Could use some of your Basenji Love

[Saving]

The first 4 months were hell for me as Safi couldn't control her bladder and would pee really frequently. In fact, a year on we still haven't established a way for her to tell me she needs to go out, I think because I take her out often enough to cover it (3 times per day). It is totally overwhelming to begin with but gets easier as you get to know each other and also as you obsess less. Bs are cheeky, funny and smart (sometimes too smart) as you know. Drill the recall relentlessly, stop training her before she gets bored,, end on a high. I trained whistle recall too as a back up and it's helped a lot when she's ignored me or can't hear me. She has a good 90%+ recall now and only ignores me if there is too much of a temptation but I'm happy with that as she's not a robot. As Elbrant says, one of the best things is to train the separation and independence but she'll eventually find that on her own. It becomes liberating when you can leave them alone with no repercussions. Don't let her think that she's in charge though, woe betide you!

She's a real cutie and I know exactly what you mean about the yawn!

[t89rex]

It gets so much easier. I was convinced I'd ruined both my life and Hugo's (also a tri, also my first dog) for the first two months. I also live alone and if not for the support of family and friends living nearby I doubt I'd have got through it.

But we've now been together a little over six months and while I still have little issues here and there he's fit into my lifestyle amazingly well. I'd suggest taking every opportunity you can to teach Zola. Enroll in every class you can, but also make every interaction a learning opportunity. Ask her to follow a few commands before feeding, teach her how to get on and off the furniture she's allowed on, get her into morning and bedtime routines.

I also found that Hugo became a lot easier to live with when I stopped letting puppy hell shape my routine and just got back to ordinary life. Once you start living the way you intend to for the next fifteen years, your routine will become her routine and a source of comfort to her.

Hugo will now come in from his morning walk, have breakfast and about ten minutes before I normally start work will go to his bed next to my desk and sleep until he gets his afternoon treat.

Hang in there. It's hard at first but I've laughed more in the last six months than I did in the six dog-free years before Hugo.

[abonnard]

@t89rex
You have no idea how much I needed to read that !
Having the feeling to have made too much of a change and that I'll never be able to get back a little bit of my old life is exactly how I feel sometimes.
It's just taking all of your time, and when it's been weeks, it's really overwhelming.

But it's really cool to read that you eventually sorted it out, and found a right balance after a few months. Thank you for sharing, it's much appreciated.

Can't wait to make progress with Zola, I want to get the best of her capacities, so I can offer her the best life she could have. But I have no doubt that she has so much to offer, she's so smart already.

Thanks again !

[abonnard]

@Saving
I'm in the peepee nightmare as well ! She quite well understood for poopoo, but can't contain herself when she has to pee. She's only 3 month old, and her sphincter are probably not ready yet, so I try to maintain a good figure in front of her and stay positive.
Really impressed by your work on the recall, it gets me hope for the future and an aim to look at.
Yes, I guess the biggest thing with Zola will be to work on her separation anxiety. As I'm the only one living with her, she is very dependent on me.
I'm trying to stay away from her sight a few minutes every day and increase that time step by step, but she is already showing signs of destruction.. As soon as her Kong is empty, she gets really stressed.
Did you make some particular drills to work on that on your end ?

Thanks for answer

[elbrant]

@abonnard said in Could use some of your Basenji Love:

signs of destruction

Seems like they become a Velociraptor in their adolescence. Don't react. That's what they are looking for. It's like a game... what's he gonna do when I ___ (fill in the blank) ___ ? If you don't freak out, the game becomes boring and they stop. Or, at least, my girl did. Of course, doodle removed all of the corners from every pillow in the house first. Either she got bored of the game ... or she ran out of pillows.

[abonnard]

@elbrant
Alright, I'll try to remain Stoic then !
.. and to protect my pillows

Do you use a crate ?

[Micah]

If Zola after a walk still doesn’t slow down pop her in the cage for a hour; I do this still with my basenjis one is now 3years old and the other just hit 1 years old. After a walk they drink if they need to then they go bed; it helps teach them how to shut down and not always be crazy.

I have two basenjis, and it’s easier however the first basenji should be fairly trained as it would make bringing a new pup in alot easier and you will find they will tag team against you lol!

It does get better with age it certainly did for my 3 year old just waiting for the youngest one to mellow down; keep working with her and it will all fall intro place.

[elbrant]

@abonnard said in Could use some of your Basenji Love:

Do you use a crate ?

No, I do not do crates. If some random "bad guy" breaks into my home, I don't want my dog(s) to be locked in a crate. I want them to sneak up on the creep and ask 'em what they are looking for!

Others are die hard crate users... I'm just not one of them.

[Micah]

And I don’t think a random “bad guy” would stop in the process of what they was doing if they are a determined one. Especially if faced by a loose pup lol.

Each to their own; but nothing wrong with using a crate and crate training a pup, If a pup is in the destructive stage and you need to be out the house for a certain period of time. Better than a destructive pup finding live wires and chewing on etc.

My 3year old has full access of the house when I pop out now as he is not destructive anymore. My 1year old is crated and will free roam the house when mellowed down at a later stage. It helps eliminate any bad habits like chewing on furniture or anything life threatening where you cannot control if you aren’t at homing watching.

[abonnard]

@Micah
Thanks for sharing your experience, it's a relief to see that it's working quite well for you.
This is one of my biggest fear having a Basenji. Not being able to leave the house for a couple of hours because she would destroy everything, and also having to put her on a leash or a long line absolutely all the time, fearing she's going to run away.
I guess I'll have to work hard on those two areas to be comfortable and to make her feel I'm comfortable with it so she should be as well.

[Saving]

Safi was crated for the first 6 months overnight but she appealed to me to let her sleep out and I allowed it, she was restricted to the hallway and one room but got on really well. She has not been destructive except in the first couple of months when she didn't know better. I kinda mitigated it by teaching her that she had her chew toys and everything else was mine. So if I caught her nibbling something I gave her a toy of similar texture instead.
We've been together a year now and I've only just left the baby gate to the final room open, I'll take it out at the weekend, so she has the run of the house now except my bedroom which is the dog-free zone. She had quite bad separation anxiety until she realised that she was the puppy and I was the adult, adults are allowed to go hunt and leave the pups alone, whereas I think she thought she was responsible for me so when she couldn't get to me she got frantic.
I can leave her for 3 hours or so now and she's fine, I just make sure she's had a good long walk beforehand and she sleeps.
I also thought I made the biggest mistake getting her at the start as it was complete disruption to my life, which hasn't returned back completely but it's now something a bit different a happy medium. I have a very good daycare nearby who love her and she goes roughly once a week.

[Saving]

@abonnard Pee pads got me through in the end, she would pee every 20 mins for the first months, then 40 mins, then she suddenly went to being able to hold it for many hours. One of the best purchases I got before she arrived was a small carpet washer, saved my sanity. The cleanup is so key otherwise they go back to the same spot.