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Housebreaking Tip

Basenji Training
  • When I first got Roo, we hung a bell on the door and everytime I took him to potty I made him touch the bell with his paw. Within 2 weeks he was doing this on his own. This worked out great because Roo is quiet for the most part and when I was upstairs I could hear if he needed to go out. By 5 months he was 100% housebroken. When their young, the key is to make them go potty before they tell you.

  • Funny you mention that. Mr Basenji has a video on that!

    [yt]aOKDREGAkwo[/yt]

  • We got the idea from the same video!

  • I use bells with my B. He learned to use them in like 2 days. Since then, I've only had "accidents" when I ignore him b/c I'm busy. Sometimes he rings them just to go out to play, but other times he rings them when he REALLY has to pee. The best thing is, they are portable so when I go visiting with him he always knows how to tell me he has to pee.

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  • How does litterbox training fit into housebreaking?

    Basenji Training
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    tanzaT
    @Lisa67: I have a 10 week old puppy that I'm crate training. She's doing pretty well but does have accidents because, as I mentioned in a previous post, no one in my family watches her as closely as they should when I'm at work. Fortunately, I work nights 7pm-7am (3 night/week) so she's asleep most of the time that I'm gone. She does make it outside the vast majority of the time. When she does go in the house she usually goes on my older dog's bed. I guess because it's absorbant. So, I see a lot of talk here about litterboxes. I have never heard of litterbox training a dog and I'm curious how it works. I don't really like the idea of the her peeing or pooing in the house at all, but since I'm having this problem I think its better than letting her go on the dog bed. Will it slow down the housebreaking at all? Thanks!!! If she is peeing on your other dogs bed, I would first look at the reason being she is wanting to be dominate over the other day and "marking" the bed. Consider this: I sent a puppy home with an experienced Basenji person (except it had been quite a while since they had a puppy around)… they had a 10yr old son, Stephen. The second night the puppy (Crystal) got on his bed and peed.... They called me cause they thought that was pretty funny, I said, she is marking his bed, she wants to climb the social ladder and be above him. They didn't believe me.... After she did it 4 more times, for 4 nights in a row, up went the gate so that she couldn't get in that room.... and very, very few times did she ever have an accident in the house She was 9wks when they took her home.
  • Nala needs help housebreaking.

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    RivermoonR
    While it's sometimes easier to hope that the older dogs will teach the little one, that doesn't always happen. While I had it work with Apache, it didn't with Zuni. When I was house training Zuni I would leash her up and take her out into the yard and just wait until she went, then praise and treat. There were many times she wouldn't move, so we just stood there until she moved and went or went where she was. It can be a real pain, especially in the middle of the night…but that doesn't last forever. Any accidents in the house were just cleaned up and not acknowledged. When we lived in the city, the dogs did prefer to go while on walks, but would, if they REALLY needed to go, go out into the yard.
  • Tips on house training needed

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    wizardW
    Gbroxon - no big deal. No one knew Luny (aka Tommy) would exhibit SA and especially not in such a severe form. And I understood what you were thinking - about people dumping dogs. One of my stupid neighbors has gone that route (they've had 6 different dogs in 3 years - I won't talk to them anymore). And I don't know how many times I've come across people who say "oh what a pretty dog, I'd like one like that" when they see me walking my dog. I almost always discourage them from getting a basenji (with that attitude no dog would be good for them). So I'm with you there.
  • Housebreaking issues

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    tanzaT
    I have always recommended that pups be carried from the crate to their "potty" place… at 12 to 16 wks, especially after waking up, there is no way they are going to walk all the way to a door, outside and onto the grass to pee... they just can't hold it that long. For us, I didn't care if they peed on the concrete, in fact 3 of my girls go on the concrete... one on the grass and my one boy mostly on the grass. And for cleaning up, really vinegar and water works as good if not better then all the store bought ones I have had over the years, and believe me, I have tried them all... Works great on concrete, tile, pergo, carpets....
  • How can i housebreak my basenji

    Basenji Training
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    M
    I got my pup when he was 7 months and he was sort of house broken. When I took him to the vet I found out that part of his house breaking issues was that he had a bladder infection. If you continually have problems house breaking (like very frequent urination or peeing in the crate) you may want to have your vet test for a bladder infection just to make sure. Another problem I discovered was that he didn't know how to tell me he had to pee. I hung bells on the door and by having him ring them every time we went out I taught him to tell me when has to pee. It has been great. Some times he rings them just to go out and play, but mostly he rings them when he really has to go out. Now the only "accidents" he's had is when I ignore the bells b/c I am busy. (he literally peed all over the living room the other night because I ignored him) One other suggestion, make sure you use an enzyme cleaner on any "accident" spots. These really eat away the reminants of the feces/pee so that your b will not recognize the area as an ok place to go to the bathroom Other helpful tips I got was to be sure you use the same door when you take your b out and take it to the same part of the yard. Give your b LOTS of praise for going outside (and a treat if it is food motivated).
  • Housebreaking Setback

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    listemeL
    My new boy, Will, is also 3, and it's taken us (me and him) a little while to figure out the routine. I think he used to go out on a tie-out or something. Curie has always done her business on walks, but he thought this was a bit ridiculous. Walks were for squirrel chasing and hydrant checking! But a few months into it, he seems to have gone along with the plan. I guess my advice would be to figure out what works for you and them. There is no rule that says they have to pee in one spot in the yard or that they have to only pee on walks or that they have to wear coats or not wear coats or wear funny hats. :) What works for YOU? (The rain is a drag – I just end up standing out there in the rain with them saying mean things in a nice voice until they get it over with.)