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Thank you all so much for the suggestions!
It's good to get opinions from actual Basenji owners. I need to start taking her out first thing when I get out of bed b/c she peed immediately when I put her on the floor again this morning. I think I'm going get some of Nature's Miracle too and I'll try the Nylon Bones and Tennis Balls. The only problem with Kongs is she is a very picky eater - she doesn't like peanut butter or cheese or dog treats… its very odd. She will only eat the food the breeder gave her which is a Holistic Dog puppy food.
I like the idea of putting her in her crate while I'm with her to slowly get accustomed to it - I know it will just take time. I'll try putting her food dish in it and see if she'll eat out of it.
I'll post an image of her as soon as I can. She's a cute one!
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Yes, that is one important thing, that you "carry" her outside the minute she is awake… if you carry her right out, then you take away the opportunity for her to have an accident... they catch on pretty quick that mornings=outside....
I you can get her used to eating in the crate and that is the only place that you feed her, she will begin to associate it with a good place.
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The only problem with Kongs is she is a very picky eater - she doesn't like peanut butter or cheese or dog treats… its very odd. She will only eat the food the breeder gave her which is a Holistic Dog puppy food.
This is probably because she never had any variety while at her breeder's. My mom has one that was like this and there are still many things that he won't eat. She has expanded his food preferences though but mixing small amounts of things into the food he likes and over time when she starts offering him those things as treats he has started to take them. She also just tries lots of things with him. The reason she has worked to expand his food preferences is because food can be such a good motivator and she wanted to have options in training.
The Kong doesn't have to have to have anything really special in it to be effective. One of my favorite Kong recipes is just mixing regular kibble with canned pumpkin and using that as a stuffing. I sometimes mix a little wet food in for flavoring. In the summer you can even just stuff it with kibble plug the hole at the bottom temporarily, pour low sodium chicken broth or even better homemade chicken broth over the kibble and freeze.
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All good suggestions so far for you to try. Here's my suggestions based on my experiences.
1. When mine first came to my home I would arrange a bit of vacation time so that the first day I was with them totally, then the next day I would disappear out the door for 15 minutes and then for longer times, then the third day I disappeared for an hour or more, etc., until I could go to work for half a day then eventually for my full regular work day. This took me about a week to train the dog to be home alone.
2. The second basenji that came into my life had been broken of his crate training by an ignorant owner so I never could get him back into it. Instead I blocked off a corner of the kitchen for him with a bed and toys for him to stay in for the first several days. Gradually I allowed him more wandering room until he was trustworthy enough to have access to the whole house. This took about a month.
3. Be sure to give your dog a variety of toys and especially the kind that you can put kibble or other food in (such as "Kong" toys). Basenjis need mental stimulation or they get bored (=destructive). My current basenji gets frozen raw marrow bones when I go to work and sometimes she'll still be nawing on it when I get home. I also save old bones and fill the hole with kibble and yogurt or pumpkin and then freeze and give this to her sometimes.
4. Someone mentioned rawhide but I've never had luck with that - it's not digestable and has caused problems with my dogs (one time a piece got stuck in the digestive tract and he screamed "bloody murder" with every movement). Never give your dog a treat unsupervised until you know she can handle it or doesn't have an allergic reaction to it. Once you know its safe then okay - but even then I never give the stick type treats to mine unless I'm home to supervise.
Hope this helps.
