Posts made by Shyla

Hes 4 months So our puppy is teething that would explain all the bitting and chewing problems we have been having.

Thank You so much this explains alot I didn't even think about that he might be loosing teeth.

I know I haven't been on latley life can be crazy busy with 4 children, a puppy, and a husband

I have a question and I figured mabey someone her would know the answer. Today ouyr puppy, Guru, was chewing on paper (he loves to do this) and we noticed his gums werre bleeding. Is this normal? Why would his gums bleed? I figure he will probably have to go to the vet but I wanted to ask all of you wise Basenji owners

Thank You

@Vanessa626:

Chance is 50-50 when it comes to indoors vs. outdoors. Sometimes I have to pull him outside to get him to go potty and other times he just runs right up to the door waiting. Who knows what a Basenji is thinking :rolleyes:

How is Guru's potty training going? Any better? I found this Bissel steam cleaner from Target and it works great for picking up nasty puppy messes and it gets rid of the smell so they will not go back to the same spot. It was under 60 bucks! You might want to pick one up.
~Vanessa

I need that what was it called?

His newest thing ins sniffing the litter box and peeing just outside it:eek: Or he will poop on the futon in the living room. He just peed on a pillow my dd was laying on out there :mad: lucky it was a huge pillow and didnt get her head (it was at the opposite end). So he is outside for the moment. Off to go clean

Oh how scary. Our puppy just stares at the door (like hes thinking about it) the kids opened the front door today and I came into the room and he was just siiting under my desk staring at the door. He hates outside though and would rather stay in all day.

Here is how I see it. Puppies and dogs are a commitment just like a child. You need to commit to your puppy that you will love him no matter what and take care of him. What everyone is saying is soo true my B is a toddler looking to explore and investigate. It is my fault if he gets into something not his. Yes I will be one mad mommy but I am at fault. My children have learned that if they leave their toys out and Guru (our chews them up the toy goes in the trash. Guru doesnt get in trouble he saw something that looked like fun and wanted to play.

I also have a six month old and our puppy does great with him but I am right by my son everytime Guru is near him to make sure there are no problems and keep both puppy and baby safe from harm. I have spent the entire time since we got Guru training my children and him to be good and gentle with each other. I know it will take time but I am commited to Guru and he is a part of my family. Each person in my family has a part in taking care of Guru. My oldest who is six is teaching him tricks, my 5 year old helps feed him and makes sure he has water, my 3 year old gives him treats and puts him outside when we go places, my 6 month old has given him treats and pet him. Me and my husband clean up after him and do the major training and correction. Mabey you should try getting into a class to train your B.

I wouldnt leave the baby alone with the puppy until he is good with the baby just like I would never leave my 3 year old alone with the baby while I go potty. He might do something he shouldnt because he doesnt know what is okay and what is not.

I hope this doesnt offend you but that it helps you.

Thank You I can't wait to have some time to read it all

@Quercus:

Basically, my way of training (not that it is unusual) steers away from the older way of thinking that people must constantly let their dogs know they are in charge. We teach our dogs how we want them to behave gently, and set them up for success.

For instance if one of the dogs is doing something I don't want them to, I usually try to train a replacement behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior. So, if the dogs are hovering around my preschooler as he is eating. I train them to sit on the couch and wait until he is done before they can get up.

I don't know…I guess I kind of have everything set up so they rarely get into trouble, they all have a nice strong "leave it" ..so I don't have go around saying "No....no....no....stop that" If they do have or do something they shouldn't I actually get up, and remove it.

If they need a correction, it is much more effective, IMO to grab their scruff and give them a little shake and growl. Though I rarely do this with my dogs, and I would hesitate to suggest anyone try that with their dog, if they don't know how they might react.

Does that answer your question? If you check out trainers such as Patricia McConnell, Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson...some of those folks, those are the people I trust.

And, strangely...our Ivy always ate the hard plastic part of the binkie...so even if she just had it for a milisecond she would make the plastic part scratchy!

Yep Guru chews on the hard part even though I did once find it in his mouth like you would see in a babies mouth like he was sucking on it.

