Kennel Training

[slents]

I have a great deal of trouble getting my 10month Basenji to stay in the kennel at night. He howls for hours and when I can't stand it any longer and come downstairs I find that he has pee'd all over the floor. My wife is going nuts and I need to fix this. HELP me

[tanza]

@slents - Crate at night should be in the bedroom with you, not alone downstairs. Basenjis want to be with you, even in a crate. Mine have always been in our bedroom (reason for more than one crate). I use wire crates and cover them with a blanket to make it more like a den. My two girls that I have now, sleep in their crates with the doors open, in the past my Basenjis slept in bed or in their crates

[eeeefarm]

Agree with tanza, the pup should be in the same room as you, either in a kennel or on a pet bed or in your bed (the usual Basenji preference). They want to be with their people, so of course he gets upset when left alone. That said, if you insist on leaving him elsewhere in the house you are sabotaging your chances of getting him to accept it if you go to him while he is fussing about it. You are teaching him not to give up but to keep on howling until you give him positive reinforcement by coming to him.

[Kembe]

@slents
Once you put Zaki’s kennel in your bedroom your problems will be solved. He just wants to be with you.️

[JENGOSMonkey]

Jengo and now Logan always sleep in the bedroom... on the bed. We have an ottoman with a dog bed on it, but both prefer the people bed. My wife doesn’t like the dog next to her so it’s usually piled on me. I understand not everyone is a fan of their dog on the bed. I agree that you should consider moving his crate to your bedroom.

[Kembe]

@jengosmonkey
Our basenji slept in our bed for the past 14 and a half years. I never in a million years would have thought my husband would have ever allowed it - but he is also crazy about our dog. About 9 months ago I had to put a doggie bed in our bedroom for her to sleep - with her age I was too afraid she might jump off or accidentally fall off and get hurt. To think years ago she use to jump on and off that bed with ease - then a few years ago I had to pick her up and put her on the bed and now I’m fearful that she’ll fall off or hurt herself - it has been a journey. It’s sad that it has come to this - but she’s still happy and definitely wants to be in our bedroom to sleep. Basenji want to be with their pack.

[elbrant]

Gotta say... doodle has free reign here. There are times when she's so comfy she doesn't get up to come to bed. sniff It always makes me feel like she's mad at me. There are other times when she comes to get me and tells me it's time to go to bed.

[eeeefarm]

@elbrant said in Kennel Training:

Gotta say... doodle has free reign here. There are times when she's so comfy she doesn't get up to come to bed. sniff It always makes me feel like she's mad at me. There are other times when she comes to get me and tells me it's time to go to bed.

Our Sunny used to do that. We would be in the living room watching TV, he would go upstairs to the bedroom, then come back halfway down and stare at us. He couldn't have been more obvious about what he wanted. "Time to go to bed!" Basenjis do not like to sleep alone.

Another reason for being unhappy at night is sometimes that the dog is cold, which is why they do so much better sleeping with you!

[tanza]

Mine also, while they sleep in their crates in our bedroom, when they believe it is bedtime, off they go... they know that we will be there soon....

[tanza]

@eeeefarm - or a covered crate.. to keep the chill out

[DonC]

Just to pile on -- just punning. Dogs are very social and pups grow up in puppy piles. They want to be near you.

We learned this the hard way with our second Basenji. The first night we went to the bedroom and left him in what we thought was a very comfortable situation. He didn't think so and made us very aware of how he felt about all this.

The second night we put him in a crate in the bedroom and he slept through the night.

The next morning we looked at each other and said: "How dumb were we?"

[JKent]

Our 6 month old starts off in her dog bed next to ours and climbs into our bed about 2 or 3am. We sleep in a low bed so it's a bit too easy for her to get onto it!

[Zande]

In the bedroom, yes, of course, but why in a crate ? a dog-bed, nice and cosy-comfy, or better yet, in with you.

Basenjis need people.

[Daureen]

Prince 11 mos old is very good about his kennel. I use phrase "kennel up" and he goes willingly into it. He has been in kennel from first night home. It is next to my bed. I always give him a very special treat that he only gets at kennel time and lots of quality praise from Mom every time. He will go in, circle a couple of times, and usually lay down. Sometimes I give him a "shower" of training treats if I had to kennel him from really exciting play time---trickle 10 or so slowly through the top of the kennel onto the floor and talk in a fun voice, He also likes this. It works for us. He has started peeing in his kennel at times now, and I don't know why.

[tanza]

@daureen - make sure that he doesn't have a UTI, always check for medical reasons first before thinking behavior issue

[Daureen]

Thank you, tanza. The vet did that...had to keep him after hours to get that special sample.

[eeeefarm]

@daureen said in Kennel Training:

He has started peeing in his kennel at times now, and I don't know why.

Could it be that he is cold sometimes with the change in the weather at this time of year? Just a thought. And since he is next to your bed, you might notice him being restless before he relieves himself. My Basenjis have mostly slept with me, and if they had to "go" at night they would wake me.

[slents]

@kembe

That did the trick. Thanks.

[slents]

Not only did it do the trick but he seems much happier (mine smiles, don't know about yours) and some of you mentioned that they know when bedtime is and Zaki started doing the same thing, he would look at me and sometimes even pull on my pant leg and then he would give me that "Look" and I would say "let's go to bed" and he would run up the stairs and go right in and lie down. I only wish I had asked about this with you guys much earlier.

[JENGOSMonkey]

Yay!!!