IMHO, please be careful with the alpha roll over, I used to do that when I first started dog training many years ago, I eventually had an aggression problem with the dog, got bit pretty good. I guessed it was my fault and never rolled one since. I never used pacifiers with my son, so no dog troubles there, but his blanky got stolen often. gg It sure cannot hurt to put the litterbox there and see what happens, its easy, fairly clean, and better than cleaning the rug often. You could also try using a scatter rug over the other rug, see if that helps any! I have one spot where one of the dogs, having gotten too excited, peed, they still go there if excited. I love my dogs, oh well its only in the hall. ggg Good luck, hope you find a solution! Carole

How exciting! Caesar never had training problems, but Beta was a wreck. She was an angel the first 6 months and then she began peeing in any room that i wasnt in. At the time i had a townhome where the bedrooms were all upstairs. I had the stairs gated and my basenjis had full roaming of the living room dining room and the kitchen which was visually blocked by the kitchen countertop from the living area.

Once Beta hit 6 months she began changing or adjusting to the home and the other animals (Caesar and the 4 cats). She became snarfy, she became food aggressive, and she started to sneak out of my sight to pee on the kitchen floor or in Caesar's bed.

The downstairs wasnt huge, so I didnt understand that the area was too big for her. In her case, she was asserting herself as alpha to the other pets in the house. Beta had a very difficult life before I adopted her and it took me 2 years to finally teach her that you pee only on grass. I am not saying that your pup is pooping for the same alpha reason, but here is what I had to do to get her to stop.

I was so frustrated and knew that she was no where near ready for basic training. I knew she was adjusting. I understood that what she was doing was behavioral not physical.

I brought in a trainer who becan to work with her because I was out of ideas. He suggested that the area she had to roam in was too large even though it seemed incredibly small to me. He told me to keep her harness and leash on inside the house. This made Beta aware that I was on top of her. If she went into the kitchen, I was there holding the leash. If she was in the living room sitting, I was there. Sometimes I just attached the leash to my pants to make it easier. She never peed in front of me and basically stopped the behavior because I was with her.

The other major thing I found that helped Beta with settling down was exercise. She required a lot more exercise than Caesar. When I moved to a place with a fenced yard or took her to the dog park she could just burn that energy off.

I found with Beta, that treat training would just not work for her. She would get extremely excited about treats, but her behavioral problems were mostly affected by my actions and attention. Food didnt matter.

Caesar was really easy with training because I adopted him as a puppy. I could use the crate for time outs and he understood and would improve.

Beta lived in a cage for over 1year and a half straight which was too small and in her own filth. I couldnt and wouldnt use the crate as time out for her. She liked going to the crate, and going to the bathroom in her crate was easier for her because it was her environment for so long. Her problem was adjusting to the world outside.

So, restrict the area and keep a leash on her. She may be getting too much free roaming space too soon. Can't hurt to try it. She will soon forget what she was doing.

And dont forget to get that Natural's Magic (I think that is the name) for pet smells in the carpet at your pet store. This should keep her from revisiting the same spot if she is doing that.

quick tip, buy your lure coursing collar ahead of time. They sell them online and are much cheaper than buying at an event.

I had to buy one for Caesar when I was there for him to participate and they were over the top with pricing….

I would LOVE to involve my B with Lure Coursing. She is a mix, so she could only run in practices, but that's fine with me. I just know she would love it… and I would appreciate her getting the exercise. Unfortunately the closest group that participates in lure coursing is approximately 2 hours away from me. If anyone knows of a group that participates in lure coursing in the knoxville, tn area, please post or send me a private message. THANKS!

You might also try a small crate… if the crate is too large, then they can poop or pee in one part and still have a clean area in another...

Brownie sleeps with us and my other 2 dogs Shelby and Mo. I tried to get him to sleep in my sons bed so that there is no conflict with Shelby( hes the oldest) he did for awhile. after he was house broken, but now he thinks he has to sleep in my bed. on my pillow wrapped around my head. In fact he is asleep now and when it is time for everybody else to go to bed he wants to play. He is getting a little better.

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He may not find a kong with PB all that important. I am sure there is something out there, that he would find rewarding enough to go into the kitchen when he KNOWS he is going in for the day. Try a raw marrow bone...like a knuckle or femur that you can get from a butcher. Try not feeding him at all, until he goes into the kitchen in the morning...if he wants to eat, he has to go into the kitchen.
Other than that, it sounds like you are handling it very well. He may have to wear a lead to get him into the kitchen, then you can remove it. I imagine he was allowed to pretty much do whatever he wanted in his last home...so he is confused with the new restrictions, and boundaries you have put in place (ones that he should have had from the beginning). It is hard when a dog has to start from square one, especially when they have learned that using their mouth can get them what they want. Good for you for hanging in there. He will eventually learn that he has to cooperate. I would definitely use his food for reward for good behavior. Doesn't mean you have to withhold his food if he doesn't cooperate...but you can use his food to help him realize what you want him to do.

