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Potty time

Behavioral Issues
  • Hi everyone!
    My husband and I recently moved into a new home with a backyard finally! My 2yo basenji male seems to be having trouble adjusting to potty time is now mainly in the backyard. He is use to 3-4 walks a day and marking ALOT outside due to living in an apartment for 1.5 yrs. Any suggestions on how to train him to potty in backyard? He FINALLY went pee this morning after holding it most the day/night yesterday but poop, he just won’t. Btw I will still walk him for excersise but I need him to get use to the potty time in backyard. P.s we don’t have any trees or shrubs in the backyard yet. Moved in 3 weeks ago.

  • Is it possible for you to install a doggy door? I was forced to put one in - my basenji would wake me up @ 1-2 am to take her out. I'd be sleeping and there'd be a dog @ my face tugging and nudging me to take her out. My basenji has NEVER peed or pooped in my house and she will be 13 in January. I will say she does most of her BUSSINESS on her walks but will go to her "poop station" w/ her doggie door if necessary. The doggie door has been a god-send. We do not crate our basenji so she can go out whenever necessary to relieve herself. My only issue now - she is too old to jump up on the bed - so when she goes out @ night she comes in and stands on side of bed hitting me & pulling on the blankets for me to pick her up onto the bed - she is such a baby and I love her!🐾🐕❤️

  • @kembe I live in a Condo but my Dog knew to ask to go out. When she was 12 she had a Carcinoma and when it was removed I had to pick her up to put her on the Bed. She lived for 4 more years and this year would have been her 20th Birthday. I think the Doggie Door is a great idea. These dogs love to run, at least mine did...

  • I am not a fan of doggie doors open at night. Snakes, fence damage, idiots or monsters...

    There are great stairs for dogs to get on the bed. We had one for one basenji and although she resisted it at first, she finally really was proud that she figured out how to use it. :)

    Pottying... pick up poo on a walk, put it in the back yard. If you have to matchstick a few times and celebrate and treat to the max, do it. But do make it also fun... marking is so important, lol. Get a fake fire hydrant made for dogs, or find a log and sit it in the yard, or a fake bush, whatever. Cheer when he marks, pees, poops. After he poops, take him immediately on a walk so he gets "poop here" then "walk to mark and sniff after."

  • @lindsey
    When on your walks, bring home his poop and place it in an area in the back yard that seems right and area open so you can see his poop when picking up tome comes around.

    If you need to care for his going out, put in a "doggy door" next to the back yard door.
    Stafford-Ames Morse
    [removed email address]

  • Unless they grow up pooping in the backyard, it seems like they view the backyard as an extension of the house, which means pooping there isn't desirable. (And something you should be thankful for! LOL). So their/your backyard can't be used. But your neighbor's .....

    My solution has been to just take them on walks. Works and gets me some exercise. But I like Debra's suggestion(s).

    Haven't noticed the same issue with peeing.

    Let us know how it works out.

  • Thank y’all so much! I will def try all the suggestions and will keep y’all updated.

  • Many Basenjis will NEVER poop in their own garden. Mine will but the will never poop in the same place twice ! I have a very big garden (yard with shrubbery, lawns, flower borders, trees ?) and although mine go to the woods for a free run most days, if I have other things to do, they have to make do with the garden and that means I have to clean the lawns !

    Plant trees, make the yard interesting and given him something to pee against

  • @antigone I feel for you. I can tell u still have an emotional connection to your baby. True love.❤️🐕🐾❤️

  • @kembe When she finally was put to sleep in my Arms I felt like I had lost my kid. I am sure many feel the same way. I will get another from a relation but I have to wait for my 14-year-old Killer Cat to pass. I refuse to euthanize a healthy animal and I know if I brought a Puppy or a Kitten here she would kill again.

    The thing is Cats kill other Cats more often than most people think. She killed my fave Cat and I have had at least 30 since I was 15 years old, and that silly little Cat with the Mustache was so delightful it will take me a very long time to get another Cat.

