Oh, I forgot to crate you up?

[tanza]

Interesting that your puppy has such separation anxiety…. how old was he when he left his litter?... Many times this is a reason for this problem at such an early age....
As far as the crate... there are some that you just can't crate train... but I would still wonder about his early rearing....

[meaghanmplatt]

We got Kona from a pet store when he was about 2 1/2 months. We don't know about how he was treated in his first few months so I don't have the answers there.

However, once we brought him home, I was still in college and I lived with my parents and Kona stayed home all day with my mom. She doesn't work so he always had someone here with him. Maybe we should have left him alone more often as a pup…but I feel that he is really doing good with his anxiety. I think he just needs more training and with age, he will get better.

[tanza]

OK, well that explains alot of it… if he came from a pet store that means that he came from a puppy mill... first he was taken from his Mom and litter mates most likely at 5 or 6 wks... way to young to be separated.... this is an important time of early socialization and build personalities/confindence... also it means that he had lived in a cage (note I say cage, not crate... as a cage was the only thing that he knew...)... so this is another reason that he has a total aversion to a crate.... So poor baby had lots of stikes against him right from birth... It is very hard to erase those early memories, IMO... and then most likely he totally bonded with your Mom as "his" pack.. when he was there....
Sounds to me like you are doing the right things... however, suggestions would be a puppy class, Obedience Class, Agility Class, things to build his confidence in himself....

[meaghanmplatt]

Thank you for the suggestions…we are looking into socialization classes and obedience classes...I'll let you know how it goes!!!

[tanza]

Great!!! Please do!!!

[dash]

We will leave our dogs out of the crate only when I am sure they are exhausted and have gone to the bathroom recently AND we will be gone for less than an hour! But we thoroughly Basenji proof the house including locking up the cats. Not that I don't trust my precious Dash but I know him :). I added a toddler bed to their crate so really it is nice enough they shouldn't mind it. It gives me piece of mind and I don't have to fear coming home.

[lowendfrequency]

@tanza:

OK, well that explains alot of it… if he came from a pet store that means that he came from a puppy mill... first he was taken from his Mom and litter mates most likely at 5 or 6 wks... way to young to be separated.... this is an important time of early socialization and build personalities/confindence... also it means that he had lived in a cage (note I say cage, not crate... as a cage was the only thing that he knew...)... so this is another reason that he has a total aversion to a crate.... So poor baby had lots of stikes against him right from birth... It is very hard to erase those early memories, IMO... and then most likely he totally bonded with your Mom as "his" pack.. when he was there....
Sounds to me like you are doing the right things... however, suggestions would be a puppy class, Obedience Class, Agility Class, things to build his confidence in himself....

Don't be so quick to make assumptions. I work at a pet store and we only buy puppies from local breeders, never from puppy mills. We never take puppies under 10 weeks and we also never cage them. We have a large indoor penned area where the puppies socialize from the second they come to the store to the moment they are bought. It's ok to be hesitant to buy a puppy from a major chain store, but if you are buying from a smaller privately owned shop you should inquire before jumping to conclusions.

As for the crating, I've experienced the exact opposite. When I crate my B he will destroy anything inside his crate and thrash at the door for hours on end. However, when I leave him alone in the house he is perfectly content and doesn't destroy anything. Go figure

[lvoss]

I am sorry but any breeder who would let their puppies be sold through a commercial outlet can not be a responsible breeder. A huge part of being a responsible breeder is being a support for the new owners and being there to take back the puppy if at anytime in its life it needs a new home. Does your pet store take on this responsibility? If the home doesn't work out 3 years down the line, does that puppy end up in rescue? in a shelter? dumped on the street?

Right now, pet ownership is under attack because shelters are full of irresponsibly bred dogs and cats who were owned by owners that were either not a good match, irresponsible, or just didn't get the support they needed. So if I and other responsible breeders and owners are passionate about this topic it is because our right to own a responsibly bred purebred is in jeopardy and it is the breeders who do not take responsibility that have put us in that position.

[meaghanmplatt]

lowendfrequency,

My B is the same way…so far...he is terrible in his crate and thrashed inside also and ended up with his eye swollen shut. When I leave him home, not in the crate, the very worst he does is find tissues and spread them throughout the apartment I will take that any day over a gutted couch.

He definitely has his Basenji tendencies but he's got a little laid-back twist...I think I rubbed off on him

[tanza]

The pups you buy from local breeders, are the sire and dam health tested before breeding?… is there pedigree information on the sire, dame, grand sire/dam, siblings?.... Are the eyes checked as pups before placement for possible problems? and as Ivoss said, who is responsible for the life time of that pup? Who will take that pup back if the owners have to/want to give it up?... Is there a purchase contract? Spay/neuter clause? These are all things that responsible breeders do ...
In our breed we have health concerns, late onset of Fanconi and PRA, there is no DNA test at the present time... only way to keep track as best we can is by pedigree information, breeders sharing information... keeping records, and not breed if a health problem presents itself....

And while there are some that will always have a problem with crates... 90% of Basenjis do not... except for the ones that come from Puppy Mills or BYB...