He still paws it open prior to going through, but he goes through which is >>the important thing.

LOL That's how our older cat goes through too!
Jazzy goes {or went, since she's banned from them now} nose first and had to wiggle and squeeeeeeeeeeze the body through little by little. She looked ridiculous! LOL

I am working with an APDT trainer, they are very expensive if you have them come to your house one on one, at least this one is. She is very good, but it is hard to get my girl who was abused to allow the woman inside. I have stopped having her here for the time being, and may pursue classes when I get my girl socialized better! Carol

Not sure why someone said that is separation anxiety. I've been through it and from what you wrote it just sounds like you may need to get more aggressive with housebreaking 101. Are you using a crate? Basically make sure she goes after sleeping, shortly after eating and don't leave her out of your sight if she hasn't gone for a while. You can figure if she has gone, she should be ok to roam the house a bit, but if she hasn't you may be taking a step backwards (and into a wet spot). Praise her like crazy after she goes outside. If you ever catch her going, give her a stern NO! and run her outside. She should learn going outside is GOOD and going inside is BAD. Is the flap like a doggie door? If so, you may want to put a bell on it so you know when she is in or out to reinforce the behavior. As far as the rain…. well, yeah that is a never ending problem. Basenji's sure hate rain. I have to walk out with mine and keep tossing them in the grass until they go, then give them tons of praise when they do. I've been putting up with that for 13 years. Your idea of walking in the rain is good. Keep it positive. Negative associations are hard to overcome. Good luck.

@Basenji_Boy:

That sounds like progress.

I agree…let's hope it just gets better and better 🙂

I adopted my B and the foster parent that I picked her up from said she would pee in her crate at night if there was a blanket or any kind of bedding in there but is fine otherwise. When I adopted her we decided to leave her out at night and she also seems to be fine with that.

Ahhhhh!! the Basenji sense of humour!!!

Makes for a decorative backyard but it breaks the routine of walks on a leash–any "skill" course seems to trigger the inate ability of challenge.

My new boy, Will, is also 3, and it's taken us (me and him) a little while to figure out the routine. I think he used to go out on a tie-out or something. Curie has always done her business on walks, but he thought this was a bit ridiculous. Walks were for squirrel chasing and hydrant checking! But a few months into it, he seems to have gone along with the plan.

I guess my advice would be to figure out what works for you and them. There is no rule that says they have to pee in one spot in the yard or that they have to only pee on walks or that they have to wear coats or not wear coats or wear funny hats. 🙂

What works for YOU?

(The rain is a drag – I just end up standing out there in the rain with them saying mean things in a nice voice until they get it over with.)

Thanks for all your advise so far. Here's the update… patience and persistence seems to be paying off. We confined him to whatever room we were in so we ALWAYS caught him. After just 3 weeks of this he started running to the door! I completely thought he'd never get it. He didn't seem to be connecting "outside" with "potty time". But its been nearly a month now and he is about as house broken as our other 11 mo old. We still have accidents, especially when its wet out, but all your advice seems to be paying off. Thanks.

Wow. I didn't realize it was so difficult to get Bs to walk nicely. I guess we had a lot of the "dirty work" done for us by the breeder. Joey, we got him at 10 months, walks superbly on his leash. I do need to remind him sometimes, but he gets back in line right away. The breeder tells me to be sure they know who is boss with every issue. I do see a difference with each of my kids that take Joey out and Joey knows who he can be tougher with and who he really has to listen to.

Hehe. I really actually love this side of them. When I get Will off the kitchen table (hypothetically), he looks at me like he's thinking, "um, lady, you don't understand. I want to be up THERE." Like I'm some halfwit. It cracks me up.

This is the part of basenjis that's most catlike to me. They have their OWN to-do list for the day, and it is not necessarily "play nicely while mom cooks and then go for a walk and then maybe have a bit of kibble." It's more like "okay, last night was pizza night, so that's breakfast, and the cat has been attitudinal, so we must have a pow-wow, and I think I figured out that new cabinet latch, so hopefully the halfwit, bless her heart, will forget the crate idea while she showers."

I adore basenjis.

Oh, neat! Tell us how it goes!

Dock Dogs was here in Chesapeake,VA today for Bark in the Park, it was very cool.