Skip to content
Basenji Forums
  1. Home
  2. Basenji Training
  3. Having issues potty training

Having issues potty training

Basenji Training
  • C

    Hey guys,

    I was on these forums and received some great help & advice in late 2008 when I was looking into a basenji but things fell through and it didn't happen. I'm happy to say I've recently adopted a baby girl (8weeks old) but I'm having issues potty training her and was looking for some firsthand advice.

    I've done quite a bit of reading, and have been crate training her as well. It's been less than a week and she is doing extremely well in the crate at night - she has stopped crying after the first night or two and only whimpers when she needs to pee, in which case I let her out and we go to her puppy pad… she does her business and then we go back to sleep for a few more hours and do it again. The issue is with #2 though, she won't do it for me at least not where I want.

    For the first few days I was feeding her in the hallway (tiny 1 BR condo) and had a puppy pad in the kitchen as well as a spot she'd picked in the living room. Then I read that I should feed her inside her crate so that she associates the food with the crate and will a) see the crate as a more positive experience, b) not eliminate in the crate as she sleeps there.

    I picked up a baby gate yesterday but none of them were large enough to block the hallway so I've got it setup in the kitchen, and left the one pad there.

    I've been following the same feeding schedule since day one (approx 730am, 1230 and 6pmn) but today I started feeding her inside her crate and then left her in there for 15-20mins to digest and just get a little more comfortable with the crate (she loved it as long as she knows I am nearby for the first couple days, now she is fine in there regardless unless she needs to pee). Then I take her to the kitchen and the puppy pad. I call her to the pad and she sniffs it and I walk away, and if she pee's I give her praise and whatnot and shes gotten much better at this but she will never #2. I usually leave her in there for 5-10mins and if she doesn't do anything I bring her back to the crate and try again in 30mins or so. This went on for essentially all of today, and she ended up sleeping in the crate most of the day with me nearby. I just put her in the kitchen one last time before bed with no luck, so I figured we'd go to bed. I had her in the crate in the bedroom - went to the bathroom and when I came back she had eliminated a bit so I cleaned it up, used stain remover and scrubbed out the crate and put her in the kitchen in the meantime. Afterwards I put her back in the crate and was cleaning up the kitchen and when I went to the bedroom she had eliminated all over the crate and made a huge mess that I've just finished cleaning up again at 1am :/

    I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong and how I can get her to #2 in the kitchen or anywhere for that matter. For the first few days I just kept an eye on her but she would always just go before I could stop it and it didn't feel very productive to follow her around and then just constantly pick up after her without her learning anything.

    Any advice about how I can ensure she doesn't eliminate in the crate and what to do about when she whines from the kitchen would be really appreciated. Up until today she hadn't even pee'd in the crate but now we've had two episodes in the past hour so I don't want this trend to continue.

    0
  • nomrbddgsN

    I train my puppies from very young. They have always had a 'potty box' in their area. They get blocked off in the kitchen with an x-pen and have a potty box and bed in there. The potty box is basically a cardboard box with a hole cut in the front for easy access. In the box I put a puppy pad in the bottom and shred newspaper in the bottom. When they start going in praise, praise, praise. It will take a bit, but she will get it in a bit of time. Make sure you put her in the 'area' you want to go in after she eats, when she wakes up and throughout the day. 8 weeks is pretty young to expect her to move to a new home and potty train. So relax, you are doing nothing wrong except IMO giving her too much room to move around. Good luck.

    Arlene, the Basenji Brats with the Boxenji![](images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin")

    0
  • thunderbird8588T

    Congratulations on your new Puppy, how about some pics:D

    Shelley

    Basenji Malaika

    Basenji Malaika
    Basenji Kwame

    0

Suggested Topics

  • S

    Training Question

    Basenji Training
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    3k Views
    elbrantE
    Just a suggestion: When you see him "misbehaving" by chewing on 'less than ideal' items, offer him one of his toys and use the word "trade". In other words, 'chew on this instead', and when he accepts the toy - praise him. And when you see him get the toy on his own, praise him again. It could help him understand that certain toys are just for those times when you want to "rip someone's head off*". (*not meant literally, only in doggy world play)
  • S

    Needs Help-Potty Training

    Basenji Training
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    NerdyDogOwnerN
    It's a natural puppy instinct to NOT pee/poo outside their "cove". This is to prevent predators in finding them with their smells all round the area. Sometimes it takes longer for some to go outside. A neighbor of mine got a puppy, and they too where having a hard time with pee/poo inside. I told them to just take it easy, and don't punish. Spend a good time outside, and award when he/she does go outside. It took until their dog was 8 months until he started going regularly outside.
  • agilebasenjiA

    Training basenjis

    Basenji Training
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    3k Views
    NemoN
    Arlo does "downs" like Zoni (Aries' niece :)) does….with extreme enthusiasm by slamming her paws to the ground. Love it.
  • A

    Potty training

    Basenji Training
    24
    0 Votes
    24 Posts
    14k Views
    tanzaT
    @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...
  • jys1011J

    Rain & potty training

    Basenji Training
    12
    0 Votes
    12 Posts
    5k Views
    MantisM
    i always thought it would be a great idea to have an overhang over the grass for rainy days….
  • F

    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