So, I had a good training session with devil dog last night! trying to teach him to sit while we eat so he doesn't snatch food off our plates…. I had him sit on a blanket while I ate dinner. He?d get up and I?d make him sit back down on it. kept it up for about ? hour. He did pretty good. i'd give him a treat when he'd sit back down or stay for a while. He?d go back on command ?.not make me put him there.
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He proceeded to pee on the blanket an hour later??not sure if that was a pointed message but I?m thinking it was. Basenji?s are interesting creatures.

i'm in Covington.

Have you checked out Evergreen basenji club? http://www.evergreenbasenjiclub.org/

i've also done some lure coursing through Cascade Coursing Club (only saw a few Basenji's there though) http://www.cascadecoursing.org/

thank you, i'll try these things suggested. he has been destructive (one leather couch, a couple chair cushions, whatever is 8 inches from the edge of the counter)….but he's getting better. i have lots of toys but will invest in some more...the treat ones work great. and maybe give it a try leaving him out. i have an area he is free to roam, when i'm home and distracted, that i have gated off. i'm also trying to retrain him to use a litter box. we'll see how that goes (he was trained as a puppy when i got him, i just redirected him to the outside). he also still has accidents in the house (or purposefull at times). so i suppose i just need to get some good training in and things will be better. your comments relieve my guilt tremendously though..thank you

Lisa and Debra, thank you! this helps relieve some of my guilt. i've never had such an active dog before. he seems happy. well, except when i take away the sock he's chewing or tell him he can't have whats on my plate…lol. we're working on that!

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this but here goes. i'm feeling a lot of anxiety over my situation. i have a (almost) 2 year old male basenji, Tucker. When i brought him into the family i was married and had adult children at home to help me out with him. in the last year my life has changed drastically. i'm now divorced and my son has gone off to school. there is no one at home or close by that i can ask to let Tucker out during the day or if i can't get straight home from work. i leave at 6:30 a.m for work and don't get home until at the earliest 5:30. He has always been in a Pen during the day with breaks when my son would let him out or when my husband got home at 2:30. thats obviously changed now. As you know with basenji's i can't leave him out to roam the house. he has no interest in the yard and would probably escape anyway. so, leaving him in a kennel (one of those 5x5 wire play pens) for 11 hours seems awful to me. i take him to the dog park for an hour on as many nights as i can after i get home (3 out of 5??). and when i'm home of course he's out but we go to bed at 10. he does sleep with me though. and i've been trying to walk him for 20 minutes in the morning. So…my question and need for feedback is....am i being unfair to him by keeping him. i love him, but i don't believe in making an animal suffer for my own needs. would it be better to find him a home that isnt restricted by such a work schedule? i just don't see any outs. (i've looked at daycare...i can't afford it).

thanks for the input

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this but here goes. i'm feeling a lot of anxiety over my situation. i have a (almost) 2 year old male basenji, Tucker. When i brought him into the family i was married and had adult children at home to help me out with him. in the last year my life has changed drastically. i'm now divorced and my son has gone off to school. there is no one at home or close by that i can ask to let Tucker out during the day or if i can't get straight home from work. i leave at 6:30 a.m for work and don't get home until at the earliest 5:30. He has always been in a Pen during the day with breaks when my son would let him out or when my husband got home at 2:30. thats obviously changed now. As you know with basenji's i can't leave him out to roam the house. he has no interest in the yard and would probably escape anyway. so, leaving him in a kennel (one of those 5x5 wire play pens) for 11 hours seems awful to me. i take him to the dog park for an hour on as many nights as i can after i get home (3 out of 5??). and when i'm home of course he's out but we go to bed at 10. he does sleep with me though. and i've been trying to walk him for 20 minutes in the morning. So…my question and need for feedback is....am i being unfair to him by keeping him. i love him, but i don't believe in making an animal suffer for my own needs. would it be better to find him a home that isnt restricted by such a work schedule? i just don't see any outs. (i've looked at daycare...i can't afford it).

thanks for the input

@agilebasenji:

FYI - tea tree oil is great, however it is toxic to cat, so if you have cats, you may want to rethink (or at least not put it on the cat)

Good to know about the cats…thank you we do have 2.

thats what i've heard as well…10 weeks is acceptable.

Our Tucker is 11 weeks old and is relentless about biting. i know some is normal for puppies but he's constantly chewing on us and biting at the neck of our English bulldog. We can't seem to distract him or calm him or teach him not to. All the training sites say to stop play or yelp, he seems oblivious to that…just keeps trying to get at you or your feet etc. with a frenzy. we've tried wearing him out, which helps, but only lasts a short time.

any ideas?? especially with our bulldog.......we'd like to let them play, but the bulldog is losing his patience.

thank you