My girlfriend and I intended to go on a trip to Swanhaven and take the two basenjis, Mister Two Dicks and Pepper with us. Because we intended to keep the dogs inside the holiday house, we decided to take the dogs to a dog grooming shop for them to have a professional shampoo and clean. When I dropped the two dogs off at the grooming shop, I warned the operator to keep an eye on Pepper as she will kill any small dogs in the shop, if given the opportunity. Well, the operator didn't heed my warning and turned his back on Pepper whilst he was washing another dog, to his detriment. Pepper completely demolished the metal barred cage she was being kept in. I don't mean that she just gnawed on the side of the cage, but actually broke it. Fortunately, the operator accepted liability. We went away and Pepper and Mister Two Dicks had a wonderful weekend. When we came home, I realised that Mister Two Dicks was not walking normally and I decided to take him to the chiropractor. We have a doggy door which we had to have replaced a couple of months ago because Pepper had broken it. It cost me $70 then. When I took Mister Two Dicks to the chiropractor, I locked Pepper outside in the backyard. When I returned after taking Mister Two Dicks to the chiropractor, I opened my front door to find Pepper inside my house. She had headbutted the doggy door so much that it had shattered and she forced herself inside. Another $70 to buy another doggy door. Anyone want a free Basenji???? I think she is possessed.
She is a girl and they always get their way. (Pepper told me this) That's just the way it is.
That she does, MacPack. That she does. LOL
how long have you had your basenjis ? your message is sad, not funny, sorry - if someone put me in a cage, I would also try and get out of it …... You should listen to Pepper, as she is obviously telling you that she does not want to be left home alone -
Such strong dogs in such little packages.
We had a bitch like that.. she was a tri and was very very TRYING.. I feel the pain.. 
how long have you had your basenjis ? your message is sad, not funny, sorry - if someone put me in a cage, I would also try and get out of it …... You should listen to Pepper, as she is obviously telling you that she does not want to be left home alone -
Dogs are not infants who must have a human with them every minute 24/7. Sometimes they MUST be left alone and sometimes they NEED to be in a crate.
That said, I found the story funny, but the dog's name… lol, not even going to ask.
PiaMerete, perhaps you misread my story or maybe I didn't explain it correctly. The dog groomer put her in a cage whilst he was washing another dog. In my opinion it is better to cage her then to let her roam around the shop with the possibility of escaping should a customer open the front door whilst he, the groomer was washing another dog. I don't cage my dogs. I have had basenjis since 1999. Pepper is my third basenji and most destructive. Of course basenjis do not like being left home alone, but you cannot become a prisoner in your own home to basenjis. I do own a crate and could have easily left her home in that, but with the temperature here being around 40C inside, I preferred to leave her outside where at least she could catch a cool breeze.
Well Pepper did it again. I left her and Mister Two Dicks in the backyard, locked the doggy door and went out. When I returned, there was Pepper sitting on the lounge, a smirk on her face, the doggy door completely shattered. Oh, Mister Two Dicks was hiding outside. Bloody hell, there goes another $70.00 to replace the doggy door. It was either get rid of Pepper or think of a way to prevent her from being so damaging. I bought two things. The first was a Nelson Remote Rain On/Off Watering Control 56620 which allows me to turn on and off my water tap from inside my home. The next thing I bought was a Contech Electronics CRO101 Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler. This is a sprinkler system that is activated by motion. Hooked all together with my water system and pointing the Scarecrow towards the doggy door, not once has Pepper been brave enough to headbang the doggy door. Don't get me wrong, little devil that she is, if I do not lock the doggy door from inside, she will take the chance and run the gauntlet to get inside. But once she is sprayed, she doesn't give it a second go. As well as spraying a two second spray of water, it makes a strange spraying noise which scares the two dogs away from the area under guard. Cost??? I bought them both from Amazon.com. The Nelson Remote Rain On/Off Watering Control 56620 was $39.98 and the Contech Electronics CRO101 Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler was $44.27. So, a total of $84.25 plus postage and handling. Was it worth it? YES, YES, YES. I want to keep Pepper and I also want to control her. She has to know who the boss is and if I cannot train her I want to disable her from breaking into my home when I am not there.
