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Whole Dog Journal

Basenji Training
  • This is a great magazine for dog owners, they always have great tips… here is one from this latest issue.....

    Destructive Chewing: Simple Ways to Prevent and Cure Destructive Chewing
    Puppies are notorious for their ability to chew on anything and everything. If you're at all dog-savvy you know when you get a new puppy that despite your best efforts to manage and supervise, you're likely to lose at least one valuable personal possession to the razor-sharp implements known fondly as puppy teeth.

    Puppies chew to explore their world as well as to relieve the pain and irritation of teething. What many dog owners don't seem to realize is that while puppies sooner or later get beyond the stage where they feel compelled to put their teeth on everything they see, mature dogs also need to chew to exercise their jaws, massage their gums, clean their teeth, and to relieve stress and boredom. It comes as an unpleasant surprise to many owners that chewing doesn't end at the age of six months when all of the dog's adult teeth are grown in.

    Puppies develop substrate preferences for elimination in the early months of their lives, and they similarly develop chew-object preferences. Hence the inadvisability of giving your old shoes or socks as chew toys.

    If you give your baby dog the run of the house and he learns to chew on Oriental carpets, sofa cushions, and coffee table legs, you will likely end up with a dog who chooses to exercise his jaws and teeth on inappropriate objects for years to come. You'll find yourself crating him frequently even as an adult dog, or worse, exiling him to a lonely life in the backyard, where he can chew only on lawn furniture, loose fence boards, and the edges of your deck and hot tub.

    Instead, focus your dog's fangs on approved chew toys at an early age and manage him well to prevent access to your stuff. In this way, he'll earn house privileges much sooner in life. By the end of his first year, you'll probably be able to leave him alone safely while you go out to dinner or shopping - or even while you're away at work.

    For more details and advice on ways to prevent and cure destructive chewing habits, purchase Whole Dog Journal's ebook, Simple Ways to Prevent and Cure Destructive Chewing.

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  • New dog in the house

    Basenji Training
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    PawlaP
    Take it REALLY REALLY slowly. Be sure to make good things happen when they are together and getting along. It took me 7 months to get my 4 yr old basenji rescue (who has a very high prey drive) to coexist with an old cat. If there is a bad experience, it can set everything back months, so be very careful to set up good experiences and avoid bad experiences.
  • Introducing to the Dog Park

    Basenji Training
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    B
    @curlytails: Basilboy, I just saw this post recently and thought of your post. "Dog Park Etiquette: Dos and Don'ts from a Trainer" http://dogblog.dogster.com/2011/10/04/dog-park-etiquette-dos-and-donts-from-a-trainer/ (I'm having a weird issue where all links to that blog keep redirecting to one specific post, not the one that I intended to link, so you might have to go to the main page? Anyway, sorry for any confusion) I personally prefer dog parks where I can keep moving, where there are lots of trails and plenty of things for my dogs to sniff and see aside from just interacting with dogs – because not every dog enjoys playing with every other dog! I feel like they learn to keep a closer eye on you (and you on them) if you're a moving target and not grounded to one spot all the time. So I don't really like small, completely fence-enclosed dog parks myself, but I do need adequate physical barriers (large bodies of water, partial fencing, etc.) combined with high visibility in order to feel secure letting my dogs off leash. Thank you for the article, a great read for before going to the dog park. Though I think we will wait until our puppy classes are over and I'm more confident in his behavior.
  • What to put my dog into???

    Basenji Training
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    lisastewartL
    Google Gazehounds in TX. They do straight and oval racing in the Mckinney, TX area. We come down occasionally for their NOTRA meets. They are having an oval race this weekend if you would like to atttend and watch I can send you directions. We will not be there this time as I'm having surgery Monday and need to take a couple weeks off. Where in TX is Pearland? We do lure coursing in Hutto, Waller and Cat Springs, but the season is at and end now. Will pick up again at the end of Sept which would be a good time for your girl to try some practice runs. There are lots of nice non basenji people in the clubs who will help you train her. Get a good recall on her now, puppy training classes would help for that.
  • Sleeping with your dog

    Basenji Training
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    P
    "I can't think what you all mean! I sleep with Basenjis every day of my life - Yours with love," Jewel (16 and a half)"
  • Dog door

    Basenji Training
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    c-busC
    Now that is compassion. I have only had my B for three weeks but what a character.
  • Dog whisperer???

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    myranM
    I agree i´ve used those methods on all my dog´s(long before Cesar came along) not only the basenji and never has a dog questioned my leadership.But I always praise and i´ve never used force never had the need for it so there i´m different.These methods are common methods with working dog´s I used to have a Boxer and i´ve just adjusted certain parts of it to fit the Basenji ;) Many of the dog´s in that show are just left to "run wild" no training or excercise and instead lot´s of silly things with people who humanize their dog´s.And they looked surprised if they need to take walks jeez I take mine out 4-5 times a day and two of the walks are 6 miles and he he plays with other dog´s every single day to keep him socialized as he´s growing into adulthood.I also show train him every day not more then 10-15 minutes just to keep it fresh in his mind. What people tend to forget obedience training is something that you have to keep doing continuously as their memory is not like ours so you have to keep it fresh in the mind. I probably stated the obvious but I do agree with Jazzys mum:)