Skip to content

Training Brags

Basenji Training
  • That is great! Duke sounds like he has a very sweet nature about him. He just needed to grow out of those basenji puppy habits…. congrats!

  • Today we played Musical Settle in our obedience class. The game works similar to musical chairs except everyone has a chair, it is the last dog to lay down without being cued to do so that is out. Usually the basenjis are the first ones out. They just don't like to lay down when they can stand around and watch everyone. Today Nicky was the Musical Settle winner! He promptly downed every time I sat in a chair. He also did very good walking on a loose leash during while the music was on. Yeah Nicky!

  • wow, what a great game!!

  • YAY Nicky!!! :happy dance: for you! I KNOW how hard it is to get them to go down :)

  • Musical Settle - What a great way to motivate at home training too. No one wants to look bad in front of all the other owners, eh?? I'll try that with D&D. I'll mention that one to the instructor.

    Next Sunday is Daisy's Puppy Class graduation. Owner's are supposed to show off the tricks our puppies have learned. We have to hit the home training hard this week. I've been doing the training routine with Duke and Daisy at the same time - well I try to anyway. They take turns with SHAKE and SIT PRETTY. Together they SIT - DOWN - LEAVE IT - TAKE IT - STAY. I'm working on CRAWL, but she will not ROLL OVER. I love watching the dogs that do those tricks. I'm curious if anyone has been successful with training your B's to Roll Over?? Both D&D make me feel I'm torturing them, so I give up on it.:o But they LOVE working with me. Every night - sometimes twice a night (depends how tired I am). I hope Daisy does me proud with her solo act on Sunday!:)

  • Ringo knows roll over but I am not sure how his owners taught him.

  • @lvoss:

    Usually the basenjis are the first ones out. They just don't like to lay down when they can stand around and watch everyone. Today Nicky was the Musical Settle winner! He promptly downed every time I sat in a chair. He also did very good walking on a loose leash during while the music was on. Yeah Nicky!

    Congrats! You should be very proud of yourselves. You must have practiced a lot! He is a very obedient basenji to lay down every time! And loose leash walking - I'm so envious! WOO-HOO Nicky and Lisa! :)

  • I have been trying to work pretty consistently with my dogs for the last two years. In that time I have found that making that committment to a little training every week really pays off in the long run. I am very proud of how far all of mine have come. They do occassionally "forget" how to do things but for the most part they really enjoy working.

    For those of you just starting to work with your dogs hang in there they really do learn! For those of you who keep working with your dogs Congratulations! I am really lucky to have instructors that allow students to pay as you go instead of making a commitment to a block of classes. This flexibility has really helped me stick with it because I don't feel bad if I miss a week. Next week starts Dog Days of Summer camp for kids and I am volunteering to help out. Should be fun.

  • @lvoss:

    I am really lucky to have instructors that allow students to pay as you go instead of making a commitment to a block of classes. This flexibility has really helped me stick with it because I don't feel bad if I miss a week. Next week starts Dog Days of Summer camp for kids and I am volunteering to help out. Should be fun.

    Yeah - Paying by the class is a benefit if you can find a good instructor that does that. Myself, I am not disciplined enough to not make a commitment for a block of classes. I've missed one class, yesterday because we were out of town. It was just going to be a review so . . . OK.

    So what is this Dog Days of Summer camp about? Dogs and kids? Being with kids having fun is fun. Do you have a child enrolled? I've helped out at my son's Cub Scout day camp 2 years ago. It was soooo hot that week! The Fire Station brought out thier hoses and cooled everyone down every afternoon. I had fun with the kids too.

  • I do not have a child enrolled. Dogs Days of Summer is a week long camp where child and dog go for 3 hours a day and do a variety of training. There are 6 sessions during the summer and they fill quickly. My obedience instructor has been doing this camp for several years and it is very popular. Since I am a school teacher and out for the summer, I volunteered to help out with the camp. I am looking forward to it. Though I don't actually start until the week after next since I am doing a professional development seminar for myself next week.

  • That is fantastic! Keeps the kids busy and involved with their pooches! Good idea!

  • wow that sounds great! training the kids to train the basenji…..ah, if only I had a child....

    I love that Caesar is smart enough to remember the commands and if I say it once and stand and wait....I can see his wheels turning in his head until he does the thing I am asking.

    occasionally he wants the treat so bad that he will lie down, chill on his side and run into his kennel doing a sit....LOL, too cute....and all I wanted was a sit....:D

  • Mine all remember the commands that they learn when I say they "forget" it is really more that we are dealing with one of the 3 Ds (Distance, Duration, or Distraction) that they are still having trouble with. As sighthounds I find Distraction to be a hurdle since they find so many things interesting to watch, as a primitive dog they are also fascinated by scents so there are days when if I can just get their attention it is a good day. I should also add that our obedience class moves every week so the dogs learn to train anywhere which is great because really they are less distracted by different locations but it is challenging when we first arrive and they really want to investigate. Distance and Duration both offer their own challenges but we are getting there.

  • wow, that sounds great. how much are you paying for that class?

    i checked out petsmart's basic training for cairo and it isnt like it used to be. I am not thrilled with the amount of things they learn in basic.

    do you take all of your basenjis to training, or just the youngest?

    cairo is ready to begin….

  • I pay $15 a session or if my husband and I both attend it is $22 for two dogs. It is also $15 a session for the agility classes I attend with a different instructor. Each of my dogs attends at least one class a week, either obedience or agility.

  • do they love the agility? or is it difficult to get 2 to pay attention?

    caesar has such a natural spaztic excitement about lure coursing….

  • They love agility but I have a great teacher who really understands sighthounds. She owns some of the top whippets and foxhounds in agility. They really do love the obstacles and doing them and mine cry for their turn at the course.

