Basenji Training

When I first started leash training our pup he pulled like crazy (still does at times). I tried the gentle lead collar and it worked. The only thing is that you can't leave it on him because he will find a way to chew through it. He will paw his face until he gets it off…BUT while walking him he does great. I don't use it all the time because IMO the dog needs to learn not to pull. We alternate between a regular leash and the "head gear".

I've had to retrain a pug and a chihuahua not to bite me when clipping their nails. The pugs' nails were left to grow and ended up growing into the pads of the foot. The vet wanted to put the dog to sleep to trim the nails. She now lets me trim the nails-with a dremel-without trying to bite. The Chihuahua was put under to trim it's nails before I had it. It took me six weeks to just touch it's feet, but after that we were able to move very quickly and cut it's nails within a few weeks. It does take a lot of time-but it's worth it.

How fun! WTG Willy! I wish I had time to get Duke into this or agility of sorts. I don't have any time, but I know he'd make me proud like your Willy.

o.k just printed ur posting and will study this carefully…trying to leash train champ...wish me luck. Ready to put a leash on myself and have him walk me for a change..lol

great news. I know for myself the concret hurts my knees but my concern was Champs. Great the running will continue.

@mhergom: Hello, I have an eight-month female, She is peeing at least 5th times per day. Many times she waits t o be back home to make pee. I do not know what to do I am getting crazy with pees I had nightmares Thanks in advance for your help If she is not spayed, she may be in season and they do pee lots more (marking behaviors)…. and this can and does start before you even might see bleeding. 5 times a day is not that much really....

@ZenGrrrl: Hi Pat … I've never done lure coursing before, but would like to try it out with my B-boy. We're in Los Angeles; any recommendations on the closest coursing location(s)? ~ Lori ~ If you check ASFA (www.asfa.org) and AKC (www.akc.org) you can find were trial are being held… also Lisa might chime in here and give you a PM to her Mom that lives in So. Cal and courses quite a lot.

My advice besides the crate training is to empty him before you leave. Make time to go on a short walk until he goes potty before you leave. My dogs sometimes will poop three times on a short walk. They actually strain to get everything out of them to mark as much as the neighborhood as they can. Our female even backs up and pees on trees. If the he is empty & maybe give him a chewy to keep him busy, and a really nice blanket to sleep on. They love snuggling certain things. He's going to have a hard time pooping/peeing in the house if he has nothing inside of him. [image: P1020271.jpg]

Sorry I didn't back sooner I was out of town for the weekend. I'll look for some other sites, my problem is I have four different computers at home I use and each one has different favotires LOL. I know somewhere I have a site that lists a varity of different ones. Here's some more sites http://www.kristalas.com/leads/525adjustablelead.htm http://www.kristalas.com/leads/2125021adjustable.htm http://www.dogdishsupply.com/index.cfm/fa/subcategories.main/parentcat/23104/subcatid/54526 http://www.prestonleashes.com/6WayEuropeanLead.htm (picture doesn't show right leash and it's a new zealand site, but I have a rogz multi purpose leash and its great, very durable) http://www.furrkids.co.nz/shop/SHOP+DOG/Leads+&+Harnesses/ROGZ+Multipurpose+Lead.html http://www.genuinedoggear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GDG&Category_Code=dog_multi_leash

@Vanessa626: Last night I was able to get Chance to sit there right in front of his food bowl and not touch it until I gave him the command to do so..He waited 4 min! It was so cute..He kept looking at me, back at the food, back at me and then finally sat all the way down and took a big breath as if to say fine. Hahahaha! I do believe my dog can learn something :rolleyes: SUPER….!!!! That is great..... you are really making progress and I would dare say you have gotten a handle on an attitude problem very early... way to go....

I think that bedding is great and they love it. I throw mine in the washer when ever I bathe the dogs.

Many, many years ago, when my boyfriend at the time and I got our first basenji, I suggested to BF that we try a shock collar to keep him from escaping when I forgot to close the garage door or backyard gate. BF promptly agreed wholeheartedly–thought it was a fantastic idea--but he suggested that I wear the collar so that I would get shocked anytime I left open a door or gate....hahahahaha. Needless to say, we never did get a shock collar.....and I am very, very dependable now about closing doors and gates:)

That's when you know you've accomplished something- when they look at YOU and not the treat. Miles still has some work. Lexi is pretty flawless. She learned it from our Dobie. ;) It just takes consistency. And to be pretty stern when they "mess up"… although most of the time I just had to laugh. Especially after Miles would snatch it and then flop over. :)

She is obsessed with those furry gray things and hunting would help tire her out!! You have to be carefull with squirrels. Our dog catches them but does not know how to kill, so he plays with them but gets bit up really bad by the squirrel.

Thanks for posting that Vegas!!!!!! I could not remember the yahoo group name either…

Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.

@Quercus: I would probably do that. But the benefit to taking them each to class is that they learn to do the behaviors in a distracting environment. The flip side to that is how on earth would you be able to train both dogs at the same time in the class? LOL!! I was thinking that my son would come with me and train Daisy, while I train Duke. Duke is the toughest student - REALLY spastic. :eek: Everything is a distraction. Daisy is much calmer. So I should bring Duke to class and then go thru the same training exercises at home with Daisy. I agree that training in a distracting environment WITH instructor's help is best. But, yeah - I should save some $$ and only take one. Gasoline prices are killing my budget! :mad:

Here are pictures of Rally's pups trying a puppy lure practice at the beginning of June. They were just shy of 6 months. [image: attachment_p_18342_0_ringocoursing.jpg] [image: attachment_p_18342_1_sophiecoursing.jpg] [image: attachment_p_18342_2_zekecoursing.jpg]

I was told to get a fishing pole and attach a white bag to the line and drag it along the yard, Basenjis will chase it, and occasionally let them catch it. Also I understand that playing fetch also helps to get them interested in going after something. We tried Lure Coursing for the first time last month, my Basenji is 1 yr. 5 mos. and she really liked it. She did really good for the first time, she had fun watching the other dogs as well, plus it is good for socializing, adults as well as dogs. Sahara loves to play fetch so it makes me think it helped.