All great advice above. Definitely not separation anxiety as elbrant says. It's normal. Practicing crate training a few hours a day at different times is important for when you need to run errands or if you travel with your dog. Mine whined a lot at first. He still doesn't like getting into the crate when he realizes that I'm on my way out (putting on coat, etc), but willingly goes in at our dinner time cause I feed him treats when he's in. We don't like him pestering while we eat. Feeding while in crate, and practicing rewards with the crate door OPEN the whole time, builds positive association with the crate, but a Basenji is smart enough to know the difference. In any case, it helps and the sooner you get started crate training and he or she learns to self-sooth and relax in the crate, the better.
Just wondering - do dogs leave home to die?
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I'm thinking about this because of my friends dog that got hit by the car and returned home after several hours. I've talked to her since then and she said she thought that after he got hit, he probably wandered off to die somewhere, and then fell asleep for a while before waking up and limping home. Apparently he has a lot more bruises/scrapes than they originally thought and he has some tissue necrosis (death) which they are trying to take care of before resorting to surgery. I'm really hoping he pulls through this!
Anyway, I have heard that cats will leave home and die away from their homes… wondering if dogs are known to do the same thing? What is the purpose of this behavior anyway?
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I've wondered the same thing. Why do they go off away from the home to die? I know that an animal never wants to appear weak even when injured in a hurd - it's like a death sentence by the others - I think because they get rid of the weak to keep the hurds strong for survival.
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I know our family dog growing up made several attempts to go off as the end grew near.
It was very sad. But I think there is something to that survival of the fittest thing- that animals accept their fate easier (and dare I saw with more pride) than we as humans do. I don't think they see death as this "terrible ending"…
