Skip to content
Basenji Forums
  1. Home
  2. Basenji Training
  3. My Experience with Online Training course -- Michelle Lennon

My Experience with Online Training course -- Michelle Lennon

Basenji Training
  • sanjibasenjiS

    Before we got our basenji, "Sanji," I started this online training course with Michelle Lennon. To be sure, with my last dog I went to a local pro, Linda Aloff, but this is more detailed and better organized and you can do it at home.

    It takes a month for a person to get through the rich course and all the material that one uses, including a provisional daily schedule. That's the easy part. It's really a lot of work everyday to train as much as ought to be done. Most people won't have the time; it helps if you're retired or working from home. But, I have to say, the pay off is big if you can.

    It's called "30 Days to a Dream Dog" but that means thirty days of training you to learn to train your puppy over the course of the following year or so. But really for life because one learns in detail the mechanics and logic of dog training. It's very comprehensive, covering everything. I found this course to be super helpful and worth every penny. There's a DIY course $167 and a "pro level" ($397). The best deal for me was going with the DIY level and buying, pro-level access for one month ($75), rather than pay ahead for it for 3 months. The "pro" level gets one access to three weekly zoom meetings with her and moderator, where they take questions from customers for an hour or so (usually about 10-15 people in the sessions) and one can also get any questions answered 24/7 via their facebook interface, and see what others are dealing with and interact with them. For what one gets, it's a real bargain. I used it for a month and found it very helpful.

    https://www.howtotrainadreamdog.com/puppy-training/

    She also offers a lot of free content, including many YouTube videos and a free and helpful "puppy starter kit."

    Search "How To Train A Dream Dog" on YouTube

    To be sure, I don't agree on every detail. For example, I incorporate many no-leash walks in the woods; they don't recommend that. Also, her course is not really designed to train an active "outdoor" dog, but more for an "indoor" dog. I'm training mine for mountain biking. She opposes electric fences and doggy doors. I've had great experiences for 9 years with both and will continue to use them (started electric fence training last week and making good progress). I like the combination because my last dog could go out when he needed, and he liked to watch the squirrels and chase them (never caught one). And of course, he loved to go on mtb rides in the woods and jump in the creek. (I hear basenji's don't like water, but I plan to take him for dock jump training at a local pro training place). Regardless, her course lays out solid foundational work. She trains you to be a puppy trainer and provides all the real-time help you could need. We're so glad we went this route.

    At 13 weeks, Sanji is crate trained. Last night he went in voluntarily! We follow the recommendation to pick up the water at 7 pm, when we feed him, and he sleeps until 5:30-6:30 when we wines to go out for a pee and poo. He rarely has a pee accident in the house, rings the bell to go out, and I can't remember the last time he did #2 in the house. He fetches for 5-10 minutes, is biting less every day (due to distraction training), can do "stay" for 30 seconds, is doing great on "heel" walking with short leash, etc. In another 3 months, he'll be a dream dog.

    Happy training!

    3

Suggested Topics

  • lvossL

    For Those Who Course In Georgia

    Basenji Training
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    2k Views
    No one has replied
  • Forever AmberF

    Chief in training

    Basenji Training
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    3k Views
    renaultf1R
    @Forever: Zoe on the other hand has turned into a little witch. As was suggested I think she is protective of chief. She even turned on Lizzy when she came over the first few minutes than they were fine. But all her previous doggy friends get snarled at when chief gets near them. I hope she settles soon. She has one old dog who looks forward to seeing her on his walks flinching around her now. When Liyah was a baby - if Brando started to go off on her, Ruby would put herself in between Liyah & Brando. Ruby was very protective of Liyah when Liyah was a pup. Ruby doesn't interfere as much anymore - once in a while she gets involved - she pretty much just lets Brando handle it now.
  • lvossL

    Puppy Coursing

    Basenji Training
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    3k Views
    thunderbird8588T
    Rio sounds like the type of girl to think things out ;) Loved the vid of L'Ox, he's realy grown.
  • C

    Training classes?

    Basenji Training
    17
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    8k Views
    NemoN
    @tanza: I think you are waiting too long. You should have two complete sets of shots before class. Waiting till they are 15/16wks you are missing critical socialization skills. Waiting for "all the shots" is pretty much old school these days. My pups go out even before that to things like lure trials… you just need to be careful and not let them "get" into anything like "old poop" laying around. I'm planning on taking her around the time of the 2nd shots if I can. But the problem is that the next round of puppy classes doesn't start till the last week of March, which would be around 14 weeks anyway. Maybe they will let me join the last half of the previous class but I'd have to check into that.
  • EdwardE

    Clicker training

    Basenji Training
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    4k Views
    lvossL
    Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.
  • barkless513B

    What age should lure coursing training start?

    Basenji Training
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    6k Views
    MantisM
    quick tip, buy your lure coursing collar ahead of time. They sell them online and are much cheaper than buying at an event. I had to buy one for Caesar when I was there for him to participate and they were over the top with pricing….