1st time dog owner

[donna]

I own a 1 year old B. This is our first dog ever. The person we purchased Maggie through told us she is a very calm dog which is what we were looking for. Unfortunately we did no research on B's. My husband just fell in love with her so we purchased her. She is a lot of work but we all love her to death. Will my B ever be able to be left out of her cage when we are not home or at night for bedtime? I'm afraid she will tear everything up if left unattended. I feel bad crating her when we are not home or at bedtime. She can not sleep with us because we have a cat and they do not get along. Maggie just wants to terrorize her. One good thing is she just loves other dogs. Is this normal for a B? Will she calm down any when she gets older? Everything I've read here sounds like Maggie is just a normal B. Anything I should be aware of with a B as she gets older? Thanks for your help.

[BDawg]

For our family, we HAVE to crate the dogs when we leave. It's for their protection and for our home's. I would never ever take the risk of leaving them out and possibly coming home to destroyed stuff. No thanks. We did it ONCE and we lost the couch. I wish we could….

Get her a cozy bed to sleep on either in the closet or next to your bed. Work diligently on training her to sleep in her bed at night. Chances are, she'll eventually take to her bed over being crated.

Basenji's are social animals. My little Lexi LOVES other dogs. All kinds. Well, she prefers big dogs, but it's not unusual for B's to like other dogs.

And yes, eventually they calm down SOME... My little girl didn't calm down until 3 or 4. We just rescued Miles and we don't know his age. But he's a wild one!! I think they will always "activate" and do the B-500 every once in a while. That hasn't changed and Lexi's almost 6 now.

Stick to your guns. It will work out. You could always get her a pal...

[jys1011]

Our breeder told us once they'll calm down in about 10 years or so :eek: hA! So that's that. I'm sorry that person mislead you. B's are very active little guys but there's lots of ways to burn off their energy…lots of walking, biking or rollerblading, and lure coursing or track racing.

In my experience...a tired dog is a calm dog & less inclined to destroy things.

That said I dunno if I would ever leave them out unattended.

[Vegas]

our b's are left uncrated 99% of the time. In fact, the only time they are crated is when we're at home, and they're misbehaving or just being pains in general.

Now, when they were pups up to about 3 years old, they were crated all of the time, but as they grew up, we gradually weened them away from it.

[annandael]

I crate mine when I go to work or leave the house. I am in total agreement with BDawg. It's safer for your dog and your sanity to have them sleep in the crate while you aren't around. I've tried having my girl out of her crate and while one day she was fine…the next she was mad I left her and she tore up a few of my things. :eek:

With Basenjis I think it is a sort of mandatory thing...you may think it's cruel but it's not. It's very thoughtful actually and responsible. You will thank yourself later for it, trust me. (And so will your B's AND your house!)

[drummamamma]

I crate mine but do leave him confined to the Laundry room with toys food and my big dog if I am going to be gone longer than usual. This weekend someone left the bathroom door ajar and he managed to get in there, shut the door and lock himself in the bathroom!…....with a brand new roll of toilet paper........wow what a disaster when we got back. Luckily no permanent damage but he was so scared he was shaking and so nervous. I think he would rather have been in his crate!

[alkite]

Ha! My dog was left in the bathroom and he ate the shower curtain, rendered the door in need of a new paint job and chewed the corners off my built in.

I thought my husband may actually stroke out or kill Giz. Luckily Giz gave us his "I'm too adorable for words" look just in time

We crate both of our dogs (on B and one Terrier mix). Giz, the Basenji, took a while to get used to it, but he is fine in the crate now. We accidentally left Angel's crate door open one day and she was so confused that when my hubby came home for lunch, she was crying and pacing. She ran straight for her kennel and waited for him to shut the door before she would calm down! haha. Our house and our dogs are safe when we aren't there. If you have dogs that don't get into things when you are gone, great. If you don't it isn't something to feel guilty about when you crate them. IMO.

