@agilebasenji:
What nice runs in what is a very high pressure situation. Happy little basenjis - both of them. Drew reminded me of my kids when he "discovered" the judge in his ring. <gg>I hope Zest! and I can go sometime.
Did Drew's jumping style change when he lost his eye? Just curious about his depth perception.</gg>
Thanks Kim. I am sure you and Zest will one day go. Put it on your 'to do' list. I did. :)
Drew's jumping changed dramatically. He used to jump very similar to Feigh but without the overzealous enthusiasm that makes her jump too early sometimes. Once he lost the eye - he started to stutter steps and at 16 inches would crash the doubles and triples. As he gets older and age related changes occur to his remaining eye which had issues related to VF as well, hiis stuttering has gotten progressively worse so I was glad to get the PAX out of the way.
Thanks too Fran and Janneke. Feigh is a once in a lifetime Agility dog for me. :)
I'm not sure, in your situation, I would leave the dog outside until he made the decision to come in. It almost sounds as if the dog had bad experiences inside at the previous home and outside was the only place he could stay or maybe was forced to stay; anyway you now have to counteract all that.
All the good points have been made by others, now you have to put them all together.
Do not let the dog outside without a long lead (long closthesline or whatever); when you say come reel in the lead and treat and praise. You have to be consistent too; use the same word, treat immediately, etc. Also I don't think I would leave the dog loose outside until this is overcome. If possible I would also take the time to be outside with your dog (still on the lead) and play with him and praising and treating for any good interaction he does.
Also you might want to have a special treat just for the come command and for entering the house. He does not get this treat until he comes and/or he enters the house - but make it something really special that is not given except for this purpose.
Thank you very much for the info and the sites you have sent, and sorry for the delay in replying (my computer was down for a while). I am going to start with the Relaxation Protocol and see how it works. Also I have just started the Control Unleashed book so I am going to see how it goes too. By the way, how long did your basenji take to start showing selfcontrol?
We were very selective with the places we let Maxx off lead.
We own acreage south of Phoenix, Arizona that is 5 miles from any main road, and requires traveling nothing much more than a goat trail for the last mile or two. We used to go out there and let Maxx off lead. He was very good about staying close…he'd stop occasionally and look around to make sure he could still see us. He was also good about coming back to us when we called him.
We found another place on the Oregon Coast where there as a very deep beach far from a road, and since it was after Labor Day, the beach was empty of people. He had a ball chasing sea gulls...that is, until he finally figured out he'd never be able to catch any! Again, he was good about coming back when called.
Sorry if we misread the post. Water consumption is a sign of fanconi. So, we all take posts re b's and water very seriously.
No blame was intended. We just "react" as this can be a sign of this awful illness.
@Janneke:
Sorry.. but she hates her crate… and she has to be in it for 8 hours a day... And you don't walk her in the morning...?
I would start with making sure your dog is tired in the morning before you put her in her crate. And maybe you can try to leave her loose in the house so she can move around?
This is not only to you, but I read it so often on this forum that dogs spend entire days in their crates... I just don't understand that people can put their dogs in crates 8+ hours a day (I'm not including nights..)
I agree with Janneke here - if she hates her crate, she may pee in it because she gets extremely unhappy there. Not all dogs need to be crated - I've never had a dog who was crated, and the two I have now are loose when we're gone because Shaye, who was 10 weeks when we got her, always hated it, never changed, and started breaking baby teeth on it. When we leave we leave them with a treat to get their immediate attention, and they usually sleep or keep themselves busy, with no damage or upset. Of course, we aren't usually gone more than 6 hours when we leave them.
LOL long ago I had a chow and roommate. The roommate did not like the chow and yelled at her. She came home to find the chow had gotten into her laundry basket and pooped. My roommate was smart. She began being nice to the chow. It's like the AA saying, fake it til you make it. She eventually bonded with her.
Agree with the sit/stay away from the door. We used to toss treats back into the house as we opened the door. Once they know the "escape game" you really have to work to make staying more fun than escaping. And no matter what, once you catch him, love on him. Never let him coming to you, or you coming to him, be a negative thing.
We have a fenced area around our front door, not terribly attractive, but safe. YOu might put an x-pen arrangement that you have to step over to get in and out, around the door, once he sees that he can't bolt, the sit/stay and treat toss will be more interesting.
Good luck! Where in Fla are you located? We are in the Tampa area and have a very nice basenji meet up every week.
Nice! I just got your friend request on facebook! woohoo!
Whippets are nice dogs, but I'm looking for a basenji to play with. Don't mean to discriminate!
LOL my dogs do not like their crates, but they do learn to tolerate them. Instead of toys, how about a kong, frozen with some yummy lining like thin coat of cream cheese. SOMEONE here posted lovely recipe which I failed to copy. But if you tire out before hand, should help.
Wish you were closer! I'd love to baby sit during the day and give Cara a play mate!
My Lola will smell something that is WAY too interesting for me (i.e. old doggie stuff in the grass), but for her magical moment, that smell is GOLD! BAMM! STOP THE PRESSES! HUNKER DOWN, Momma, cuz I am not moving!!!!
So, I wait, as patiently as I can, until Lola realizes that it's just a turd… no magic... well, unless I have to go to the bathroom and I need her to hurry… well, then I trick her and flick her leash, saying, "Lola! What is that? Get it!!!!!" :)
:)
@Woofless:
I took permanent markers & drew a cartoon of a Basenji with a roll of toilet paper in his mouth. Then I drew a red circle/slash around it (like a no smoking symbol). And I wrote something like "NO BASENJI TOILET PAPER FETISHES ALLOWED".
It made an interesting conversation piece….and often resulted in friends wanting to see the "paper fetish" in action- so I'd wad up a paper towel and put it on the floor, so they could watch Jibini methodically shred it into tiny pieces, LOL. Never failed to amaze people who'd never experienced a Basenji before. One of the many reasons I love Basenjis, they're ideal "party entertainment" dogs ;)
ROFLMAO that is priceless.
@DebraDownSouth:
I won't claim I have never smacked a dog… pop for effect not hard enough to hurt. But I also won't pretend it is good training or necessary. Is it abusive, no. But it is not good training. But then, I also think the best parents don't spank. I want neither my dogs or child to behave for fear of getting hit, even if the hit doesn't hurt. I want them to do what I want through training, rewards and punishments that do not include hitting.
Good post!
