• The breeder was Michelle Smith Barbour-She is a wonderful breeder. Just adamant against clicker training-as many people are. Our dog has no unusual problems aside from being a puppy who likes to chase girls.

    The big problem is my daughter. She reacts by standing there and squealing, Waving her feet around. We are trying to get her to scream loud once and immediately put him out.

    As to the clicker, when he is in the mood he will learn anything FAST. But being a basinji he performs when he feels like it.


  • Hello & welcome from Canada. You will find a lot of useful info on this forum. Congrats on your new pup.

    G


  • Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll love this site! Lots of useful information and fun too!


  • Welcome to the forum!


  • Welcome to our group – in addition to trying to train him you should also train your daughter (no offense meant) - young children often don't know how to behave sometimes around dogs and high pitched squealing can get a dog excited the wrong way. I would definitely try to get him into an obedience class where he can socialize more.


  • Yes.. that is exactly the problem. I am looking for a class. One of my clients in Fort Lauderdale is a trainer but it is too far.

    He has also decided recently that peeing in the house is the better option.

    Yesterday I was working on my computer when I heard him come in. Then I started wondering who turned on a water faucet. I looked and he was peeing on the cables for my computer (I am moving it to a high shelf) The little $#%* came in to pee!


  • At his age… he just had to pee.... I don't think he really came in there just to pee.... if he is peeing in the house, then you are not taking him out often enough... The biggest key to potty training is being consistant and taking them out "before" they think it is time to pee.


  • Puppies need consistent training and frequent potty breaks. Many times by the time the puppy realizes it has to go it has just about enough time to find you before it has to pee. At 9 weeks old, my middle girl would find me glance at the door and if I didn't immediately pick her up she would pee because she just couldn't hold it anymore. We really had to work on getting her more frequently and waiting for her bladder to grow enough that she could hold it after letting us know she needed to go out.

    It is also not good enough to just put the puppy outside, you must go out with the puppy and praise them when they do go. They need to know that going outside is the right thing. Take the puppy out when it first wakes up, when it is playing hard, after it eats or drinks.


  • I am +1 with everything stated above… its important to remember that your baby puppy isn't urinating in the house on purpose. They just need to pee a lot more than one would think. Including after every session of play... remember: movement = urine.


  • One day after pharaoh's six month birthday he killed a squirrel in our back yard.

    The very next morning he killed another in under 2 seconds when he was let out into the backyard. I put in several bird feeders to amuse him when we were gone.

    He had killed and partially eaten a vole (large mouse like creature) the week before. I took a female cardinal away from him a week before that.

    The problem is he is getting more aggressive when he gets excited. We got him at 7 weeks which we now realize was a mistake. His puppy chewing has nearly stopped. But when he runs in the yard he wants to include a running slashing bite when he passes us.

    My wife was trying to get him off of the couch after his bath and he latched onto her harm hard-after biting her hip during play in the yard.

    If he is biting or chewing us and we say "no biting" and he stops. The play bites are getting deeper and closer to breaking the skin.. Any ideas?


  • Have you managed to get him into any training classes?


  • I have to wonder…if you are concerned with his aggression, esp. when excited, why would you put bird feeders out for his amusement? It seems counter productive to your goal of calming him.

    Do you walk him outside the yard at all.


  • He goes on walks frequently and has plenty of positive interaction. He has been aggressive since he was a puppy. He is now 6 months old. He is very seldom left alone. He loves people and dogs, but seems to be extremely dominant when he can get away with it with dogs.


  • It sounds like he needs more training. I would make him sit for everything. I would make sure he has plenty of chew toys and I recommend nylabones.

    I would also recommend having a complete thyroid test done on him, not just a T4. Basenjis are known for low thryoid which can cause aggression. However, I do not know if it is recommended for dogs that young although I have had the test done on one that was around 10-11 months old and he did have low thyroid.

    If you do not stop his behavior now, it will become learned and he will get his way by biting.

    Have you called his breeder to ask for advice or see if any of his littermates behave this way?

    Is he neutered or intact?


  • Welcome to the group. As you start to socialize him he will calm down. Get him in a puppy class.

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