Skip to content

Potty training

Basenji Training
  • There really are no magic tricks, just the golden rule of consistency.
    Puppies need to go out after playtime (movement = urine), they need to go out 5 min after they eat or drink, they need to go out pretty much every time you think they have gone out enough. ;) Remember they don't go in the house to spite you.

    What are you cleaning your floors with ?? If your puppies are always going back to the same place, perhaps they can still smell their last accident, and therefore want to go in the same spot. Remember most commercial cleaners don't remove the smell.. A mix of white vinegar and water is cheap and efficient at removing all traces of puppy elimination.

    At night you can roughly translate how many months they are to how many hours they can hold it. 3 months = roughly 3 hours.

    A book that's helpful for the puppy jitters is "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With"
    by Clarice Rutherford, David H. Neil

  • 14 Weeks is not very old to be potty trained yet… and like already said you have to be ever watchful to make sure you try and catch them before they go inside... and are you totally sure she is going while outdoors? Are you out there with her... and when she does go, praise and treat her? Like already said, is she going around the same spots in the kitchen?

    And sometimes when they start teething, they will totally forget about housetraining

  • Thanks for this thread…I had been wondering if I could handle getting a puppy next year! I think I'll stick to my old rule...no dog under 2 for me!

  • Another thing about when they pee when they are outdoors. Sometimes they don't let it all go at once. So that is why they need to go so soon after they just went - they still have some left. If you watch the pup outside, sometimes you can tell that they haven't fully emptied out. When you see that, you know that you'll need to make another trip outside in about 5 - 10 minutes. I found that if I was super vigilant, consistent and praise, praise, praise when outside - that really was the only way to stop Liyah (16 wks old) from going indoors.

    It has been 2 weeks since Liyah has pee'd inside (she only ever pooped twice in the house and never did it again…not sure how I lucked out with that :D:D)...so hopefully it sticks :D. I think in my case it also helps that I have 2 adults that never go in the house, so Liyah has also learned from them.

  • @MacPack:

    Thanks for this thread…I had been wondering if I could handle getting a puppy next year! I think I'll stick to my old rule...no dog under 2 for me!

    Ha, ha, ha…the first week Liyah was here, I was wondering the same thing myself :D:D:D!!!

  • I do go out with her and yes she goes. She seems to poo two to three times and pee about the same. Once again this advice is great. Thanks to everyone who gave advice and to anyone who has anymore.

  • She should be peeing way more then two or three times…. sounds to me like she needs to go out more often.... baby puppies at her age will pee at least every 2 hours ... but mostly after sleeping, eating, playing.... and if playing... in the middle of playing if you take her out, bet she will pee....

  • Hate to be the bearer of bad news :p.

    Ochre is now 10 months old. I had a hellish time toilet training her, I can tell you… We have housetrained plenty of dogs over the years, but Ochre has been the HARDEST one by a country mile :confused:.

    I just couldnt get it to click with her at all. I dont know what was going on in her mind, the little rat bag :p . I would say she finally "got it", about 3/4 weeks ago. This was happening while living in the house with Saba, (he was a breeze, only one accident with him, and even that was the humans fault :D), who "asks" to go out, by running to the door, turning to look at you, and if you dont see him, he repeats this till you do. Bless him !!! Ochre finally caught on, and she now does the same thing :)

    Schouiffy, you said, in a previous post, "Remember they dont go in the house to spite you", are you sure of this :p:D;) ???

  • +1 on the factor that she should be peeing way way way more than a few times a day. It's annoying, but fortunately they grow out of it in a few months. Again, anytime you feel she has gone out enough, that's normally the moment when she needs to go out again. It was a great rule of thumb for me and my dogs.

    Saba, yeah, despite what we think… they really arnt spiteful..;)

  • She pees more than two or three times a day she pees two or three times everytime she goes outside wich is quite often. And She doesn't seem to have a problem with peeing in the house it is just the poo.

  • Gossy is 16 mos and she can only make it through 6-7 hours while I'm gone before she has to let go on the floor; of course she started out as a kennel dog (with outside access). I think potty training is a matter of consistency, consistency, consistency and patience, patience, patience.

    And by the way, don't use a cleaner that has ammonia in it - that's an ingredient of urine and so will be an attraction for continued use of the area.

  • @annyaa:

    She pees more than two or three times a day she pees two or three times everytime she goes outside wich is quite often. And She doesn't seem to have a problem with peeing in the house it is just the poo.

    Sorry, I think that we all thought you were talking about pee, not poop… have you been able to catch her in the act?

  • Yes I have caughter her and I pick her up and say "potty" and take her back outside. I have even picked her poo up and taken it outside with us and let her watch me put it in the yard. Yet she still poos outside then runs for the kitchen and tries to go again.

  • Well, if you are cleaning the floors with a good cleaner, it sounds like its just a baby thing. Give her a few weeks to grow out of it, often puppy quarks are like that. Kudos for taking the poo outside and showing it to her, that worked well with my dogs.

  • Chaos has now gone two days without pooing in the kitchen. I doubt by any means this means she is broke of it, but I'll take any progress I can get.

  • Yeah! That is so exciting! My little girl is starting to get it too, slowly but she is getting it!