@Vanessa626:

When I met you and the kids they looked like they really enjoyed him. :o
We plan on signing up with Aila. We used her last year and she was great! I'll get her schedule soon and forward it to you. It will be evening classes most likely but we'll figure it out.
How bout those binki's. Any better?
Chance loves feet too! I will be sitting down and he will just nustle right up against me and fall asleep. Its quite funny at times. He will just lick my pants over and over. Who knew they tasted so good :rolleyes:

I am going to invest in a pee post. I don't know if it will work but heck…better than nothing. Right now Chance really likes going potty by our front door :eek: No matter how hard I try to get him to go further away from the house he just pulls and pulls right back to the same spot. Maybee this will help keep him in an area.

Well are binks are all gone the last one ds threw out of his car seat today when we went out to lunch so not a worry anymore lol. Pee post I've never heard of that.

I was thinknig an evening class as well I dont want to take the kiddos with me, Im not that crazy . So yeah send it to me

@Vanessa626:

Thats Great! How are the kids and Guru doing together?
BTW..thanks for the 411 on the collars at petsmart. It fits Chance purfect! He constantly scratches his neck though. I think it is because his "special spot" is right there. If you just touch it his foot goes crazy
We are going to be signing up for puppy school soon..you should too! Having another B in the class would be great!!! Double Trouble :rolleyes:

We plan on signing up for classes with Guru soon Im just not sure when let me know when you are and Ill seer if I can get in the same class That would be fun

The kids are doing great with Guru he seems to really love them. My oldest is teaching him fetch lol it is so fun to watch. My 3 year old thinks Guru is his playmate. Gurus safe place has become under my desk or at my feet. So I often have wet toes (he loves toes) hes trying to get them right now but I'm trying to hide them.

Oh and we are trying to train him to stay away from the diapers his newest curiousity (we cloth diaper) He loves to get the baby during diaper changes (Its almost like he is trying to give the baby a bath) Sammy just laughs and laughs. I moved my dipes so Guru cant get them anymore except when I leave one out (than I bonk myself in the head, lucky for me he hasnt ruined one yet.)

that is great to hear. He sounds just like one of my children fighting bed time. give it a week and he'll test you just dont give in I just got our B going poop in his box using tricks I use with my human kids LOL.

@Basenji_Boy:

I have one of dogs licking the screen somewhere too.:D

Oh I wanna see My dh wants that as his screensaver

@Vanessa626:

I would love to be able to trust him with just putting a soft bed in our bedroom but he will get into everything and try to jump up in our bed. Sleeping w/ us is not an option. I understand that he just wants to be close to us but I got to get him crate trained/potty trained.

we dont trust our B either. He is leashed and can not go anyplace but in his bed (dh rigged it up so its working) . I totally understand the crate and potty training Oh and someone gave us an idea on dealing with his fears and its working so mabey this will help you too. If he is afraid of something take him to what he is afraid of and (have who ever is the alpha in the house do this) when he starts to whine say "sh" firm an point at him and do it every time he whines. It really works it has something to do with the alpha showing him that it is okay. This will pass and soon you will be getting sleep again

Mabey you could keep him up during the day. Especially for about 5 hours before you go to bed and keep him very active. We do this with Guru and it seems to work. He doesnt sleep in a crate though just next to our bed leashed and in a nice soft bed (we couldnt get him calm in the crate). If you want you can bring him over during the day and I gaurentee he will be tired by night

@Quercus:

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He most likely has something called "substrate confusion" he consciously, or subconsciously thinks that is the place to go. You might try making it unavailable to him...place a box over it, or something to keep him from being able to go there, until a new habit replaces the old one.
Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that he is doing this on purpose to be naughty, or spite you...dogs rarely (and I do mean RARELY) do that. They have their reasons, and we don't always know what they are...but it isn't likely that he wants to make you angry; particularly at his age...he is just confused.
I did the same thing with Ivy and binkie one day....I couldn't get to may camera fast enough, and the moment passed...but it was sooo cute! yet, irritating

LOL that is too funny. My parents dog has never even had any intrest in a binky.
Anyhow... I dont get mad at him I tell him firmly No and put him outside while I clean it. By the time I am done he is sitting by the back door begging to be let in and I let him back in. Oh and the time I covered the spot he pooped right next to it. the ppl who lived here before us had a dog and I keep wondering if that might be the reason Guru wants to go there. I just dont know how to get him to go either in his litter box or outside. he is so determined to poop there. should I put his litter box there? he does pee in his litter box (the breeder litter box trained all her pups, we are trying to outside train him but will live with the litter box until we can do so. Any ideas on this would also be appriciated ) Thanx

@Quercus:

He is pretty young to train him to stay away from irresistable things. You just have to watch him every minute…that will solve the potty training issues too! You can start to teach him a "leave it" command, but there are specific steps...you can't just start yelling leave-it or NO and expect him to understand what that means.

