Yodeling

[Bellsenji]

Just curious, but is there any way to teach a basenji to yodel?
I know a lot of basenjis just do it on their own, and some pick up on different noises, but the only vocalization I've heard from mine so far were small whimpers, gruff 'barks', and the occasional ah-roo when he yawns.

I let him listen to other basenjis singing, but he just run through the house trying to find the other 'dog' :rolleyes:
I'd really love to hear a full baroo from him…will he ever do it on his own or will he stay yodel-mute?

[KiroGurl]

I was doing the same thing! letting her listen to the other basenjis on you tube, and i tried yodelling myself to get her to do it…no luck! the only time i hear hre is when i crate her and leave the house. HOWEVER

I have been working very hard at teaching her... emphasis on VERY HARD WORK..... like months. I have a clicker, When i have a treat i know she REALLY wants (my chicken breast, liverwart or bruanshwager, good stuff)
I tell her to "speak" and she flips around and does all her other tricks and i tell her to relax.....

when they finally make a noise even if its VERY SMALL click and treat.... BE persistant she/he will figure it out... my girl looks like shes having an exorcisim (sorry i cant spell) every time i tell her but she knows what i mean now and sometimes she lets out a big funny noise..... its so worth it.... but it takes time just keep trying and after time youll see

i hold the treat UP HIGH and say in my high pitch " SPEAK, tell me come on" SPEAK ..... they dont know what your saying though... so just start clicking and treating and praiseingANY time you hear a noise.... even when she would yawn i would say "SPEAK" good girl! and praise her. she was very confused but got it eventually.

Ill video her tricks and post them on youtube tonight but there are already some there....

go to you tube and put in KIRO the basenji even though they arent up to date .....

[renaultf1]

I'd say praise anything that even resembles a yodel or seems to be a happy noise.

Ruby took a while to get going when I first got her (she was 2 when I got her)…I'd say it was at least a month before she yodeled for me (and I never heard her do it at the breeder). Now, she'll sing if she feels up for it...if I say, "how about a song", she'll sing 90% of the time if she has one in her. Whenever she sings I respond, "good song Ru".

Brando will bark occasionally once or twice in a row and otherwise is practically silent...he's been with us 4 months, he's 3 years old. However, yesterday when I got home, my brother had both Ruby and Brando on leash outside. When I got out of the car, Brando let out a huge howl (wasn't quite a yodel, but it was definitely a happy sound) and did it over and over...shocked the heck out of all of us and he got a lot of praise for it!

I'm thinking because Ru sings and gets extra praise for it and Brando sees how happy we are when she does it, he's starting to try it. I'm hopeful eventually it will be a yodel from him too. So my thoughts are praise, praise, praise.

[lvoss]

Anything you reward will increase in frequency. That said, my 10 1/2 year old doesn't yodel. He has yodel twice in his entire life. My girls yodel all the time, we praise and reward and my husband even made a big deal about making sure Rally would yodel when she was pregnant and nursing to encourage the pups to be yodelers. All that talking has never inspired Nicky to join in. Rally's daughter, Heart, is equally quiet. She grew up with very yodel-y sibling but she just never has.

[Robin_n_Jack]

We've been yodeling to Jack and he looks at us like we are crazy. Now we just praise the heck out of him when he makes any happy noises.

Apparently, yesterday a neighborhood kid walked through the back yard while Jack and DH were outside, just through the side of it, to get a ball, and Jack barked at him.

So, we have a dog that is supposed to be barkless, who won't yodel, but barks at people every once in a great while.

[Ninabeana26]

So funny. I try to get Dallas to yodel as well but he's fairly quiet. I always praise when he makes any type of noise. I wish he'd start singing! Haha.

[tanza]

My almost 17yr old has never yodeled either

[Bellsenji]

Yes, I try yodeling myself to get him to make a peep, but my attempts are always futile.
I'll try the praising everytime he makes a singing noise
I guess some basenjis aren't very vocal, while others are.

[wizard]

I gave up trying to get EL D to yodel (he grew up in a big kennel so had relatives that could) but he does vocalize sometimes (especially if he wants to go out or get fed and I'm too slow to rrespond) but it's more of a short "baraahh" or "ooraw".

[kippy_whip]

I know!! All mine ever does is make a crying noise (usually when he is excited) but lately he has started to bark a bit.

But I'm not sure I want Kip to make anymore noise ^_^

[Andrew]

Booger didn't yodel or baroo for almost a year. We tried playing youtube videos of other basenjis, harps, pianos, flutes, etc, but he never paid much attention to those. Then we started playing the "meme" game, which is the most annoying thing ever. You just say "mememememe" over and over in the highest pitch voice you possibly can & then get higher. Eventually we might get a noise out of him. Any and all noise was rewarded with "Good speak!!" and treats.
Then we brought Lola home, and she yodels all the time. When we wake up, when we come home, whenever we're not paying enough attention, etc. When she gets riled up, Booger will start making noise, too, so again, lots of "Good speak!" and treats. Booger has now caught on that the way to get attention when they are both trying to get it is to baroo. So now we sometimes purposely lavish her with attention until he gives us a good baroo & then he gets lots of praise.
Now we can get Booger to make noise by saying "Speak", but the noise varies from a grumble to a baroo depending on his mood.
So to start, try making lots of different annoying repetitive noises at him. That's how we got Booger started. And lots of treats for any and all noise. You can work up to a full baroo later.

[KiroGurl]

Kiro is now getting even better! I noticed to only try when something Exciting is going to happen.

• going to grandmas
  -going shopping
  -go for a walk

she knows what im saying and really starts to talk! i promise to get that video up! I keep forgetting!

[rnasto]

I Yodel at Indi and he yodels back. Usually its right before or during a game of tag. My suggestion would be to get him all worked up playing and then do it.