How long have you had this baby? Just nine weeks old he is not potty broke sounds like he is trying but he is just a baby. IMO if he likes laying on floor I would not change a thing if it make him pee then no towel. Good luck post a picture keep us up to date.
Rita Jean
I agree with Rita Jean.
I doubt he's exhibiting marking behavior. He's too young for that. Leg lifting is learned behavior and usually doesn't present until adolescence. Ms. RitaJean has the right idea.
Okeedokee, thanks. We've just had him a few days, Rita Jean, but he's been doing so good with only peeing on the puppy pads that I guess we thought we had a magic pup. 
There's a picture of him in the "Paco the Pup" thread on the "Show of Your Dog" board.
Again, thank you!
Okeedokee, thanks. We've just had him a few days, Rita Jean, but he's been doing so good with only peeing on the puppy pads that I guess we thought we had a magic pup.
Again, thank you!
He is a magic pup. Towel = pee pad. Goooood dog!
When he pees inappropriately make sure that the spot is 'neutralised' A basenji can smell pee even on washed bedding. I'm sure that there are lots of products in the USA to take away any smells. Vinegar is very good to spray on the other spots such as the floor or crate to disguise the scent of pee.
He's a very good boy to use his pee pads. I've never needed to use them but I understand they are very good for training.
Nobarkus: lol, guess so! Didn't quite think of it that way
Patty: Thank you so much for that! I think it might be part of the reason for his occasional "accident"
When a puppy that age wakes up from a nap it normally has to empty its bladder right away. Start taking him outside when he wakes up and that will help prevent acidents. Puppies also have to empty their bladder after a bit of energetic play. Also, pups that age do not give much in the way of signals that they have to go. They just squat and do it so it is up to you to guess when the pup will need to go and get him out before it happens.
Good luck with your new puppy.
There is a liquid enzyme sold in pet stores that will neutralize any left over smell. I had a cat many moons ago who was litterbox illiterate and used the stuff fairly regularly. It never damaged my rugs. I moved to a big place in Oregon and she became a happy outdoor cat until her demise from old age.
We found this stuff called "Clean & Green". It is amazing.
We don't have carpet, but we use the Wood & Tile Dog, and the Concrete & Grout Cat.
There have been times where I spray it on a stain, and come back 3 minutes later, and can't even find the stain anymore.
Hello all!
I really want Paco to think of his crate as his resting place during the day if he gets tired, I think that might not happen though seeing as he seems to think of it as a place to be "trapped" when we're sleeping or not home.
This takes time. Your puppy isn't going to like being alone or being away from you, he was surrounded by his littermates and possibly other dogs since birth, so it will be somewhat of a shock when he's left alone early on. It's good to here that you're playing "crate games", that will go a long way towards making him feel comfortable in the crate. Early on, when my puppy fell really sound asleep, I just lifted her gently and placed her in the crate. And trust me, you have to live through the screaming at night when you put him in there (hopefully with a yummy treat). My puppy is a year old and will willingly go in her crate but still whine or scream when she is alone, but she's fine in it when she is near our other dog (who is also in his crate). She's fine in a crate in the car alone, but I think that is from going to all of the dog shows.
Good luck, it's just going to take some time!
Thanks for all the cleaning tips, guys - I really appreciate it!
And thanks, Nemo. I do give him treats, but of course, they don't last the whole night. 
He seems to be accepting the fact that that is where he'll be during bedtime - heard hardly a peep out of him last night! Then again, we had exercised him thoroughly before turning in for the night (strategic! no?).
Now he's becoming more of the handful we expected him to be - demanding play at most hours of the day, and often chewing our stuff instead of his or pulling on our pant legs to get our attention. We're trying to keep up with him without reinforcing the negative behaviour; what a balancing act!
Zelda is just a little bit older than your boy, so a lot of our solutions are fresh in mind:
We work pretty aggressively on training that refocuses some of the energy and needs behind some of the behaviors. We taught "Touch" first thing. We hold out our left hand and say touch! And as soon as Zelda touched (or even close) the palm of our hand, we clicked and treated with the other hand. So as soon as she started pulling and nipping on pant legs, we had a thing that she was learning to do, and it was a decent distraction.
Now we are working on Trade – when she has one toy, we say Trade! and exchange it for another -- with a treat, of course.
The thing we are trying to focus on is distracting her from the stuff she shouldn't be doing She LOVES training sessions. Yummy treats and fun puzzles.
My sister (a basenji breeder) taught me to crate when the puppy: can't be watched, is tired, or... is driving you batty. It worked with our first basenji, Curie, and so far so good with Zelda. So our methods that I can think of off the top of my head: distract, refocus, crate if you get frustrated. In any 3 hour period at Zelda's age, she is in the crate for an hour or so, outside with one of us for 20 minutes, playing and training the rest. At 10 plus weeks, she self-entertains for about 15 minutes at a time, but it is already stretching. We use bully sticks because they smell and taste better than furniture and remote controls. (They smell HORRIBLE to us.) She has never yet been unsupervised.
Congrats on your new baby. He is adorable. Basenjis are amazing creatures.
Thanks for all of that, listeme! We're working on "leave it" and "drop it" (similar to trade, for now, hoping he'll start dropping without trading eventually). Leave it was more out of necessity, lol, while drop it he seems to find fun.
I am truly convinced that he is a magic puppy today! Came home after having to leave him home alone in the crate for 5 hours (I felt horrible!) and expected to have a huge mess in the crate to clean up. Instead, there was a puddle of pee on the kitchen floor just OUTSIDE of the crate, and nothing inside! Either he was on his hind legs or learned to lift a leg, but either way - awesome!!!