[drummamamma]

I just think it is easier for them and it makes them feel secure when you have to take them in the car etc. I had mine in the car in the crate and in trying to get him out and leashed for a walk he got scared and ran back in there. Also I had a workman at my house with all the crawl spaces open, in and out the front door etc and my b found solace in the crate and I felt that he was safe while there were people working. I just wonder if he lays down while I am gone, it seems he is always standing ready to exit when I approach hopefully he is not like that the whole time I am gone!

[youngandtired]

When I got Sahara she was 8 wks. old and I crated her, now that she is 1 I never use the crate. I work only 3hrs. a day at night, so I never crate her. She uses the doggie door and I close the door to my living room and bedrooms, bathrooms. She stays in my den with the tv on of course to keep her company. Even if I am gone for the day I don't crate, she sleeps alot on her special blanket in the recliner, and spends alot of time outside. Lots of times when I come home she is outside watching the cats and dogs. I have underground electric fence to keep her in the yard. She gets into my things when I am home, not when I am gone. I look around before I leave to make sure everything is up high and not where she can get them. Knock on Wood, So Far, So Good!!!!!! haha!!!!!!

[gbroxon]

Although I wish I could crate my B, he has mild separation anxiety and though we worked to overcome his crate problems, he always, when alone, would get anxious, mess in it, "clean it up" (if you know what I mean) and then usually get sick from the clean-up. So, in return for agreeing to let my husband expand his pole barn, he built Magnum an indoor/outdoor kennel in our lower-level laundry room. Magnum can now be inside or outside, depending on his whim. He's got room to roam in either place to work off his anxiety, and I don't have to worry about him getting into things he shouldn't.

If we could have gotten him comfortable in his crate, though (we worked with him for months on it), it woulda been a lot less expensive!

[jys1011]

I just wonder if he lays down while I am gone, it seems he is always standing ready to exit when I approach hopefully he is not like that the whole time I am gone!

I have doggie cam & they do actually sleep ALLLLLL day long. I worried that they would stress all day but they do settle down. I like the doggie cam so I can keep an eye on them & make sure they're ok while I'm not home.

[Quercus]

@gbroxon:

Although I wish I could crate my B, he has mild separation anxiety and though we worked to overcome his crate problems, he always, when alone, would get anxious, mess in it, "clean it up" (if you know what I mean) and then usually get sick from the clean-up. So, in return for agreeing to let my husband expand his pole barn, he built Magnum an indoor/outdoor kennel in our lower-level laundry room. Magnum can now be inside or outside, depending on his whim. He's got room to roam in either place to work off his anxiety, and I don't have to worry about him getting into things he shouldn't.

If we could have gotten him comfortable in his crate, though (we worked with him for months on it), it woulda been a lot less expensive!

That sounds really nice! We had the same situation with Querk. He is very trustworthy in the house…and has been since he was about 1-2 years old. We knew when we tried leaving him loose for the first time that we might be buying a new couch, though. But he did fine. Not every B can be trusted like that, but some can.

[ChaseandZahrasmom]

Jys,

How do you view the doggie cam while you are away from home? This sounds like a great idea.

Thanks.

[jys1011]

My techie husband got it to work…so I'll do my best to explain. We bought a camera to attach to our computer about $35 and then a software that takes pictures & uploads it to a website. You can create a free webpage with Yahoo Geocities. So the camera takes a picture every 15 sec & automatically loads the a pics up to the web page and will be replaced every 15 sec with a new pic that is uploaded.

Not a bad deal $$ wise either

[Mantis]

I crate mine when I go to work or leave the house. I am in total agreement with BDawg. It's safer for your dog and your sanity to have them sleep in the crate while you aren't around.

I agree. I now take Caesar and Cairo to work with me and all they do is sleep. Caesar and Cairo are in a kennel when I am out of the house. There is always an adjustment period where there is a bit of whining, but it is a nice thing to train them to do if you go out of town and have to have them in a kennel.