  • @MacPack:

    Thanks for this thread…I had been wondering if I could handle getting a puppy next year! I think I'll stick to my old rule...no dog under 2 for me!

    That was what I thought! That was my plan! Hard and fast rule even! But then I saw Shaye - and I know we'll live through this puppy stage - I think - I hope - please God!!!!!

  • Yeah I had a rule too, only older dogs from the rescue and now we have Chaos…..rules get broken.

  • Does a puppy have soft poop and as the puppy gets older the poop becomes more solid? It has been a while since I had a puupy so I can't remember.

  • @lisatest:

    Does a puppy have soft poop and as the puppy gets older the poop becomes more solid? It has been a while since I had a puupy so I can't remember.

    No… a puppy should also have a solid poo...

Suggested Topics

  • Potty training NIGHTMARE help

    Basenji Training
    8
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    5k Views
    tanzaT
    Stop with the free feeding... this is a dog that needs to be on a schedule. And a cup and a half might be too much for a 20lb dog. Try reducing it to a cup. I have also found that feeding 2x's a dog is better than once a day. I have never let my dogs free feed. Once he is on a schedule you can mostly determine when he should have to go... and then you take him out and stay out till he goes. A trick you can use (many don't like this but I will put it out there) is what people that show use. Insert a match in his bum half way.... This will stimulate him to go, when he does praise/treat him. And until he gets the idea, you will need to keep him crated or on leash. You can search the forum for other conversations about using a match to stimulate. Search for match trick
  • Inconsistent training

    Basenji Training
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    7k Views
    agilebasenjiA
    @Kosuzu: I will get into agility when he is a little older, his bones are still too immature for that yet. I would also like to get Khalani into becoming a "therapy" dog as he has a beautiful nature, He can't be assessed for that until he is at least 18 months old. You must tell me more about the "skateboard", does he ride it? Have you ever videoed your agility, I'd love to see that. There are a few youtube videos of Zest! doing agility. Just seach "Zest Agility" and the r/w little basenji is mine. Those are all from her Novice days. She's now in Excellent. We've had quite a few set backs, but she has achieved her excellent agility titles in AKC. You can see my other 2 here: https://www.basenji.org/BasenjiU/Activities/Agility/AOb/stacles.html All but the dogs on the table are mine. Zest is also the star of the Agility Manuevers videos. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a local agility class. There are lots of foundation work you can do with puppies before you start doing jumps and weaves. The other two (Digital the brindlewonderkid and Jet the trying) are retired, but have certainly done a lot. Therapy work is so rewarding! You'll love it. Z and I are off to the Alzheimer's facility tomorrow. Both my boys also really loved it.
  • Training video

    Basenji Training
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    2k Views
    jonny b.J
    L O L that was FUNNY.
  • Basenji slave in need of potty training help

    Basenji Training
    17
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    7k Views
    nomrbddgsN
    I do hope she losses interest. My B girl Sugar climbs. X-pens are definitely out unless they have a lid, and then she'll scream. I can block the kitchen off with baby gates if I have visitors but not from her-she'll hop right over from a sit. She has climbed the fence to get at a squirrel, but since I watch her I got to her before she got over. I'm just waiting for the tree climbing to start!
  • Struggling with Potty Training

    Basenji Training
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    4k Views
    ChaseandZahrasmomC
    Fluffypony, Consider the kennels the best investment that you will make. We did not agree with crate training in the beginning when we got our Puggle, I felt that it was cruel to lock him up all day. We bought an excerise pen, put the pee pads in there and everyday we came home to shredded pee pads and a huge mess. Finally we decided to get the kennel because we could not take the mess anymore not to mention that we would have to bathe the Chase everynight after we cleaned up the mess. In time, we were able to trust Chase to be left with the kennel door open and he could be free in the kitchen because we had gates up. This took about 6 months. He hardly ever had an accidentonce he learned and got older. Then, we got Zahra, our Basenji, now they are both locked in their kennels all day, I don't trust Zahra to not destroy our house. She still has not fully learned that she can not potty in the house. She is getting better but if I give her too much room in her crate she will potty on one end and hang out in the other. I thought Chase was hard to train, Zahra is much worse. Maybe it is the fact that we got her from a pet store and she was there for so long and it was acceptable for her to potty in her cage and sleep in it. Yuck. Sometimes we let them share a kennel because when we first got Zahra she did not like to be apart from Chase, I think it made her feel safe to be with him in his kennel all day. Anyway, as a person who originally did not like the kennel idea this was my first dog, I thought it was mean now I know that they actually enjoy the security of it. They are pack animals. Hope this helps, Jenn
  • Crate and potty training help

    Basenji Training
    15
    0 Votes
    15 Posts
    8k Views
    C
    Yes husbands can be a trial at times. When my Kalya was dying from lymphoma hubby said no dogs for awhile! Kalya left on tues. for the bridge, on sat. we got a Basenji/Aussie mix, who was gonna be put down, and then3 months later got Mata Hauri Samuel to co-own. Now hubby is going in sept to the BOCA to see the african exhibit and meet some friends. Said he would love to at least see a tri! ggggg Carole