I once saw a basenji clicker trained to scratch at the proper grade sand paper that was glued to a board. The basenji even curled his paw so the pads were not injured. This kept the nails perfectly trimmed. Perhaps the scratching/digging behavior could be re-directed into the more productive behavior and nail clipping would never be an issue!
Please HELP with rescued basenji
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My daughter rescued a male basenji who was being mistreated. This little guy has a broken leg, and the former owner was going to take him to the pound, as he was too much work for her.
Fast forward 1 week-MoJo has a cast on his leg. My daughter is trying to housebreak him but the former owner would just leave him in his crate all day and night, so now he thinks it's acceptable to urinate in his bed. He is 20 weeks old, and gives no signal when he needs to go, as his history has been that his signals would go unheard. (This woman would leave him in the crate downstairs in a closed laundry room all night, and put him back in there during the day.)
Are we doomed? Is there hope? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks,
Cyd
MoJo's grandma
cydnyk@gmail.com -
You have to start from scratch… for housetraining.. Take him out after eating, during play, after play, even wake him up from sleeping and carry him out (that way you get to him before he wakes and just has to go "now")... and of course as soon as he wakes up.. Praise the "heck" out of him when he does go... and give him treats... It will take a load of time, but he will figure it out....
At 20 wks puppies are not really totally housetrained anyway, at least not totally
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What a shame this b had such a rough life before you got him.
I agree with all that Pat has said.
Lots of praise when the dog goes outside, ignore it inside and use an cleaner that chemically breaks up the waste.
That way the dog won't return to that spot.
someone said that if you put a piece of poo outside where you want the dog to go, show him, let him sniff, he will think that is the area to go to.
At least, that is what I read.
Never tried it myself, so if you do, let us know how it goes.
Oh, take out every 2 hrs when your home and keep the dog on a line attached to you, so it can't sneak off and go… -
All is not lost. You can teach him new "tricks"… no worries!
Tanza has excellent advice-- Just make sure he goes out and when he's doing what you want-- praise him like crazy-- in the highest sweetest voice you've got. You know- the one that people see you do in public and laugh at... lol... 
Because they're the sweetest little baby you've ever seen!!When Lexi was housetraining, if she pee'd in the house, she'd get scolded verbally, but we'd soak it up really fast with a papertowel, rush her and the soaked pad out into the yard-- so that she'd associate the pee with the yard. It definitely worked. I always took her to pinestraw-- and now if there's ever a chance where she can pee on pinestraw-- you betcha, she's there! It's funny how that's worked- even above the grass.
If he really hasn't built up his bladder muscles, he might not have the ability to hold it very long. So be patient with him. But Sharronhurlbut has good advice of keeping him on a leash indoors (annoying, I know) but that way you'll know exactly when he starts to go-- and I bet he'll even start to reveal his mannerisms that will show you he needs to "go".
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And remember unless you catch him in the act, do not scold…. if you do catch him in the act, then scold firmly and immediate outside with him...
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So, mostly, it just going to take time.
Hugs for taking this b in. -
Everyone else gave really good advice, and I'll chime in with everyone on the "it'll take time" thing. I rescued a Basenji mix that was a little under a year old when I got her. She peed and pooed all over my apartment. She made me so mad, but I never took it out on her. I got SO CLOSE to taking her back to the shelter like 2 other people had done- but I didn't. And now she's trained and she's my special furkid and I wouldn't give her up for anything.
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I actually backwards trained my boy - I got him during a terrible winter, we'd go out and he would just stand there and shiver until I couldn't stand it any more. So he learned to go outside and then come in and go in the house. I hired a trainer for that and other things. For housebreaking the advice was to make sure I took him out enough, of course, but to never scold for accidents and to always food reward as soon as he went outside. The instant he finished, he got a treat. He's been almost perfect ever since (it didn't take long for him to get it and he was about 2-1/2 or 3 when we did this). If he has an accident now, I can blame myself. He always tells me, I'm just not fast enough to respond - or, at night, when he's dead asleep, but I know he'll need to go out, if I'm tired and don't wake him up, we have problems in the morning - my fault!
You can definately train this dog. Good for you for giving this dog a chance.
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Poor little guy, and good for your Daughter and you for rescuing this dog. I agree with everyone who has suggested taking the puppy outside after he eats. I would also suggest he goes outside again in about 20mins after he drinks and eats as well. Since the dog is not giving you any sign he has to go, you might hang a small bell or cowbell on a string where he can reach it. Make sure you ring it for him every time before you take him out to potty. He will get the idea after a few times. Treat him with a cherio if he rings it and then goes out and pees.
You also want to take him to the same spot in your yard and let him know where you want him to go. We did this with our young puppy and he knows when he reaches this spot in the yard, its time to potty.
Hope this helps.
Jason
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All the responses have been in regards to regular training but my question is…how do you train a dog to stop peeing in the crate when left in their crate?
