What worked for me was taking my Basenji for a short walk along the road that I live on every hour until she went. After just a couple of days it made a big difference and after that I increased it to 2 hourly, 3 hourly and so on. I think it worked because she became used to going outside and it felt less familiar going inside. Going outside and waiting for her to perform with her getting stressed, wanting to go back inside and not understanding what I was asking didn't get us anywhere and this was much quicker and long lasting. Now she goes for 2 decent walks per day (morning and night) and usually asks to go into the garden once in between (she is 18 months old). My Basenji was a puppy so if you decide to try this you may not want to start at hourly. The other benefit of this is that she doesn't tend to want to poo in the garden unless she has an upset stomach.
Peeing on People!!
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At six months our boy Kairoe [he's 8 months now] started to lift his leg and has started to mark his territory / neighourhood which made us proud humans and thought, "hey, our pup is growing up!"…Right now we're in a catch 22 position as we like the idea of Kairoe marking close to home, as we've figured that if he were to ever run off we would have at least 30 seconds to catch up to him as we'd know where he'd go first. He'd go straight to his first ever pee post / ground at the corner of our building. He got away from us one day but lucky for us he stopped to mark THE spot. So to this day, I think it is essential for any dog owner to ensure their pup has a marking spot away from the backyard in a strategic location and close to home...I let him mark areas like a map that will enable him to sniff his way back home if he were to ever get lost...that's the catch.
HOWEVER....here's the smoking gun...
By letting him lift and mark, it has somewhat come to a point that he will mark a post over and over and over again, like it was a game to him - FYI: He's healthy, no UTI here. I counted him marking the same post 5x's in a matter of minutes. I figured he was trying to get the hang of the leg lift and after making a call to his breeder for advice, she proposed that we limit this behaviour as it can get out of control...and it has...he has now begun to pee on people at the dog park and has now been labelled "that dog..." lol. Which sucks, because last April we were the couple who's "dog did not want to walk in the cold and would rather sit and scream by a stop sign.." in view of everyone. Glad that had past...
The last week we've been limiting his leg lifting but it's been hard because he won't go unless it's a pole and now I've resorted to timing his leg lift with giving his leash a slight tug to throw him off balance while doing his deed and making him pee on the grass. I do not want to continue doing this with thoughts that he'll associate me not wanting him to pee...any suggestions or advice?
AT THE PARK:
I watch him closely but give him the distance that he needs to socialize. I do not stand still and will walk with him unlike some of the coffee tree people at the park, and I'll often have him check in or at least 'watch me or slow down' as his recall has been lagging since he's been maturing. Unfortunately, it's at times when he's with his lil pack and doesn't give me a cue that he's going pee on someone. Sniffing and then marking trees | bushes | grass, I can tell but when he toddles off to somene to say 'hello" in his B way I can't tell. Only when their back is turned that he lifts his leg and by the time it takes me to run the 10 feet he's done the shocking deed. It's come to a point where we've started to warn people that if he comes near your leg to watch out because your fair game at the park...Any suggestions or advice what we can tell people at the park?
The post is a bit long winded but Clarisse usually posts for us...
Cheers,
Emm
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I would like to hear the solution to this one as I don't know how you're going to control that at a dog park. Unless you walk him around first for a while to let him pee himself out. Why would he pee on people? Maybe he smells that person's dog on their leg and then wants to mark the leg. I don't know.
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Sorry guys (Emm/Clar) I'm laughing my butt off here. It's not funny, but it is! I'll let you two in on a secret-Shadow did this when he was displeased with something. Especially when he was at a show and didn't want to be there. Unless you keep a long line on him at the dog park, I don't see how you will be able to correct this behaviour. The only option I can suggest is a good strong Squirt bottle and (hopefully) when he is within range, take action with the squirt bottle. I haven't had this problem other than Shadow-anyone else have any suggestions? Robyn, Lisa, Pat??
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Sorry guys (Emm/Clar) I'm laughing my butt off here. It's not funny, but it is! I'll let you two in on a secret-Shadow did this when he was displeased with something. Especially when he was at a show and didn't want to be there. Unless you keep a long line on him at the dog park, I don't see how you will be able to correct this behaviour. The only option I can suggest is a good strong Squirt bottle and (hopefully) when he is within range, take action with the squirt bottle. I haven't had this problem other than Shadow-anyone else have any suggestions? Robyn, Lisa, Pat??
