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Tips for New Basenji Owners!

Basenji Training
  • All my guys let me sleep in the king size bed with them, lol. Have since they were pups (well the basenji still is a pup, but he's potty trained now).

    As for at night well, I have honestly never had a problems with potty accidents at night. I am not a really light sleeper but I always seem to know when they move around that its more than just getting comfortable. Also, I put a very light weight lead on them and attach it to a 5lbs weight giving them enough room to move around but not enough to fall off the bed and get caught up. I only do this long enough to get used to their sleeping pattern.

  • I did. When Duke was a puppy - I got him used to the crate ASAP. I made it a happy comfortable cozy place. Put an old quilted bed spread draped around 3 sides. (he chewed thru and destuffed the spread - I didn't mind.) Crate training can be found on other threads here if you do a search. My dogs are comfortable and happy to go in their crates as trained. He was house trained by 6 mos, but our night-time habits remained the same till he was 10-11 months old when I let Duke sleep on our bed one very tiring Thanksgiving night. BTW - Duke and Daisy are crate trained and stay go in their crates when no one is home. They actually love the peace and comfort in there. Neither one exhibits a wild behavior to get let out when I/we come home. We never make a big deal about seeing them either. We stay calm and they do too.

  • Because you really need to crate train, I would not let them sleep in bed until crate trained and house broken….

    That said, if you are going to crate your B during the day, then I think it is unfair to then crate all night too.. (AND while I love the Evergreen basenji manuel, this is one section that I totally disagree on)

  • We crated Nexa at night for the first month, the crate was in the bedroom right next to our bed. Her first night in the bed was the best night of sleep we got in a month:) I think it helped to establish that our bed is a special place and we don’t have to give that privlege.

  • Savannah loves the dog park, she is able to run around like crazy and still have the feeling of security that i am nearby and so is the rest of the pack, caesar, cairo , nikki, topper, eddie , callie , jack and a handfl of other basenjis that come on sundays.

    She has been sleeping with me and she definately loves the bed.

  • @Nexa:

    We crated Nexa at night for the first month, the crate was in the bedroom right next to our bed. Her first night in the bed was the best night of sleep we got in a month:) I think it helped to establish that our bed is a special place and we don’t have to give that privlege.

    Exactly, all of mine when they are sleeping in crates are in the bedroom… of course, IMO... if one has a problem and the crate was other then in a place easily heard by the human... again IMO.. defeats the purpose of using the crate to housetrain at night... along with crate train.... doesn't make is a very pleasant place if they have a problem and have no place to relieve themselves other then the crate....

  • If I were limited to 3 tips–I would say training, training, and more training. :D

    It's great that you have done so much research ahead of time and are getting your pup from a good breeder. That will help a lot. I got my first B from a pet store and knew absolutely nothing about the breed......really, the best tip I got at that time was to make sure I took him to training classes.

  • 1. Crate train

    2. Socialize

    3. Never underestimate a Basenji.;)

  • @Basenji_Boy:

    1. Crate train

    2. Socialize

    3. Never underestimate a Basenji.;)

    Yes!! And as soon as you feel like you've got them trained and can relax a little DON'T!!! :p

  • @JazzysMom:

    Yes!! And as soon as you feel like you've got them trained and can relax a little DON'T!!! :p

    Amen to that one JM!:D

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  • Our new Basenji doesn't mind soiling her crate?

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    MplsGirlM
    I had a similar problem when my last dog was a puppy. She was a rescue, and barely 5 weeks old when I got her, so her ability to hold her urine or bowels was not a very long length of time. As puppies get older they can go longer periods of time between eliminating, but it's important to research (google puppy housetraining) lengths of time for your puppy's age, and work out a schedule for her accordingly. My puppy needed to be brought to the puppy pad and fed every few hours around the clock, and she was initially more work than a newborn baby. As far as the crating goes… puppies are more likely to soil a crate that is too large for them. That doesn't mean you need to run out and get a new one, but rather you can make the used area in her crate smaller. When my puppy was little, I had a soft bag carrier that was small that I placed inside the crate and closed both so she got used to the big crate, but was also just in the smaller carrier bag. You could also use boxes to reduce the size but I would worry about the puppy getting wedged in between the box and the crate, so if you use a box or wood or whatever, make sure it is secure and your puppy can NOT wiggle between it and the crate. Also, accidents will happen with puppies once in a while. They are like human toddlers who have very little control and are learning and gaining strength every day to become more and more house trained, so patience is key. Hope these tips help!
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    Kipawa does this as well, and also prefers to do it with dogs that have a longer coat. I've never had a problem yet, but I do watch carefully. If Kipawa starts going a little overboard, I redirect with a treat, or I will also tell him "time out". Both work for us.
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    Yes, my girl was well socialized. It's not that my voice is so startling to her. It's more that she doesn't like to be scolded and will find a way in the not too distant future to repay me with her opinion. Since I learned a while ago to not do this, I haven't suffered her wrath in some time but when I did it could be anything from finding she had peed or pooped just out of my sight to finding something I value that had just been totally shredded. I found that I could scold her reasonably for what she had done but then I needed to immediately reinforce my love for her so that she knew she didn't need to rebel against me. This has worked well for me. Shouting at her would always reap me a grim reward in the end.
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    http://www.asfa.org/ Go there & click on the events tab. It lists all the upcoming events & shows that there are trials in Leesburg on the 31st & 1st :)