My advice is buy some more binkies and watch the puppy every minute. Each time he gets a binkie, whap yourself over the head for not keeping your eye on him One of our dogs, Ivy, LOVED binkies....even though she has a very strong "Leave-it" behavior, she still would wait until an unprotected binkie was left where she could reach it, and grab one every chance she got. We went thru a lot of them. By the time our son was done with them, they had kind of lost their thrill for her.

As far as the pooping on the carpet...I would be amazed if he wasn't having some accidents at his age. House training takes an average of about two months, IME (from the time you bring the pup home). Some take longer, some get it right away. But you should expect accidents at this age, even if you are watching him every second. When you can't watch him, he should go into his crate (or in his case, X-pen if he is still freaking out in his crate)

thats what has amazed me about this pup it isnt an accident. He can hold it all night and never has had an accident since we got him. We keep a gate up normally to keep him away from this spot but the second it goes down he goes to the spot and poops(when no one is looking of course). It is purposeful he holds his poop for that spt to be availible for him. Sneaky little pup. I understand the bink it is just so fustrating (even though I couldnt help but laugh at him yesterday he had it in his mouth like a baby it was so funny and cute I almost took a picture but than new I didnt want to okay this behavior) He such a good puppy in almost everything else I just dont know why he has these obsessions with this one corner(infront of our coat closet) and the pacifier. Of course he is better behaved than my human pups :rolleyes:

Okay our B, Guru, has an obsession about pacifiers. My youngest still uses one and Guru is very careful when taking it from the baby but he waits and watches than goes for it. It is driving me crazy. He chewed one to bits this morning and now I onluy have one left and odnt want to keep buying them because my puppy loves them. I am just so fustrated that he cant resist. We have trained him to stay out of the trash and so far he is doing great with that and staying away from cords. Two things he is refusing to be trained on grrr. The pacifier is not his and that he cant poop on the carpet. He keeps going in the same spot no matter how well I clean it, what product I use, I even cought him in the act and tried to stop him he didnt care. Some one please tell me how to get him to stop obsessing over the pacifier (he will even follow the baby around) and how to stop the pooping inside. Thank You

@parkersmom82:

I have heard corn is bad for cats and dogs, but look on any food bag and you see it usually as the first ingredient. Does anyone know of a food that doesnt contain corn?

there are a few different options. Kirkland brand I believe does not contain corn, Nutro natural does not ( I think that is what it is called it is one of the nutros this is what we use) there are more just talk to someone at your pet store and they should be able to help you. Treats were harder to find but we found over ten options and bought 4 different kinds to try one of them he hates one hes okay with one he likes and the peanut butter ones he LOVES!!! HTH

@parkersmom82:

I was reading in another thread about bad foods. Quick question about the hot dog comment. Hot dogs are bad for dogs? Any other random foods that are bad, besides chocolate of course.

From what I have read you should avoid anything with corn and dairy for dogs

We put a treat in there and he does go in it on his own but the second we shut the door he freaks out and is jumping all over the place and poos everywhere (it was even on the roof of the crate and the bars) We had to go someplace today we couldnt take him so we put his crate outside and him (he pooped right infront of the door) but other than that he did okay I just dont think I could leave him out there if it was raining. So I dont know what to do with him when we are out and would love to be able to use his crate without having to deal with poop

Thank You everyone for your help I really appriciate it.

@abby_basenji:

How long do you leave him for? Abby used to until my mom started coming over to let her out at lunch now she only pees. I don't know if she will ever stop peeing in her cage, I think she does it cuz she is upset, so we devised a way to keep her off the bottom and put a peepee pad under it so she isn't laying in it. Hope this helps.

I left him for less than 30 min to drop my dd off at school. Once he was in there for less than 10 min another time he was in there about 15 min everytime he has gone in there he has pooped unless it is open.