Greeeeat Arlene…now we'll be the squirt bottle couple who's dog pee's on everyone...however, I wonder if squirting the coffee tree people might help? Muwahahaha! Your advice about the leg lift has helped.
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I would like to hear the solution to this one as I don't know how you're going to control that at a dog park. Unless you walk him around first for a while to let him pee himself out. Why would he pee on people? Maybe he smells that person's dog on their leg and then wants to mark the leg. I don't know.
We actually do excercise work prior to entering the dog park where he goes potty and he will only mark people's legs with a tinkle. I couldn't imagine a full blown pee on the tree people..LOL…
It's odd. He's so friendly to the people, he'll play with them but when their back is turned, he'll mark...HELP!
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@-Clar|Emm|Kai-:
Greeeeat Arlene…now we'll be the squirt bottle couple who's dog pee's on everyone...however, I wonder if squirting the coffee tree people might help? Muwahahaha! Your advice about the leg lift has helped.
This could turn into quite a comedy scene. Your dog starts to lift his leg on someone so you quick try to squirt him but miss and instead shoot the person. "Oops sorry"!:D
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Had a dog that did this once. The woman he peed on was very understanding and said "it's o.k., in Germany this is a sign of good luck".
Squirt bottle seems a good idea. The other option would be to ask your fellow dog park attendees to shower before they come to the park so their scent wasn't so over powering that your dog had the need to 'cover' it.:eek:
Makes you wonder what residual scents were on their clothes/shoes.
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Sorry i cant offer any suggestions, our Basenji would frequently lift his leg to mark vertical items, he sometimes did it on my parents furniture when we visited if i wasn't quick enough to stop him.
We have a Cat that sometimes sprays people, like you we warn them that if he back up they need to move Faaaasssstttt!!!!!
He once sprayed me as soon as i put a clean pair of jeans on
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Had a dog that did this once. The woman he peed on was very understanding and said "it's o.k., in Germany this is a sign of good luck".
Squirt bottle seems a good idea. The other option would be to ask your fellow dog park attendees to shower before they come to the park so their scent wasn't so over powering that your dog had the need to 'cover' it.:eek:
Makes you wonder what residual scents were on their clothes/shoes.
LOL! Ask the park attendees to shower before they come??
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On walks we use the "1, 2, 3, pee." rule. If you have not peed by the count of three then we are moving on. So I count out loud so he knows he is on the clock and at three we move.
As for the dog park, to some extent, if people act like trees then really they ought to expect to be treated like them. From an owner perspective it is terribly embarrassing but also difficult to manage. One thing to work on is the checking in. If he won't check in then it is time to go. And not just a pause and turn his head. He ought to come over check in and then be allowed to go back to play. Work on name response daily and reward it heavily think of it as putting money in the bank. At the park where you can't use treats, use touch and praise as well as releasing back to play as the reward.
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Yup, pretty hard at a dog park to control people that act like trees… remember, peeing is "marking".... and you will usually always see one mark over another... for the people that are standing still... it is like "hmm" I smell a strange dog.. I better mark....
And at shows... I have seen more Basenjis then I can count pee on people or their handlers... and IMO... has nothing to do with being displeased... just marking the territory...
That said, thankfully I have never had a Basenji boy mark in the house.... now the bitches... totally a different story sometimes... they will mark bedding... and more often then not when they are in season
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I agree with Lisa…if you have good control over him, you should be able to call him over as soon as he looks like he might lift..and those of us with boy dogs can usually recognize that body posture right before it happens.
HOWEVER...I think it might be good to bring a squirt bottle, because if you couldn't get to him in time to discourage his peeing, you could use the squirt bottle to rinse out the people's pants
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I like the idea of the squirt bottle - isn't the idea to hit the coffee tree people to get them to get a move on
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Well, maybe I've missed my mark a time or two, three, four…..yeah! Sorry Pat, I have to disagree with Shadow not showing his displeasure. He only did this at shows, never anywhere else and never in the house. He always performed badly that day also!
This might be the opportunity to practice recall as well. Make sure you have the best treats possible (I'll bring some rollover to the show) and turn it into a positive experience for him.
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Had a Corgi at the bark park come up to me, look at me with the cute face Corgis have, then lift his leg and pee all over my shoe.
I gave him the same line I give She-Ra: "You're lucky you're so damn cute!"
