Training Brags

[Duke]

I thought about putting this in the "Where does your Basenji sleep" thread, but I thought I'd open a new thread here called "Training Brags". Because this is my 1st Basenji and he's still a puppy. Milestones are met for us "new-B's" often. When I first got Duke as a young pup, not knowing what the hell kind of dog he was and with questions looming in my head like, "How long before I find a new home for him?" and the like and as you may have read I finally found out he was Basenji.

Anyway . . . Duke sleeps in a travel crate tent in the hall between our bedrooms. My big proud brag is: For the last couple nights, when I holler for my son and Duke, "IT'S BED TIME!", Duke runs up the stairs and noses his way past the zipper door and into his bed! Without a treaty bribe! Yes-sir-ee! I can't believe it - I'm so happy he's tired, likes his bed and knows the protocol . . . without a treat! He's so smart. Honestly, I didn't think this crazy dog was trainable. By George, he is . . . and so am I!

[Terry]

Congratulations Jill and Duke!

We have 9 crates of varying sizes stacked in our bedroom - not all in use at this time, thank heavens… because all our dogs except the old man want to sleep in the bedroom with us. Even the ones on the top story run and jump into their crates (if their crate is the only one open, otherwise they have to sneak into others' crates to steal their cookies!)

Terry

[youngandtired]

When I get on the computer Sahara always follows me into my guest room where the computer is. The other night I said to her, "Ok, Sahara get your chew toy and come with me. She got her rawhide chew bone and pranced down the hall with me, and got on the guest bed and chewed until she got tired and fell asleep. Now, when ever I get on the computer we do this same ritual, she is so smart. Also, usually when she goes out to potty at night she wants me to go with her, last night I said to her, go potty and she did it all by herself, of course I was standing at the glass door, but this is still new for her. She doesn't like to be out at night by herself, she is my sweetie.:)

[Duke]

Changes are in the air . . . could it be that Duke is growing up? This morning (6 am, after letting Duke ouside for his business) I was having my coffee and noticed Duke wasn't anywhere around. He's usually with me wanting to play 1st thing in the morning. So when I went upstairs to get ready for work, Duke was in his bed again! He never gets in his bed unless it's "bed time" at night. If he's tired he would lay on the sofa or my bed. I hope he's feeling OK. My boy never ceases to amaze me.

[Bandit]

I had success with Bandit tonight! Yippppeee! My husband Lance is away on business so I took the opportunity of refresher training for both Alfie the Lowchen and Bandit who responded very nicely with treats. He can sit and stay….. for just a little while before he gets his treat. When he tries to bite with those needle sharp teeth, I hold his mouth closed gently and say NO BITE..... He looks at me then makes this noise in his throat as if to say OH ALLRIGHT.....
Tomorrow we might have a go at walking to heel.
Next thing on the agenda is to spray with lemon....
Thank you so much for your suggestions that really do work
Angee

[Duke]

Boy was I proud of Duke this weekend. My parents came to visit overnight. They were Pomeranian people.:eek: The 1st & only time they've seen Duke was when he was 5 mos old. Crazy little thing he was for them . . . But this time Mom said Duke's come a long way. I think her words were: "Duke seems alot milder. Isn't 9 months the mark when they calm down?" I said I think so, and the Behavior training works too. He was so sweet, falling asleep in my dad's lap. He had only one oops. When they first arrived and sat at the table, Duke's excitment caused him to jump up on it, to everyones surprise.:o He redeemed himself for the rest of their visit with everyone's delight. We sat back and let Duke amuse us with his funny B quirks.

[Duke]

I remember starting this thread. There are many newbies and puppies today. If it is redeemable, please post your training pride. Myself along with others would enjoy knowing your goals and accomplishments with your fur-kids. Training is typically not easy for either side. Surprising reliability of any sort is an element to brag about. Please post what and how you did it and be proud!

[jys1011]

Congratulatons!!! That's definitely a success…I guess he's realizing I kinda like this crate with the cookies

Well we're not puppies here...BUT...we have trained sit/stay & DOWN....can you believe a DOWN :eek: :eek: I never thought my B's could do a down. C3 can do it on command now & Topaz sometimes needs a little help but they actually do it & they can hold it for a few seconds.

Proud Mama here!

[Mantis]

That is great! Duke sounds like he has a very sweet nature about him. He just needed to grow out of those basenji puppy habits…. congrats!

