the routine. I think he used to go out on a tie-out or something. Curie has always done her business on walks, but he thought this was a bit ridiculous. Walks were for squirrel chasing and hydrant checking! But a few months into it, he seems to have gone along with the plan.

    I guess my advice would be to figure out what works for you and them. There is no rule that says they have to pee in one spot in the yard or that they have to only pee on walks or that they have to wear coats or not wear coats or wear funny hats. :)

    What works for YOU?

    (The rain is a drag – I just end up standing out there in the rain with them saying mean things in a nice voice until they get it over with.)

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    @Lisa67: I have a 10 week old puppy that I'm crate training. She's doing pretty well but does have accidents because, as I mentioned in a previous post, no one in my family watches her as closely as they should when I'm at work. Fortunately, I work nights 7pm-7am (3 night/week) so she's asleep most of the time that I'm gone. She does make it outside the vast majority of the time. When she does go in the house she usually goes on my older dog's bed. I guess because it's absorbant. So, I see a lot of talk here about litterboxes. I have never heard of litterbox training a dog and I'm curious how it works. I don't really like the idea of the her peeing or pooing in the house at all, but since I'm having this problem I think its better than letting her go on the dog bed. Will it slow down the housebreaking at all? Thanks!!! If she is peeing on your other dogs bed, I would first look at the reason being she is wanting to be dominate over the other day and "marking" the bed. Consider this: I sent a puppy home with an experienced Basenji person (except it had been quite a while since they had a puppy around)… they had a 10yr old son, Stephen. The second night the puppy (Crystal) got on his bed and peed.... They called me cause they thought that was pretty funny, I said, she is marking his bed, she wants to climb the social ladder and be above him. They didn't believe me.... After she did it 4 more times, for 4 nights in a row, up went the gate so that she couldn't get in that room.... and very, very few times did she ever have an accident in the house She was 9wks when they took her home.
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    I use bells with my B. He learned to use them in like 2 days. Since then, I've only had "accidents" when I ignore him b/c I'm busy. Sometimes he rings them just to go out to play, but other times he rings them when he REALLY has to pee. The best thing is, they are portable so when I go visiting with him he always knows how to tell me he has to pee.
  • R

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    I got my pup when he was 7 months and he was sort of house broken. When I took him to the vet I found out that part of his house breaking issues was that he had a bladder infection. If you continually have problems house breaking (like very frequent urination or peeing in the crate) you may want to have your vet test for a bladder infection just to make sure. Another problem I discovered was that he didn't know how to tell me he had to pee. I hung bells on the door and by having him ring them every time we went out I taught him to tell me when has to pee. It has been great. Some times he rings them just to go out and play, but mostly he rings them when he really has to go out. Now the only "accidents" he's had is when I ignore the bells b/c I am busy. (he literally peed all over the living room the other night because I ignored him) One other suggestion, make sure you use an enzyme cleaner on any "accident" spots. These really eat away the reminants of the feces/pee so that your b will not recognize the area as an ok place to go to the bathroom Other helpful tips I got was to be sure you use the same door when you take your b out and take it to the same part of the yard. Give your b LOTS of praise for going outside (and a treat if it is food motivated).