    The loss of my B and my fave Horse who was 25 nearly killed me. My Horse could have lived much longer but he had EPM which Dogs can get too. It is a parasite that the animal gets from eating grass that Raccoons and Opossums have left their Scat on and there is not a cure. It is basically Animal Multiple Sclerosis which cannot be cured but it can be managed.

    German Shepherd Dogs and the Belgian Malinois have something that causes them to lose strength their Hind Legs but that is not EPM. My Mom had a gorgeous Belgian Malinois and she treated him with Vitamin B12 Shots at the Vet and kept him as active as possible. He was pts when he was 14 years old and he was one of my favorite Dogs. He was brought to the US by his Handler who was a member of the Spanish Guard. He understood Spanish but took him a while to learn English. He also had a career as a Coke Sniffer at JFK. His name was 'Cokie'!

    I clearly love all animals and do not have a preference for Breed except for the Basenjis. The things that people have a hard time with are exactly why I love them!
    Horses are easy because they tell you all you need to know by reading their Body Language. Dogs are a bit harder because you may not have a clear idea of what horrible things have happened. Felines are a Mystery to me! Lupines are great but they are super quiet but are responsive to being part of the Pack.

    It is my experience that animals are rarely aggressive, they are DEFENSIVE. Sure there are dangerous Breeds like the Presa de Canario that have killed people. That is the exception and I think they are no longer allowed in the US. I am not sure of that though.

    :)

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    @Saving so nice to hear there's other people with the same problem! We have been giving regular baths to our b, so I don't know if that really helped or not. Anyways, it took a while for me to bring Nova again to the dog park, because I was a bit afraid the same situation would happen again. I was there a couple of days ago, and no one tried to hump her. (I must say all dogs had same age approx.) Thank you for your comment replies! :)
  • Bed time troubles…

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    Thanks for the advice foschatt! As I mentioned, my family went out of town for two weeks to Sweden. While they were away Dallas continues to sleep in my room while the other two dogs slept in my parent's room. Dallas' behavior greatly diminished during the two weeks. The first 3 mornings or so he would whine & pace. However, as he realized that the other dogs were not being fed until I got up either, he started sleeping in more. I really do think he wakes up & wants out when he hears my step dad getting up for work. My stepdad feeds the other two dogs [we tried having him not feed Dallas] around 5 AM when he is getting ready for work. Therefore, it is someone being up that has been causing him to wake up & whine to be let out. There is still a chance I may start putting him back in his crate to sleep. Problem is, he is kept crated during the day so I don't really find it fair for him to do both. I'm still working on it I suppose… He's gotten better but now that they are back in town he has already begun to regress. sigh Around 2 AM my stepdad let our family dogs out & in the process Dallas woke up & basically wouldn't go back to bed afterwards. I let him outside to pee for like 15 minutes. However, when we came back into the house he kept whining & pacing again. He didn't end up finally falling back asleep until after 3 AM! I am quite tired this AM I must say...
  • Biting all the time

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  • Potty on bed and couch,,,,grrrrrrr

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    You are _too _funny, Andrea! The image of that has just made me smile and laugh - thanks for making my day!!
  • Ok…I've Had It...It's Muzzle Time

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    @Mantis: so how is it working? the LEAVE IT command is great. Start with not cat objects you dont want you puppy to play with, say leave it, get the attention and give a tiny treat… you can also encourage this type of response while playing fetch. when the puppy brings back the toy, hold the toy until the pup releases it, say GIVE not participating in any tugging or shaking behavior which encourages the prey drive. i find that a soothing voice and looking the puppy directly in the eye does the trick. they will look away or release the toy. if this is hard, use a tiny treat to encourage the GOOD GIVE after the fact. Leave it is similar. i used to chase caesar around when he wanted to chase the cats....lots of LEAVE ITs and treats, but the give works as well....caesar bled the two commands together.... give is good becuase it establishes your terms to the game and doesnt encourage that shaking behavior if you want to avoid it ( i avoid the behavior in case we have small kids in the house that pull toys from the dogs) leave it is good to establish your own terms.... Great post, Mantis. I totally agree, and great explanation of the training steps!
  • 1st time dog owner

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    MantisM
    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.