In need of a little assistance

Basenji Training

  • Yeah, he's a pretty boy. I just love his white markings.
    Say… when Wattson gets tired does his tail go limp? I'm not sure if its just my boy or a breed trait.


  • Yeah, they uncurl their tail when they are tired, relaxed, or not feeling well…so yes it is a breed trait :)


  • I'm a little worried about having a child and him being so hyper and possibly hurting the child. Granted I may not be popping out a kid for a year or two but meh. Do you have kids?


  • No…we have no wee ones here. But I believe there are a few members on the forum that can help out with basenji and child advice :)


  • Thank you again I will get right on that…after I get a few hours of sleep in. I appreciate all the help. Feel free to give me a message anytime


  • Here's a great way to start playing with clicker training:
    http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167

    You can even get the kids into doing this. It's fun; treat it as a game.


  • How old is he?

    Jennifer


  • You've got plenty of time to get him trained before having children. If you look for posts by Buana, especially the earlier ones - she has some great advice and lots of pictures showing how Basenjis and children can be raised. We have followed through from the pre-birth of her son to the present day (she now has 3 Basenjis).

    There are plenty of us here who've had experience of Basenjis and babies together with every success.

    Any way don't worry about that, if I were you I'd concentrate on the clicker training as a prelim to anything else and as agilebasenji suggests get the children to participate but only under strict supervision. It would seem that he's had bad experiences with the hand.


  • He just turned a year in May. I'm going to find a nice clicker this upcoming weekend and start on that. =) I will def. search for those posts.


  • Oakley has been a difficult pup, mainly my own fault because I over spoiled and under disciplined. I will say, clicker training has been a hit from day one, it really is successful with difficult and independent minded ones….and a side note- I bought a clicker but ended up usin it maybe ten times....I just use a "clut" sound, ony because it was difficult to ALWAYS have a clicker around when he did something good. For example, if I was in the kitchen cooking and I told him "down" when he jumped up at the stove..I'd be able to just make the clicker sound and he knew that was why I wanted from him. It's been the best thing for him and I...


  • I find using a clicker is often misunderstood or misinterpreted. You only need the device when you are training or trying to capture behaviour. Once the behaviour you want is put on cue, you don't require the clicker (unless you are training something new). Of course, you can dispense with a clicker and train perfectly well using a marker word instead. It is just that the clicker is a consistent sound with no inflection to cause confusion. But once the dog understands the command and the action associated with it, all you need do is invoke it and when he (hopefully) complies, reward with praise, treat, or whatever. No click is required, as he knows what you asked him to do and what you are rewarding. But do progress to intermittent rewarding, which is more effective (once the behaviour is set) than rewarding every time! (those casinos know what they are doing…....intermittent rewards are addictive!)


  • Agh, Diesel has now taken on biting(hard) at all times. I can be sitting down doing nothing and he just runs up and clamps down. He's even doing it to our guests now. Heeeelp.


  • @Enigmatic:

    Agh, Diesel has now taken on biting(hard) at all times. I can be sitting down doing nothing and he just runs up and clamps down. He's even doing it to our guests now. Heeeelp.

    I would think at this point you need a behaviorist, nothing here is going to help… only someone that can see in person what is going on....


  • Ok, we do not know how others feel about this but we came across this during some of our research. One post suggested that if you have a dog that is biting to use a mint flavored breath spray, and spray it in their mouth and tell them no.

    It would be interesting to see what the opinions are in this forum of using a Mint flavored breath spray as way to teach a dog not to bite.


  • How do you respond when he does this? And how often is it happening? Any particular circumstance? You might want to leave a short leash on him so that you can immediately take control of him, hopefully when you "see it coming", not after the fact. I concur that you need outside help with this….


  • I could be wrong but it doesn't sound malicious but it does sound like he has no bite inhibition or that he knows when it is appropriate or not to play bite, I agree that if you can't come uP with some super disciplined rules about how to teach him and corrections to use while teaching him then a behaviorist will work to implement these techniques. Since its escalating it's important you correct 100% of the time he exhibits this behavior and be 100% consistent in the household an with guests on training


  • I agree that it is really important that you find someone at this point to help you with this. I have looked up a few places for you to get in contact with and see if they might suit. These three are all in the Eau Claire area and all offer private lessons. I do not know about their training philosophy so that is something you will have to look into. I am not trying to endorse any of these, but I am hoping to give you a place to start in your area. If you have a local kennel club in the area you can also contact them and ask for recommendations ( I think the Indianhead Kennel Club might be in your area http://www.indianheadkennelclub.org/).

    http://www.abctc.com/

    http://www.rudedogu.com/rdu/index.html

    http://embarkdog.com/

    I also agree with the poster that mentioned that it sounds like he has a problem with bit inhibition.

