I want to train mine to do this too, but:
@Shaye's:
After a while, Shaye began ringing the bell all the time so she would be taken out, whether she needed to go or not, just to run around.
I could totally see mine doing this. Who's training who, I wonder…
Though there are not too many of them, Red Lion also accepts pets and if you join the Red Carpet Club they waive the pet fee when you stay. I stay there when I go to shows up near Eureka where there is not La Quinta.
The Red Lion in Eureka must have a steady stream of Basenji owners passing through, we spent the night there with the dogs just a few weeks ago on our way back from San Francisco.
In San Francisco itself we stayed at Hotel Triton - they have an open-door pet policy with no restrictions on breed, size, number or type of pets. We just gave the hotel the names of our Basenjis and our room was set up with a pair of huge dog beds, two bowls per dog (one full of kibble!), bottled water, and dog treats. Plus, they welcomed the dogs with a sign that remained up all week (and yes, that jar on the left of the photo does contain dog biscuits.) and were more than happy to empty out the minibar so we could store the raw food in there. The paperwork in the room also had lists of local doggie day cares too (which we didn't need as my employer's office building permitted dogs.)
The Triton is part of the Kimpton hotel chain, each of them has a similar pet policy. Their rates aren't the cheapest but there's no pet deposit (just a waiver you sign at check-in). I think that for the sheer convenience and for the way the dogs were treated it was well worth it.
What holds me back from traveling is that I don't want to put the dogs in the cargo hold of an aeroplane, and I can't drive everywhere (we have family on the east coast, and that's a very, very long drive.) I'd love to travel by rail, but Amtrak forbids non-service dogs on board (interestingly, where I grew up, they don't care about dogs on trains as long as they don't take up a seat.)
smharr4 - the ISBN no is 1-57954-057-0. There is also a web site which I've never checked out (don't know why) - www.petspartofthefamily.com.
I find it a very useful book, full of ideas for natural treatment of dogs and acts.
Yay, it's on Kindle… I think I just found my Christmas reading...
My 'Natural Health for Dogs' book recommends bilberries for eye health but also cites Cineraria to help reverse cataracts. I've no personal experience of either though. If you do have suvccess with a natural remedy please let me know.
Patty - do you have an ISBN for that book?
And as long as you brush their teeth the starch issue shouldn't be a problem. In addition to it being fourth on the list, it's listed as russet potato which means it has all of the water along with it (potato is about 80% water) and the overall "starch" content is probably pretty low.
Russet Potatoes have the highest starch content of any potato available, plus the starch content of potatoes can actually increase after cooking.
I'm not saying that potato starch is 'bad'. As scavengers I'm sure that dogs and their ancestors have survived by having potatoes as part of their diet every now and again, I just find it convenient that potatoes are fairly inexpensive to purchase on a food commodities market and it would be an easy way to turn any regular pet food into a 'grain-free' premium food. With that, given that potato starch promotes tooth decay (Roxy spent some of her early years in a puppy mill, the poor nutrition there has left her with few teeth and I want to keep her as healthy as I can), I'd rather feed mine the raw food.
Which is better in your opinion?? When I pick up my puppy I will be transitioning the food over to a higher quality food… any suggestions on the two listed? Good and bad experiences welcome, Thanks
We stopped feeding Roxy and Rocky dry kibble after a seminar on raw food diets at our local independent pet store. We learned that the 'Grain Free' food that we were feeding them was indeed free of grains, but in their place were other carbohydrates in the form of potato starches - there was no wonder Roxy wasn't losing weight, even though I was giving her less and less food. The Orijen Puppy food is the same thing. According to http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/puppyIngredients.aspx, the sixth ingredient is potatoes!
Potato starch is also a double-hitter. Not only does the dog's digestion system treat it the same way as grain, potato starch isn't washed away from the teeth as quickly as sugars (http://www.livescience.com/health/071106-bad-teeth.html) so will encourage tooth decay.
That's not to say the raw food diet is is going to be perfect. It can get messy (Rocky has a habit of picking up some of the food and wandering off with it, so he is supervised closely when eating), and we were treated to a mildly amusing story at the seminar of one dog burying a chicken back down the side of a sofa and leaving it for a few days. On the plus side, you can feed puppies, adults and senior cats and dogs the same food, you just vary the number or nuggets you feed them (they're all pre-weighed chunks of food that are flash-frozen and then bagged.)
All of that being said, I've never fed my two Orijen puppy food before, so it could be perfectly healthy for them, but we have a new puppy arriving in the new year, he'll be on the Nature's Variety Instinct as soon as he arrives.
Another raw food manufacturer, Primal, has variety sample packs (which is how we started out). If you're thinking of raw food, try one of those to see if there's a particular flavor your puppy likes - our dogs like beef, one of the cats likes chicken.
On a day when the roads are flooded out, and even when you manage to get to your walking trails you discover that they're under water, what is a basenji to do?
We are just getting hit today with that very cold air coming down from the Northwest. It's interesting the way the different Basenjis, like people tolerate hot and cold. Now Buddy, 28 lbs will get very hot on hikes when temps are in the low 70s and has to stop here and there in the shade to cool off. He likes the cold. Wet weather is no problem either.
Roxy doesn't seem to mind the cold, but she does hate the wet. She's a chunky 25 lbs (but is on a diet) and she's fine to run down the steps of our back deck when it's time to use the bathroom. She also doesn't do too well in the heat of summer. I expect she'll do better when she slims down a little.
My previous 2 did not like the cold, had thinner fur and would shiver in the house at temps of 65. My first tri Basenji had no problem with the cold like Buddy I think because of the thicker fur. Hot weather just does Buddy in.
That sounds like Rocky. He's first to get to the back door when they need to go outside, but once outside in the snow he hangs around on the deck by the door until Roxy comes bounding outside. He's also usually the first one back.
Steven, what brand of jackets are those that have an opening for a harness?
Those are the Lands End Dog Squall jackets: http://www.landsend.com/pp/DogSquallJacket~213057_-1.html
Those look like some pretty cozy coats you have on your Bs. It's pretty cold up your way and that cold is headed down our way here in the San Francisco area in the next day or two. There's actually a prediction of some snow.
The Bs had doggie sweaters and their jackets on, but even then Rocky was shivering.
My wife and I are headed to San Francisco this weekend, and the Bs are coming with! I was hoping the weather would be a bit better down south!
Your cat is showing her displeasure at the arrival of your new dog in the only way she knows how. Once she gets used to Cambria, she'll stop it.
Cats respond to positive reinforcement, so when she starts to re-use the litter tray again, be sure to treat her. If you catch her in the act, then use a loud noise (clapping your hands and/or a stern 'No') should work to deter her from urinating inappropriately. Don't punish her after the fact, even if it's a few seconds after as she'll learn to fear you.
Of course, your cat could also be sick and is trying to tell you so. Cats hide sickness extremely well, so the urination could be her saying "Hey human, I'm sick!" My youngest cat held his bladder problems so well that the only way I knew he was sick was because he was sitting in the litter tray and refusing to come out.