  • @Duke:

    I'm curious if anyone has been successful with training your B's to Roll Over?? Both D&D make me feel I'm torturing them, so I give up on it.:o QUOTE]

    Our puppy graduation is on Thursday, I have been working with Zuri on roll over. She isn't too bad at it. I just get her in a down, hold a treat by her nose and bring it around the side of her body which will make her roll over most of the time. Sometimes she turns her head to meet the treat on the other side instead of rolling…but I think she will get it eventually. She has the sit, down, stay, take it and leave it pretty good....but the loose leash walking....that's my struggle.

    Love my B
    Brenda

  • brenda, caesar has been loose leash walking for 5 years! he still pulls unless he knows I have treats. there is so much to look at!

  • We never go walking without treats at this point. But she wants to see everything and everyone! It is so hard to get her attention back when she has 'locked' onto something.

28/43

20 Jun 2007, 19:21

Suggested Topics

  • Crate training

    Basenji Training 27 Apr 2021, 12:02
    0 Votes
    38 Posts
    5k Views
    @sanjibasenji said in Crate training: I have much respect for that accumulated knowledge, but, not to sound rude, that does not make that person a certified or licensed trainer. I actually was offended by what you posted. You said you respect the knowledge, but disregard it because they aren't a "certified or licensed trainer"? These are well-intentioned breeders who volunteer to engage with others on the Forum in an attempt to educate and celebrate this amazing dog breed. They share their knowledge. You don't have to agree with them. Offer your opinion and move on. Please don't suggest that their opinion, experience, and education isn't valid because they aren't "certified" or "licensed". Your overall intent screams that you believe yourself to be better than the rest of us: "I'm a scientist with a PhD." Which puts the rest of us beneath you? In education and social stature? You couldn't know about anyone's socioeconomic status, educational achievements, or expertise on any subject. But you deemed to think it was appropriate to put us in our place. And that, was rude. Even the analogy you offered is an indication that you don't value anyone who doesn't have a degree. Frankly, if you are hearing conflicting opinions about the same piece of art, get a third opinion. The person with the degree may have just scraped by with a C+, while the person who devoted decades may have been under the tutelage of a Master Artist. And really, if you are planning to purchase such a prized piece of Art, shouldn't you educate yourself so you can make an intelligent decision instead of allowing others to tell you what to buy? As an aside: The original YouTube link remains, but we certainly do not need her entire catalog of videos. Sharing information is one thing, advertising for someone is another. I would hope that you understand that not everything you see online is true. Including claims to be an expert, certified, trained, Dr., etc., etc. Lots of people in the world are just selling a story.
  • Inconsistent training

    Basenji Training 16 Jun 2013, 01:51
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    7k Views
    @Kosuzu: I will get into agility when he is a little older, his bones are still too immature for that yet. I would also like to get Khalani into becoming a "therapy" dog as he has a beautiful nature, He can't be assessed for that until he is at least 18 months old. You must tell me more about the "skateboard", does he ride it? Have you ever videoed your agility, I'd love to see that. There are a few youtube videos of Zest! doing agility. Just seach "Zest Agility" and the r/w little basenji is mine. Those are all from her Novice days. She's now in Excellent. We've had quite a few set backs, but she has achieved her excellent agility titles in AKC. You can see my other 2 here: https://www.basenji.org/BasenjiU/Activities/Agility/AOb/stacles.html All but the dogs on the table are mine. Zest is also the star of the Agility Manuevers videos. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a local agility class. There are lots of foundation work you can do with puppies before you start doing jumps and weaves. The other two (Digital the brindlewonderkid and Jet the trying) are retired, but have certainly done a lot. Therapy work is so rewarding! You'll love it. Z and I are off to the Alzheimer's facility tomorrow. Both my boys also really loved it.
  • Whistle training

    Basenji Training 19 Mar 2011, 17:16
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    3k Views
    @agilebasenji: for this sort of thing (big value treats over long time period), the best thing i've found to use is frozen liverwurst. i buy it, slice it and put it in a small container (the leftover cream cheese containers work GREAT for this) then put the container in the freezer. the pup gets to lick the frozen stuff for her high value treat - LOTS of treat over a long time, but not lots of calories or lots of treats in the tummy. the dogs at my house swear liverwurst pupcicles are wonderful. sometimes they will try to nibble, but given it's frozen and in a small container, it's hard to get lots of treats. I will try this, but I myself love liverwurst. Hopefully I will not eat it all before getting to the park. At the park today, I was about 75% successful with the whistle/treat recall. Not bad for the first time out, I think. Especially because there were easily 20 dogs there, and Kipawa is Mr. Social and has to visit with all of them.
  • Leash training

    Basenji Training 31 May 2010, 02:10
    0 Votes
    33 Posts
    14k Views
    quick note- I don't feed raw; i feed a grain free commercial dog food (there are now quite a few on the market) and have been very happy. I do feed some cooked muttloaf (http://www.maryshouse.us/Recipes.htm) with the evening meal.
  • Training classes?

    Basenji Training 15 Dec 2008, 11:20
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    6k Views
    @tanza: I think you are waiting too long. You should have two complete sets of shots before class. Waiting till they are 15/16wks you are missing critical socialization skills. Waiting for "all the shots" is pretty much old school these days. My pups go out even before that to things like lure trials… you just need to be careful and not let them "get" into anything like "old poop" laying around. I'm planning on taking her around the time of the 2nd shots if I can. But the problem is that the next round of puppy classes doesn't start till the last week of March, which would be around 14 weeks anyway. Maybe they will let me join the last half of the previous class but I'd have to check into that.
  • Clicker training

    Basenji Training 16 Jul 2007, 14:10
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    3k Views
    Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.