    Has he ever broken skin? How are you currently responding when he does this? How are you correcting him?

    Be very careful not to correct him in a way that might escalate or compound his problem…the suggestion of spraying him with something like mint spray is probably not the way to go.

    I really do think you should get an experienced trainer/behaviorist to assist you with this. It can most likely be fixed with training...but the wrong approach could also make it much worse. Since we here have to rely only on your description of his behavior and never actually get to observe him our ability to help is limited. :)


  • I suggest having a complete thyroid test done.

    Jennifer


  • Hi again, I wrote about my training my 5 year old, she took till she was 2 and a half to really start listening, although she knew the basics and was quite good. I would love to have a boy to go with her as I am told that frequently a female will not be happy with another girl. Though there is also a risk integrating ANY other Basenji to another, I think my girl would love the company. I am in Michigan outside Detroit but would drive most of the way if you'd consider meeting me somewhere. Perhaps we could at least discuss it, a new home must be as carefully chosen as the original choice of a Basenji….I hope you will not allow him to go with whomever has the cash. I hope to hear from you, my e-mail is dedavis321@yahoo.com (Dave)


  • @DAVE&PIPET:

    Hi again, I wrote about my training my 5 year old, she took till she was 2 and a half to really start listening, although she knew the basics and was quite good. I would love to have a boy to go with her as I am told that frequently a female will not be happy with another girl. Though there is also a risk integrating ANY other Basenji to another, I think my girl would love the company. I am in Michigan outside Detroit but would drive most of the way if you'd consider meeting me somewhere. Perhaps we could at least discuss it, a new home must be as carefully chosen as the original choice of a Basenji….I hope you will not allow him to go with whomever has the cash. I hope to hear from you, my e-mail is dedavis321@yahoo.com (Dave)

    Did you also respond to their Craigslist add? Just in case they do not come here and check this thread?

Suggested Topics

  • Books or videos? Need some info

    Basenji Training
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    4k Views
    lisastewartL
    I train all mine with the plastic bag or fur lure on the end of a lunge whip from the day they arrive at my place. After a few weeks of solo training, I add one of my older dogs so they get used to chasing with another dog. Most trials are going to be a significant distance away for you. You might contact some of the coursing clubs and get on their various yahoo groups etc to see if anyone is traveling from your area that could provide transportation to some of the practice runs. I would recommend looking atl locations for LGRA/straight track racing in canada as that is a good way to learn follow and focus before starting to course.
  • Need right advice on …

    Basenji Training
    10
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    3k Views
    MacPackM
    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.
  • Just a little vent…

    Basenji Training
    27
    0 Votes
    27 Posts
    8k Views
    thunderbird8588T
    Great to hear things have improved with Paco's toileting. We find that Malaika goes more when on the extending lead. Think she likes a bit of privacy.
  • Well needed exerise

    Basenji Training
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    4k Views
    renaultf1R
    @ComicDom1: MacPack, thanks for the info on the walky dog. I watched both movies where they are riding the bike and the dog is attached. While I would like to try something like this with my Basenji, I am somewhat nervous because I fear either my Basenji or I will get hurt if the dog just stops dead in his tracks, sees prey and decides to try to bolt and take off after it, or sees something else he wants and either bolts forward or sideways. Do you have any personal experience using this Walky-Dog attachment? Thanks, Jason I haven't used this attachment, but still run Ruby on the bike. The reason you won't lose your balance with the Walky Dog is because it is attached to the seatpost - your center of gravity. Put it on the handle bar stem and that would be a different story. The other key thing is with the Walky Dog (and the way I run Ruby) is that they can't get to the wheels of the bike. Honestly when I run Ruby, I don't feel like she is even attached to the bike - there is no pulling. The one thing I found when running Ruby is that even if there is prey that she might be interested in, she is moving forward and in a manner that doesn't allow freedom to go in another direction. I've encountered rabbits, squirrels, deer and cats and never had her try to chase off to the side. If they are in front of her, she will pick up speed, so I try to match her speed. She's looked at them, then looked at me and all I've said is "keep going or forget it" and there has never been a problem. Mostly she is looking ahead and having a blast running. We run a steady pace on the flats of about 14 - 16mph (11mph up hill - great for her, but it nearly kills me :eek:)…I'm sure she could go faster, but we go about 4 - 6 miles so I don't want to completely wipe her out. You want to tire out a basenji - a bike is a great tool!
  • I need help having two problems

    Basenji Training
    18
    0 Votes
    18 Posts
    6k Views
    C
    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
  • Need help with slalom

    Basenji Training
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    7k Views
    M
    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.