Stop with the free feeding... this is a dog that needs to be on a schedule. And a cup and a half might be too much for a 20lb dog. Try reducing it to a cup. I have also found that feeding 2x's a dog is better than once a day. I have never let my dogs free feed. Once he is on a schedule you can mostly determine when he should have to go... and then you take him out and stay out till he goes. A trick you can use (many don't like this but I will put it out there) is what people that show use. Insert a match in his bum half way.... This will stimulate him to go, when he does praise/treat him. And until he gets the idea, you will need to keep him crated or on leash. You can search the forum for other conversations about using a match to stimulate. Search for match trick
First day, foundation work– also anyone do bridge and target training?
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Not a hijack!!!! I guess I know what my next "happy whatever to me" gift will be =). Thanks a million!
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Well, we finally hit our first training stand-off! It certainly had to happen at some point, I guess I should be grateful that it took this long ;0). I'm going to write out what I'm doing and ask for ideas in one of the other "rooms", but briefly she's decided she's not going to pee first thing in the morning, she wants to hold it so she can mark when we're out and about. I can't always work her out first thing in the morning, so now we're in a standoff with her bladder.
Other than this, though she's been really great. Every day we do some sort of parkour-play walk, a run with the bike, scentwork exercises, etc. She has a massive working vocabulary though her compliance is… pretty much exactly what you'd expect, based entirely on how motivated she happens to be to comply at the given moment ;0). She's a trip. My standing joke around the house is "I could have had an ACTUAL pet raccoon". We've been playing around with a little trick training, too. "Stick 'em up!" and "Bang!" are my two favorites =). If I need to focus on working her mind we'll practice something like "lay down", "down with chin on the ground", "on your side", "belly up", and "roll over", which I call "da", "da su pera", "bang", "upside-down dog!" and "rollo" and practice going back and forth between gradients of one behavior. Sometimes we'll play with putting her paws in different positions, including right/left relative directional stuff, or practice moving her body up/down/on/around/under some object.
I haven't had a chance to hunt her in a safe way. I haven't been able to get access to anywhere to enter her to rabbits. I'd love, LOVE to do some urban ratting with her, but there are a lot of poison boxes around, so no bueno on that count!
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Well, we finally hit our first training stand-off! It certainly had to happen at some point, I guess I should be grateful that it took this long ;0). I'm going to write out what I'm doing and ask for ideas in one of the other "rooms", but briefly she's decided she's not going to pee first thing in the morning, she wants to hold it so she can mark when we're out and about. I can't always work her out first thing in the morning, so now we're in a standoff with her bladder.
This is one I have no problems with. Pee comes before breakfast. Right before. No pee, no breakfast! I do something similar at night, for the "last round". Pee = chew. No pee, no chew. I even have a song I sing. "Pee for chew and chew for pee, woo, woo, woo, wee, wee, wee!" I just sing, push him out the door to the backyard, and the pee happens!
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Yup, nothing fun happens until everybody's peed. Today she saw the old man go out on HER walk hour and was DISPLEASED. I agreed with her that it sure would be fun to go for a romp!
I'm glad we're not the only dweebs who sing to our dogs. We've taken to improvising a life soundtrack to the tune of "Springtime for Hitler" that usually starts "____-time for Basenjis, ______". The past couple days it's been "Pottytime for basenjis, come on, go pee!"