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Help with Recall

Basenji Training
  • Does anyone have any suggestions how to improve a basenji's recall. I know they hear me when I call them, the ear moves slightly in my direction. But even when I use "cookie", which ususally works doesn't always work. Any suggestions?:o

  • Make sure whenever you call them, a treat is involved.
    THAT means, when your mad, you can't call them to you. It should only be good things heading toward you.
    Also, if you have a large fenced area, or dog park you can go to..enclosed.
    Sneak off, and wait for them to find you.
    Treat when they do…sort of a hide and seek.
    At my house, even without treats, if I am out of a room for a few minutes, they come find me.
    good luck.

  • I have a large enclosed yard, so I should play a little hide-n-seek with them and reward them when they find me even though I didn't call? Right?:) I really want to improve this for many reasons, safety first and foremost and then I would like to put one of my b's in Rally. So thank you for the advice :)

  • The best results I have had is by teaching name response. I use clicker training but you could modify the technique to work without it. Start by just sitting with out in the yard with one dog or out on a park bench and say your dog's name. At first, any reponse to their name click and treat. Once they start to move away say name again, and if they start to turn toward you, click treat. What you really want is to build to them coming toward you when they hear their name. Usually they catch on pretty quickly that their name means treats are coming. Some will stop moving away from you and start just staring at you waiting for the click and treat, this is a great way to start working on attention. If you are really good about rewarding name response and practice a little everyday, you find that they build a very strong muscle memory to hearing their name.

  • Really Reliable Recall
    http://www.dogwise.com/search.cfm
    in book or dvd form

    Leslie Nelson has Afghan hounds, so she understands

  • Roast Beef, Chicken, Turkey, etc.

    In short Lunch Meat

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    All good suggestions so far for you to try. Here's my suggestions based on my experiences. 1. When mine first came to my home I would arrange a bit of vacation time so that the first day I was with them totally, then the next day I would disappear out the door for 15 minutes and then for longer times, then the third day I disappeared for an hour or more, etc., until I could go to work for half a day then eventually for my full regular work day. This took me about a week to train the dog to be home alone. 2. The second basenji that came into my life had been broken of his crate training by an ignorant owner so I never could get him back into it. Instead I blocked off a corner of the kitchen for him with a bed and toys for him to stay in for the first several days. Gradually I allowed him more wandering room until he was trustworthy enough to have access to the whole house. This took about a month. 3. Be sure to give your dog a variety of toys and especially the kind that you can put kibble or other food in (such as "Kong" toys). Basenjis need mental stimulation or they get bored (=destructive). My current basenji gets frozen raw marrow bones when I go to work and sometimes she'll still be nawing on it when I get home. I also save old bones and fill the hole with kibble and yogurt or pumpkin and then freeze and give this to her sometimes. 4. Someone mentioned rawhide but I've never had luck with that - it's not digestable and has caused problems with my dogs (one time a piece got stuck in the digestive tract and he screamed "bloody murder" with every movement). Never give your dog a treat unsupervised until you know she can handle it or doesn't have an allergic reaction to it. Once you know its safe then okay - but even then I never give the stick type treats to mine unless I'm home to supervise. Hope this helps.
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