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The puppies first practice

Basenji Training

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  • M

    Puppy biting

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    DebraDownSouthD
    @drew82 I've been doing rescue and breeding (not Basenjis, and not for 20 yrs now)... and I have to say that among responsible trainers, rescues, breeders and professional veterinary behaviorists, you won't find any who will say under 8 weeks is okay for any breed... and for many, 10 to 12 weeks is recommended. It is in fact illegal to take puppies under 8 weeks from some states and it should be in all of them. Call a few dozen rescues and ask them how many animals they deal with that have issues started from being placed too young. It is good you are working on things, just hopefully the physical responses won't continue. No breed needs to be swatted or even mildly hurt for training. Basenjis even less so than many. It hurts your relationship with the puppy, and you are punishing a baby for being a baby... there is no "rebellious thing"... just normal behavior you have to patiently train away from.
  • Family of CrittersF

    Puppy Kindergarden

    Basenji Training
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    MacPackM
    Way back when, Topper was the 'demo dog' for his puppy and adult classes, he would always do the new things, but get annoyed if the instructor kept asking him to do it again. "Hey Lady, I know what I'm doing, no need to repeat it!" Nicky became the demo dog for agility as she is fearless and loves heights. She did like to make the teeter-totter slam to the floor, and jump off grinning. Basenjis ARE smart and seem to excel at all sorts of classes as long as it's fun for them. Have fun with Kismet!
  • KitKatK

    Puppy class fun

    Basenji Training
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    NemoN
    @bernicem77: I took Luke to his first puppy class tonight, and WOW. He would not listen to me at all. He was more concerned with what the other dogs were doing than what we were supposed to be doing. What kind of treats did you guys use when trainning your B's? Like I said in my previous post, this is similar to what happened with me. Zoni had to get comfortable in the room, sometimes took her about 10 minutes or so. After a while she got used to it but was still very interested in everyone else, particularly if we were moving around the room. Really practice on attention exercises at home and that will help. I went through a range of different treats, and I think I found for class the smellier was better for getting her attention. Although not smelly, beef lung worked really well for me too and it is easy to use and break up into little pieces. Little biscuit-type treats weren't high value enough for her in class.
  • AndrewA

    Training a puppy

    Basenji Training
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    Robin_n_JackR
    HA! We did the up& back method at my petsmart class. Jack is so flexible, he would actually follow the treat back with his head, until his head was almost lying on his back. I think what I finally had to do was push his butt down with one hand, while holding the treat in front of his face with the other. He got really good at it…now, he sits when I snap my fingers, when I say sit, or, my favorite, when I salute him. Good luck!
  • Ninabeana26N

    Puppy Nipping

    Basenji Training
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    Robin_n_JackR
    @JazzysMom: With Keoki we have to firmly say, "NO" and if he doesn't stop, we hold him under the neck – not tightly, just enough so he can't grab -- and make him sit. Then we look him in the eye and say, "NO! Enough!". That usually does it for him, and he's getting better and better at either not biting and/or listening the first time. He usually does stop the first time w/me, and in fact seldom does bite at me in play, but not as well with Dh and the kids . One of my dd's says it's because he's afraid of me, but that is not the case. He never cringes, he just listens to the Mama! I think he sees the other dogs and the kids listening to me, and the fact that I don't ask or beg him to stop doing things. I TELL him. I am working to get the family to see the difference, and to stop bouncing around while saying, NO. LOL Same for me- that is exactly what I do! When he was younger we tried the yelp, and we tried ignoring him….neither seemed to work very well for us. This seems to work very well, at least in our case.
  • DukeD

    Ask To Pet First…

    Basenji Training
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    wizardW
    I've run into similar situations with the kids in the neighborhood. When they saw me walking my previous beastie, they would come running. I always told the kids to stop and let my dog smell their hand so he could tell if they were good or bad ("oh I'm a good girl" :)) and the kids surprisingly obeyed. Now when they see me with EL D they remember and do the right thing. And sometimes I hear them telling their sibling or friend "let EL D smell you first".