Dallas is housetrained [minus the occasional forgetfulness] but it seems like whenever I leave him in his crate for over an hour I come home to his paws covered in pee! I, of course, make sure he pees before he is put in his crate & typically he isn't in his crate now-a-days more than 2-3 hours. However, it can be 1 hour or 8 hours & I will come back to pee. It's like he pees in the crate because he's mad I am leaving him in there…
I haven't been able to leave him a bed/blanket or stuffed toys in months because I was doing laundry every single day!!! It's kind of hard to train him to stop when it is basically impossible to catch him in the act.
Any suggestions?
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All the responses have been in regards to regular training but my question is…how do you train a dog to stop peeing in the crate when left in their crate?
Dallas is housetrained [minus the occasional forgetfulness] but it seems like whenever I leave him in his crate for over an hour I come home to his paws covered in pee! I, of course, make sure he pees before he is put in his crate & typically he isn't in his crate now-a-days more than 2-3 hours. However, it can be 1 hour or 8 hours & I will come back to pee. It's like he pees in the crate because he's mad I am leaving him in there…
I haven't been able to leave him a bed/blanket or stuffed toys in months because I was doing laundry every single day!!! It's kind of hard to train him to stop when it is basically impossible to catch him in the act.
Any suggestions?
Nina, in my post, I mentioned you have get them out after they eat, and then its helpful to get them out again in another 20 mins after you have walked them the first time. You might have to start controlling his water intake, and yes puppies and even full grown dogs will pee if they get upset or excited.
Usually if I am crate training a new dog, especially an older one, I will put the Crate right next to the door. I also keep a small Time log book or mental record, of what they do when each time I walk them. Keeping a time log book for a short time, will give you an idea of what is actually going on. Maybe you can crate him on a day you are home, and then check on him every hour to see if he has gone in his cage during a particular time. If you can do what I am suggesting for a short period of time or a few days, like maybe over a holiday weekend, then you will see if a time pattern exists for Dallas or not. If a time pattern does exist, then you will be closer to dealing with the issue.
I have no idea what size crate you have for Dallas, but if he is continuously doing this, then its very possible the crate may be too big. Roo has two crates. One is just big enough for him to stand up and turn around in, and the other is slightly larger. A crate that is too large will allow the animal to separate themselves from their Pee.
Hope this helps,
Jason
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If you left him loose with a baby gate, would he do damage?
Have you tried that?
I have a boy who broke teeth on crates, so we just babygate him in one room with a nice chew treat when we leave.
That is what we did. -
If you left him loose with a baby gate, would he do damage?
Have you tried that?
I have a boy who broke teeth on crates, so we just babygate him in one room with a nice chew treat when we leave.
That is what we did.Sharron, sounds like you are set up similar to us. We have Roo and his crate in the bathroom off our master bedroom. Of course he sleeps in his crate every night, but we do not always lock him in. We went to local Wal mart and purchased an Evenflow Simplestep baby gate for under $40. Roo turns 17 weeks tomorrow. Miranda and I have only left him in the house alone on a few occassions, but we do leave him some toys and a nice chew treat. Normally when I am running quick errands, I take him with me in the car and he is always crated. I am very concerned about him breaking teeth, especially since a few have mentioned it here, and his adult teeth are just starting to come in.
By the way, I did sign up for Brat in my area, and have volunteered to be a screener and possibly provide some transport for a rescue.
Nina, another thing Miranda and I noticed, is that since we started these daily walks in the part with Roo, we do not have any problem with him peeing when playing. I have seen him pee outside on concrete when he gets very excited trying to get a person's attention that he wants. It does not happen often, and I think its just a puppy stage thing right now. Roo does not get to go to a dog park, and in fact, he is never off his leash unless he is in his bathroom in the house. Our puppy does not have limited or even full run of the house just yet. I want to see how chewy he is going to be once he gets his adult teeth in. Once I know that, then we will slowly supervise his freedom in the house.
Hope this helps,
Jason and Miranda
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I got my baby gates from a childrens consignment shop, less than $10.
With your b, I would keep him with me in whatever room I am in, and have him gated in…
We do this when my grand kids visit.
Keeping the b's and the toddler apart, until the child can learn dog manners. -
My vet suggested not leaving any water for him as long as I am not gone longer than 3-4 hours. I stopped leaving water & it seemed at first to stop him from peeing but only for a short time.
I feed him early enough in the day that he is out of his crate for several hours after eating. He isn't even crated daily because my sister is home from college right now & thus home during the day a lot. It's only when she has to go out that we crate.
His crate being too big may be a possibility. It's a good size crate because I wanted him to have room since when I lived in FL he was crated for closer to 6 hours at any given time. Plus in FL he was still sleeping in his crate. I guess I could give a smaller one a try…
As far as leaving him uncrated, we are working towards that. We leave him out if it's only like 30 minutes or so to try to see what he'll do. My goal is to eventually always leave him uncrated but right now I just don't trust him enough. We left him uncrated in my room one day & he ripped a huge chunk of the carpet out [down to the concrete!] So…yea. Haha.
