Interesting house training problem


  • Our basenji is about 15 weeks now and he does pretty good with peeing outside, the problem is he has decided that pooping is to be done indoors. We're not sure why this is but would be interested in hearing other like stories or some things we can do to try and correct this.


  • You just need to go back to housetraining 101…. and when you take them out, they don't come back in till they poop...
    Is this when he is crated? Or is it happening when you are home? If when you are home, then you need to watch him more or restrick his area....
    Have you been able to catch him in the act?


  • Thanks Tanza, I'll try that. No it isn't in the crate. We have caught him in the act a time or two and if we tell him to stop he does and them we rush him outside. I work from home but can't watch him all the time. He is restricted to the kitchen but I can restrict him a bit more, if that helps. I could crate him for a while each day if that helps I just don't want him to associate his crate with punishment, so I won't crate him in relationship to this.


  • That's what we did – once I said "Let's go potty" and we headed outside, we stayed out until potty had been achieved. Sometimes we were out there for longer than I'd anticipated or really had time for. Once they went potty, there was lots of "good potty!!!" praise, and then we'd head back in.

    I'd also say try to get a feel for when he poops. They seem to be fairly consistent. Mine tended to have to poop shortly after eating. Within 20 - 30 minutes after a meal, we'd head out to potty.


  • Great post JazzysMom…. exactly right on


  • I've done the same as JazzysMom except I added a small treat as a reward. Occasionally Gossy will pee in house but never poop. She now runs Back and forth like crazy (different from the B500 run) to let me know she has to go - so watching their behavior is important to pick up their signals.


  • You just need to build a routine.

    I take Kananga out 3x/day. Each time he will do his #1 and #2. Rarely will he only do one of them solely. I've never had any issues really. But I do wait until he does both before going in and he seems to understand that.


  • If they poop in house, I tell them "bad dog" (if I catch them.) I pick up the poop with a paper towel and take it out to the 'poop place.' I put it out there and it seems like next time when the dogs see/smell it there, they figure out better "this is the place I am supposed to do this"

    Weird, but has worked for us.


  • Not to be indelicate, but you can also watch the dog carefully for when he's starting to circle and, their little butts kind of pooch out when they are ready to poop. Watching for that was a godsend for us when we were training Shaye.


  • @Shaye's:

    Not to be indelicate, but you can also watch the dog carefully for when he's starting to circle and, their little butts kind of pooch out when they are ready to poop. Watching for that was a godsend for us when we were training Shaye.

    Yup. Very good point here. I noticed this as well.

Suggested Topics

  • Training techniques

    Basenji Training
    33
    2 Votes
    33 Posts
    6k Views
    ZandeZ
    @elbrant I hope it will arrive today and I will let you know of its success or otherwise. We will try it out immejutely it arrives. Mku slept with me last night. He slept like a log. I didn't, but at least it gave Paul a rest. The diffuser is supposed to diffuse comforting pheronomes. I like the idea of changing it to encourage eating etc. You could be onto a winner there !
  • House breaking

    Moved Basenji Training
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    2k Views
    M
    Trust you have a doggie door to the outside that she can use
  • 0 Votes
    10 Posts
    4k Views
    avdpierreA
    I posted pics/comments on the new girls on this link….http://www.basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?13139-KS-Wichita-Eureka-Free-Bs-2-M-1-Yr-Old-amp-1-F-1-Yr-Old-amp-1-F-7-Yr-Old-On-Craigslist#post156254
  • Crate training

    Basenji Training
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    4k Views
    AnaA
    He does only poop in his crate, no urine usually. I am trying to gradually get him to like his crate, but I do think it might be a lost cause. But yesterday I left for about three hours and left him in the kitchen. When I got back, I opened the door and looked down to see not only my cat waiting for me but my dog as well… He found a way to get out of the kitchen and have the run on my apartment. I now know why basenjis are called escape artists. I was happy to find that although he had an accident in the living room, he didn't destroy anything. But I won't count on one time to trust him alone. I am going to stick with the kitchen and try to make sure he can't get out.
  • Leash training

    Basenji Training
    33
    0 Votes
    33 Posts
    14k Views
    agilebasenjiA
    quick note- I don't feed raw; i feed a grain free commercial dog food (there are now quite a few on the market) and have been very happy. I do feed some cooked muttloaf (http://www.maryshouse.us/Recipes.htm) with the evening meal.
  • Clicker training

    Basenji Training
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    3k Views
    lvossL
    Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.