When you are dealing with something that an animal is afraid of, the best approach is to find his "comfort" distance from the thing that scares him. A busy street makes this a bit more difficult, as you have to find a way to give him that "distance". If you have a car, maybe transporting him to a less busy area might make a good start. Perhaps a side street, where he is comfortably away from busy traffic. You could then walk toward the busy street, pausing as soon as you see some sign of anxiety, and retracing your steps just little until he is in his "comfort zone" again. Gradually…...with the use of bribery and rewards......ask him to approach closer to the scary stuff. Liberally reward him for being there, then retreat. The idea is to not force, let him decide when he is ready. If he feels he can retreat at any time, he will have more confidence. This approach may take awhile, but is less likely to create a permanent aversion. (it works well with spooky horses).
Clever Puppy?
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It has been raining most of the day here and L'Ox has been unenthusiastic to say the least about going outside. He has been doing really well on potty training and is starting to ask to go out but you could tell every time he actually got outside he was horrified by all the wet. So his remedy was to run to the edge of the covered porch and pee and rush back in. His dilemma was how to do the rest of his business without melting in the rain?
So while I was in the kitchen gathering up the dog dishes I hear a clatter and see a little puppy butt escaping into the garage through the cat door. I follow him out there only to find him pooping near the cat's litter box. I guess I should be glad that he seems to be using his brain for good rather than evil right now.
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What a clever pup…. can't wait to meet him this weekend for our puppy play day.... with a few adults to add some fun to the mix....
And I have to say, that we were well on our way to house trained pups... until this weekend...ggg they have taken 12 steps back.....
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Gooood puppy! Yesterday it was pouring here and Buddy went to the front door, I opened it and he ran out on the front lawn with the rain really coming down hard and stood there and pee'd for a minute and ran back in soaked. Gooood dog!
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For me, hearing that L'Ox used his head and went near the litter box is great. Might you want to try a second litter box just for him on rainy days? We have a cat door that leads to the garage. We currently have two litter boxes in there (we are a multi-cat family). When I get my basenji in the future, I plan on doing litter training so the box can be used in bad weather, just in case my b turns out to be finickity with inclement weather.
Sometimes, our animals show us what is best for them. We as humans just have to listen. That's how I feel.
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It has been raining most of the day here and L'Ox has been unenthusiastic to say the least about going outside. He has been doing really well on potty training and is starting to ask to go out but you could tell every time he actually got outside he was horrified by all the wet. So his remedy was to run to the edge of the covered porch and pee and rush back in. His dilemma was how to do the rest of his business without melting in the rain?
So while I was in the kitchen gathering up the dog dishes I hear a clatter and see a little puppy butt escaping into the garage through the cat door. I follow him out there only to find him pooping near the cat's litter box. I guess I should be glad that he seems to be using his brain for good rather than evil right now.
My little girl was like that but got out of the habit. She realized that going in the house was naughty (she wouldn't go on the toilet training mats we got her) and even though she hated her feet wet she went on the grass anyway and when she came inside she did the basenji thing and she licked it off her feet.
