Who is your breeder?
I agree that it is good to have a dog tolerate sleeping in a crate at night. But I don't think there is any reason that a dog MUST sleep in a crate, unless there are some other issues going on like resource guarding, etc.
You are still kind of getting to know Lola, so it is nice that your breeder is giving you some tips….but in the end, you will just find what feels comfortable for your family.
So far, I don't think there are any issues like resource guarding going on. She's very affectionate and has never snapped or growled at us. In fact she's very well behaved aside from the early morning screaming.
The breeder's feelings on this are coming to me from my husband, so I may have misinterpreted the whole must be crated thing. We're also still within a 30 day trial period, so it may be an issue of wanting Lola to stay well trained in case a new family has to be found.
Yeah, we'll have to figure some things out over time. My husband said the same thing.
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Well, that absolutely makes sense. If it doesn't work out for Lola in your home, you definitely wouldn't want to make it difficult for the breeder or the next family to have her settle into a new routine.
Sounds like she is going to work out though 
Ooops, forgot to answer your question about what breeder we used. We got Lola from Taji Basenjis (Katie Campbell), here in WA. She's been really great and I know she has Lola's best interests at heart. I have NO intention of giving her up, but Katie probably wants to make sure she can more easily find a new home. Especially since this is already her second home and I said I have allergies. I've had zero problems with allergies, by the way. (Yeay!)
GREAT! Katie is the breeder of two of our dogs as well. Blondie and Bella; you can see their pics in the photo albums. Bella is the one in my avatar
Having them sleep in a crate till morning (regardless if it is their morning or yours) is crate training… and honestly if they wake up after 6 or 7 hours, regardless if you withhold water, they will still need to pee most likely... Sounds to me like that might have been her regular wake up time...
I would say let her go pee and all go back to bed...ggg... that is what I always did.... that became their special time...
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We have done that before too Two always sleep in the bed with us, but we have done a morning switch...before Ethan came along.....the little early riser that he is...I haven't gone back to bed in almost four years!_
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We have done that before too
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LOL…. yes for some reason those human children just don't get the cuddle under the covers...like a Basenji... ggggg_
before Ethan came along…..the little early riser that he is...I haven't gone back to bed in almost four years!
Andrea that's a scary thought :eek: I'm already up at 6am all week & no going back to bed for us :eek: :eek: I can't imagine doing this even earlier..uuuughhh lol
BTW-mine usually have to go pee as soon as they wake up too!
Well, this morning was a complete turn around. At about 6am, Lola woke up. I could hear her, but she wasn't in tantrum mode yet. I took her outside where she peed right away. Then we went in and she curled up and slept in the bed with us for another hour. The rest of the morning was easier too, because she stayed on the bed for a while with my husband while I got ready for the day. It was a real treat. Thanks for the advice!
Super, glad that it worked out….. I am sure she loved her special treat of sleeping in bed with you guys!
HA!! Bingo…we have a winner! 
I luv when we find things that just work for these little guys.
Boy, did she ever love it! We loved it too! An actual quiet morning and snuggling with Lola…what could be more perfect than that?
In fact, when we went to bed last night, she expected to sleep in the bed with us right away. She put up a little fuss when we crated her, but calmed down pretty quickly. I'm a little worried about her continuing to put up a fuss and always wanting to be on the bed, but I'm hoping she'll just get used to the drill.
I want to get some steps for her too, because the bed is a little high for her. I've heard that can be bad for the joints in the long run.
I wouldn't think that the bed is too high and being young (15 months), should never be a problem for a Basenji…. and I am sure she will get used to the drill.... she might always fuss a little just to see if "maybe" she can go to bed with you... but sounds to me like she understands...
Well, I just experienced a little Basenji owner embarrasment. I work at a church and live next door. My husband and I put Lola in her crate, went to lunch for 1 hour and returned. Apparently, she was making so much noise that a neighbor came over to the church because they thought she was being abused or something was dreadfully wrong. 
They could hear her in the church office too. The secratary at our office even let herself into the house to check on her. All she did was say her name to try and calm her down and then she left. Needless to say they weren't happy and I was totally embarassed. I then called my husband who said she peed in the crate.
Any thougts? I'm not sure why this was a big deal. It makes me wonder if we're not setting up our relationship as the alfa correctly and that obedience class is something we should start asap…even if it's mostly for our education. I mean, I don't think this is about having to pee. She did that earlier this morning and it seems she should be able to hold it longer.
Do you usually crate her when you go out? Was this something different in her schedule? If she is not normally crated when you go out then it is something she will need to learn. Dogs do not generalize well so when something changes it is sometimes like training the behavior all over again. Also, I always potty my dogs before going into the crate. It is part of their routine. They go out to potty then come in and get their crate treat in their crates.
We've never left her home alone without crating her. My husband is iften home, so we haven't had to crate her much outside of nighttime. We should have taken her out right before. You're right that it's not part of a regular routine. Sometimes we do it for dinner, but I don't think we've ever done it for lunch. Do you give her a treat that she can take a while to eat, like a bone? We just gave her a little jerky treat for getting into the crate.
For sure she should have toys in her crate… and maybe a kong filled with goodies for her... and yes of course a walk before the crate would be in order... I would never just expect them to "hold it" because they went earlier in the morning...
I'm so glad I found these forums I'm embarassed at how little I know, but grateful that you are all so willing to share your wisdom. You know, this is my first dog ever. :o
All we have are fuzzy toys and we've been waiting for the previous owners to send her other toys. We should probably get her something more interactive or something to chew on. Any suggestions for good crate toys?
Kongs are new to me too. I'll have to get one of those and fill it with something fun. No peanut butter though…I'm seriously allergic to nuts.
I have used various things but stuffed kongs or a stuffed sterilized bones are favorites. You can actually seal the ends with a little cream cheese and have the middle stuffed with their breakfast, lunch, or dinner so they are really just eating their regular meal with a couple of hidden surprises to make it interesting. It is like hidden treasure for them and mine will pull them out of their crates at the end of the day just to check to make sure they got every last bit of flavor out of them.