Brilliant solution! Just be on the lookout that there isn't something that is making her nervous outside, and you don't see other undesirable behaviors pop out…like fighting with the other dog, or something else. I like that the sprinkler has a warning sound to let the dog know they are about to get sprinkled. Your idea would be fabulous for gardners that want to keep cats out of their garden...you could be a millionaire!
Wait a second – why are you insisting that Pepper stay outside? From your posts, she has "only" destroyed the doggy door and not done damage inside the house (unless there's more to the story). Why not leave her inside?
I never leave mine outside when I am gone. Too much danger out there.
Mine have access to the yard and the house (their doggy room) via a doggy door.
It all comes down to what folks think an acceptable risk is. I know too many dogs poisoned or lost when outside and no one there… so mine are never, ever in 30 yrs, outside when I am not home. Hell I had one bitten by a snake when I was home. Had I not been here and got her to the vet immediately, she'd have been dead. If I had some kind of secure fence within a fence setting so no one and nothing could get to them, I'd love to have them outside in a secure run. But not just with my fence. That's just me. And having had tree branches hit my fence twice in 10 yrs, well, just wouldn't do it without that idea fence within a fence.
Since we have 12' privacy fences, padlocked gates, set far back from the street and have been through 10+ Basenjis over the years, I don't worry about it (too much) … I think we all worry, be them in the house, in a run, run of the house/yard... as said, we are all comfortable with what we decide
The OP has a right to want his dog to stay outside, and not break her way through the door It may be that some of us wouldn't leave our dogs outside during the day, but lots of people happily, and safely do. There is a big difference between a panicked dog that breaks out of something, and a persistant dog that has decided she wants to be somewhere. I think we can give the OP the benefit of the doubt that he knows his dog well enough to know that she simply wants to get in.
That being said, if neither dog is destructive inside, I would probably let them come and go…because giving animals a choice is often the healthiest approach for everybody...but as we know, giving them a choice doesn't always jive with keeping your stuff safe!
As I said Pat, it's individual comfort zones. If I had your setup with privacy fence (which makes snakes unlikely :), and were off the road, I'd probably feel much safer. But your situation is not what most have. If something happens to our dogs, we have to live with it, decide if we made the right choices, etc. As it should be.
But I also think we should have the right here to say if we will NOT do something and why, whether it is leaving collars on, leaving outside, crating, etc. There is a difference between saying why we make our choices and calling someone a bad owner for deciding different. When you see me call someone a bad owner for making choices, even if it is a choice I PERSONALLY feel carries more risks than I PERSONALLY am willing to do, call me on it.
We can be comfortable with our decisions when we think them out. I wasn't bashing those of you who leave dogs outside unattended, but I do feel it's legit to point out that for most people it carries risks. We have had a couple of local dogs poisoned this week, another person has signs up for dog stolen out of their yard. I am sure you didn't mean to be dismissive or indicate there are no dangers, but felt the need to expand here. Again, you have a fairly unique fencing and situation that helps reduce risks.
My Basenjis come and go outside at will but i do have a secure fence (I have to because of the sheep). Depending on the weather the outside door is left open even when I'm out for a time.
To each his own and I'm sure that we respect what other people do. It's a matter of being aware and weighing up the risks.
Thanks Quercus. Little bugger that she is, Pepper only wants to get inside. There is no other thing outside making her nervous. Ha, no millionaire for me. The ads for the sprinkler show the sprinkler scaring away, cats, dogs, birds, the Pope, etc. Yes, the Pope, lol.
ROFLMAO, Okay I want to see the ad! That's hysterical.