[lvoss]

Today we played Musical Settle in our obedience class. The game works similar to musical chairs except everyone has a chair, it is the last dog to lay down without being cued to do so that is out. Usually the basenjis are the first ones out. They just don't like to lay down when they can stand around and watch everyone. Today Nicky was the Musical Settle winner! He promptly downed every time I sat in a chair. He also did very good walking on a loose leash during while the music was on. Yeah Nicky!

[Mantis]

wow, what a great game!!

[jys1011]

YAY Nicky!!! :happy dance: for you! I KNOW how hard it is to get them to go down

[Duke]

Musical Settle - What a great way to motivate at home training too. No one wants to look bad in front of all the other owners, eh?? I'll try that with D&D. I'll mention that one to the instructor.

Next Sunday is Daisy's Puppy Class graduation. Owner's are supposed to show off the tricks our puppies have learned. We have to hit the home training hard this week. I've been doing the training routine with Duke and Daisy at the same time - well I try to anyway. They take turns with SHAKE and SIT PRETTY. Together they SIT - DOWN - LEAVE IT - TAKE IT - STAY. I'm working on CRAWL, but she will not ROLL OVER. I love watching the dogs that do those tricks. I'm curious if anyone has been successful with training your B's to Roll Over?? Both D&D make me feel I'm torturing them, so I give up on it.:o But they LOVE working with me. Every night - sometimes twice a night (depends how tired I am). I hope Daisy does me proud with her solo act on Sunday!:)

[lvoss]

Ringo knows roll over but I am not sure how his owners taught him.

[Duke]

@lvoss:

Usually the basenjis are the first ones out. They just don't like to lay down when they can stand around and watch everyone. Today Nicky was the Musical Settle winner! He promptly downed every time I sat in a chair. He also did very good walking on a loose leash during while the music was on. Yeah Nicky!

Congrats! You should be very proud of yourselves. You must have practiced a lot! He is a very obedient basenji to lay down every time! And loose leash walking - I'm so envious! WOO-HOO Nicky and Lisa!

[lvoss]

I have been trying to work pretty consistently with my dogs for the last two years. In that time I have found that making that committment to a little training every week really pays off in the long run. I am very proud of how far all of mine have come. They do occassionally "forget" how to do things but for the most part they really enjoy working.

For those of you just starting to work with your dogs hang in there they really do learn! For those of you who keep working with your dogs Congratulations! I am really lucky to have instructors that allow students to pay as you go instead of making a commitment to a block of classes. This flexibility has really helped me stick with it because I don't feel bad if I miss a week. Next week starts Dog Days of Summer camp for kids and I am volunteering to help out. Should be fun.

[Duke]

@lvoss:

I am really lucky to have instructors that allow students to pay as you go instead of making a commitment to a block of classes. This flexibility has really helped me stick with it because I don't feel bad if I miss a week. Next week starts Dog Days of Summer camp for kids and I am volunteering to help out. Should be fun.

Yeah - Paying by the class is a benefit if you can find a good instructor that does that. Myself, I am not disciplined enough to not make a commitment for a block of classes. I've missed one class, yesterday because we were out of town. It was just going to be a review so . . . OK.

So what is this Dog Days of Summer camp about? Dogs and kids? Being with kids having fun is fun. Do you have a child enrolled? I've helped out at my son's Cub Scout day camp 2 years ago. It was soooo hot that week! The Fire Station brought out thier hoses and cooled everyone down every afternoon. I had fun with the kids too.

[lvoss]

I do not have a child enrolled. Dogs Days of Summer is a week long camp where child and dog go for 3 hours a day and do a variety of training. There are 6 sessions during the summer and they fill quickly. My obedience instructor has been doing this camp for several years and it is very popular. Since I am a school teacher and out for the summer, I volunteered to help out with the camp. I am looking forward to it. Though I don't actually start until the week after next since I am doing a professional development seminar for myself next week.

[Duke]

That is fantastic! Keeps the kids busy and involved with their pooches! Good idea!

[Mantis]

wow that sounds great! training the kids to train the basenji…..ah, if only I had a child....

I love that Caesar is smart enough to remember the commands and if I say it once and stand and wait....I can see his wheels turning in his head until he does the thing I am asking.

occasionally he wants the treat so bad that he will lie down, chill on his side and run into his kennel doing a sit....LOL, too cute....and all I wanted was a sit....:D