I am glad to hear however that you do not take the pups for your store until 10wks... but at that age, it would be pretty easy to crate train...

[JazzysMom]

And while there are some that will always have a problem with crates…
90% of Basenjis do not... except for the ones that come from Puppy Mills >>or BYB...

Please be careful not to generalize that way.We got Keoki from a very reputable breeder and he is a crate hater.

It's only been a week since he moved in, so I cling to hope for the future, but he also screams, yells, howls, cries, thrashes, thumps, tears, jumps...God knows what is going on in there, but it sounds a lot like murder.... when crated, esp. at night. It's like he is in a state of absolute and total panic.

He lived with his mom and littermates until two days shy of 12 weeks; so he wasn't taken too soon either!

Any other time of the day, he is happy and busy and a really wonderful addition to the family. He's a healthy pup, from a quality breeder. He just hates the crate.

[tanza]

I did say that 90% are usually OK with Crate training… there is always the exception.... and many breeders (this is nothing against his breeder that I know very well) start crate training at 8 to 10 wks... for pups that they keep that long....

[tanza]

And while crates are a small part of having a Basenji…. health testing is a big thing... in my book along with contracts, spay/neuter, what happens if a buyer can't keep the dog...etc..... and while it might look like I was making a general statement... 99% of the time it fits... again... not all the time...

[JoeyQ]

Haven't been to the forum for awhile, but just had to post this!!!
Having 5 kids, I knew at some point this would happen. Joey was not crated when the last kid left the house!!!
I pulled up in the driveway to see Joey peering through the front door window. Aghast, I bolted out of the car and ran into the house. First I checked to see if anyone was possibly home. No answer. Then I began my search around the house to see what was destroyed. I didn't think I would have to go far. I have had visions of the draperies pulled down and the sofa shredded, the mattresses torn, etc. First the living room…nothing. Then the kitchen...nothing, then the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the downstairs and on throughout the house...nothing! I AM STUNNED! NOTHING! It has been three days and I am still looking! There just has to be something!!! He has chewed many a thing in seconds right in front of us!
I am still hesitant to call him a GOOD BOY, but I may have to give him cudos! He greeted me at the door that day almost frantic. I wonder if he was anxious to be home alone and not in his crate. I would think that that anxiety, if present, would have led to disaster. (He crates without problem.)
I will not tempt fate to leave him uncrated purposefully, but I wonder if I can be a proud owner of a basenji that can be trusted alone in the house uncrated???!!!!

[Basenji_Boy]

@JoeyQ:

(He crates without problem.)
I will not tempt fate to leave him uncrated purposefully, but I wonder if I can be a proud owner of a basenji that can be trusted alone in the house uncrated???!!!!

You may be one of the lucky one's!;)

Good to see you back JQ.

[JoeyQ]

Thanks BB!. It sure is fun catching up!!! Love the video and tons of pics from your clan!
Do you think maybe that Joey planned to do nothing the first time and is just setting us up to trust him so he can ravage the place next time ;-)!!!!
JQ

[Basenji_Boy]

@JoeyQ:

Thanks BB!. It sure is fun catching up!!! Love the video and tons of pics from your clan!
Do you think maybe that Joey planned to do nothing the first time and is just setting us up to trust him so he can ravage the place next time ;-)!!!!
JQ

Some of these little devils are pretty crafty!:D

We let a couple of ours out of the crates if we are going away on short jaunts….store ect. Yeah, you always wonder if your couch will be in tact when you get back.
Don't go away so long this time.:D

[tasha]

Corky gets a little full of himself if he's not crated for a few days. He's never in his crate on the weekends because he can be trusted 100% up to about 4 or 5 hours. We're seldom gone that long on the weekends. But, come Monday if we leave him out, he'll get into something. Or should I say somethings? This past Monday my husband assumed that we had stopped crating him (for some reason) and left him out. I came home to a chewed up quilt, bathroom garbage strewn down the steps and four brand new boxes of tissue destroyed. Needless to say Corky is back in his crate unless I know I'll be home at lunch to let him outside to do some laps in the yard.

[Mantis]

what a funny thread. I really was expecting a horror story from the first line and you all seem to have success overall!

I can say that my adult basenji has been kennel trained and I am basenji proofed, so he can be left out and be fine.

Not too sure how I would feel about Cairo my 7month old out with Caesar. What is the youngest b out there at home alone?

[BillyK]

Thank you JoeyQ for getting this thread back on topic
Not that puppy mill/responsible breeding isn't a good thread… :p and there might be one on this very forum.

Nice to see so many Basenjis that go against (somewhat) the stereo-types.
I feel lucky because Jenny was a 7 month old shelter dog - stray - and really must have had a good upbringing because she has always been very handle-able (one of my friends picked her up and stacked her show dog style the first time he met her) and really only fussed (like the dickens!) in the crate the first night or two.

I would remind those who are having difficulty crating: your emotions are a factor in how your dog reacts and adapts. The stress of hearing their cries, and worse, often puts an owner on edge enough to subtly (and often not so subtly to most dogs) encourage the behavior. Earplugs help.:o