so feel free to argue with my ideas but please make sure that you are arguing about facts not what you might have gotten from another persons posts that have nothing to do with the facts
I think you have been heard– you've expressed your point of view and I think people have read it.
So..... on to the question asked in the OP? Peace?
i think i have read this thread like 5 times lol
I love all the advice and opptions I now have that never knew about. The DAP is on its way and at my dog's 1 year check up next week i will be sure to talk to her about her anxieties and she what she thinks what steps i should take.
gjrcvw: Thank you so much for those links! I had no idea how mayny symptoms there were! Penny exibits most of those when we leave and freaks out if she cant find us in the house which is 3 times bigger than our apartment. I knew she was attached but didn't know dogs could have this kind of anxiety about it and am so glad i now know. I feel so stupid for thinking she was doing it because she was just mad at us.
I would also like to say i have stated (many times in this thread) that i have tried NOT crating her but because she gets so upset when we leave it is not possible. We have left her for a hour before AFTER she has had a couple hours at the dog park and she still peed everywhere and tore up carpet …. she doesnt rest while we are away. We put her in our guest room in the apartment one day at work and she eat the mattress lol it's funny now but we learned we couldnt even do that.
Oh and to West .... i honestly believe you did mean it when you said i should rehome Penny. You only said you dint mean it and started back peddling when people started standing up for me. Also i didnt flatly refuse every option just the ones that weren;t an option. Also we aren't buying a house we bought one ... with a yard. Penny would be more tramatized at a day care because she HATE being with out us. she freaks at the dog park if i leave the enclosed area to get more water. I never refused the dog walker option because i have thought of it i just dont know anyone in our neighbor hood and don't trust just anyone with my dog ... would you trust a starnger with your child ... you proably don't have children but that's how i feel about Penny.
The point is your mean harted posts did nothing to help me but all these other people cared enough to actually give me real solid advice and articles to read and options to look into that might work for us. That is mine and everyones point. You did nothing but make me cry (which i really did AT work when i read your postS)
And for you to say you suggested i deal with the root ... well i didn;t know what for sure was the root and you didnt bother to help with that just said to deal with it or give her up basically.
Finacially we eat out once everyother weekend, i dont know when the last time i got to buy new clothes. I feed her preium holistic dog food and get her a new toy or sweater (cause its cold nnow) rather than get myself a new pair of shoes or shirts even tho i need them because i care thats she is happy and comfortable. We have money saved and we aren not poor by any means but right now because we did just buy a house last month and have our wedding in May things are a bit tight because we dont want to be in finacial distress if something did happen. ANd as i have said before when we live 5 mins from work penny was only in her crate 6 hours because pat would come home on his lunch and then i would be home on mine so she only have two 3 hours chunks of being in the crate. Unfortunatly that is not the case because my lunch is only 30 mins now and i work 20 mins from the house and my fiance has been trying to get things done on his lunch break this last month so hasn;t had the time to come home WHICH is why i had psted this because it bothers me she IS in the crate that long with out a break.
ANyways enough said. Thanks again for the help, I have a lot of reading up to do so i can be more educated on my options.
Thats all i'm done, i just got back from spending 3 hours are the dog park and now its it Patrick turn to take a nap with her while i go see Harry Potter with some girl friends.
I'll keep you guys posted when i get the DAP this week and how it goes ... i'm really hoping i works because it would be amazing if it worked so well we could trust her in the house. Definitly not getting my hopes up.
I have come on the forum after a couple of day's absence and have tried to pick out your salient points beyond the disagreements. I'm pretty much convinced that this is a crate issue and I think it's better to concentrate on relieving that problem - there is quite a bit of professional advice on crate training on the net and also as given by some of the previous posts and I would advise you use the links suggested previously for a start. Many of us do have Basenjis with crate problems. I have one particular bitch who just will not accept being crated. After trying all sorts of ways to persuade her I gave up. But i'm lucky in that normally I don't have to crate any of my Basenjis for any period of time and definitely wouldn't have them if I did.
Circumstances obviously dictate that you have to crate your dog but I'm sure you try to make up for that when you're home.
I agree that you might find it easier to teach her to be better behaved when she's left loose in a room for the time you have to be away rather than work to get her happy in the crate (perhaps a combination of both?).
I see that much practical advice has been given in these postings - it's up to you to sort this out but please try to accept that many have extremely strong views and I'm sure don't mean to be unkind.
Personally I don't like confining dogs for long periods at a time and wouldn't sell a puppy to someone that had to, but I do appreciate that not everyone is the same. It's untrue that Uk people do not crate their dogs for long periods as I believe that somebody posted - some do and some don't and I imagine that's the same in any country. People are peoplefter all!
As to the peeing - make sure that you use a product to completely neutralise the smell, Basenjis have very keen noses and washing is not usually enough. She may be peeing because the odour is still lingering.
I'm so glad you have some ideas to work with at this point. Please do make a list of all of her behaviors for your vet and do not be afraid to try the anti anxiety meds. From my own research on this, it seems that sometimes, the dogs who don't have the most extreme symptoms go without treatment when in fact they are actually suffering a lot from the anxiety. The drugs do not have to be forever. The goal would be to get her feeling better and use that time to teach her to cope with being alone while she has the medicines to help train her mind to be calm in those situations, if that makes any sense.
Best best wishes to you and your little dog. I hope you can find solutions and peace for her very soon. Maybe this time next year, she will have gotten through it all and be spending her days lolling around on the couch while you are at work. 
Harry Potter was GREAT! I took my daughter for the midnight. I would be happy to see it any time but we have done very one then so off we went. 
My last 2 Basenjis hated the crate so I just left them loose in the house with a dog door to go into the backyard. The one I have now was crated for the first month, which he was OK with but he got a 30 minute walk before being crated for 8 hours. After a month I stopped crating. Now he stays outside, in the garage with a dog house inside during the day. Now I know the west coast weather is not nearly as cold as the eastern part of the country or some parts of Europe so I would have to figure out a different option. Like gating him in the kitchen or something. I've been testing him loose in the house by leaving for an hour or two and it's been OK.
hope you enjoyed harry potter! i think you needed the break after the stress you've been going through. i absolutely loved it, as was expected, but was amazed how much of the book i had forgotten. i now want to go back and re-read all of them. sounds like a nice winter break project - but now suki always chews on my books while i read. grr…
HP was AWSOME and i had forgotten a ton so now i have to read the last book again … and of course i cried ... i cried the hwole book so part 2 of the movie is gonna be a tough one but the director did and amazing job .....
So i read that we arent suppose to pay any attention to Penny when we get home until she is calm, then we can praise her. I actaully got patrick to agree but apparently the first time he did it she got very mad at him and wanted nothing to do with him til later that night lol Anyways its a work in progress and they say it takes a week or more til you see a difference.
Sorry.. but she hates her crate… and she has to be in it for 8 hours a day... And you don't walk her in the morning...?
I would start with making sure your dog is tired in the morning before you put her in her crate. And maybe you can try to leave her loose in the house so she can move around?
This is not only to you, but I read it so often on this forum that dogs spend entire days in their crates... I just don't understand that people can put their dogs in crates 8+ hours a day (I'm not including nights..)
I agree with Janneke here - if she hates her crate, she may pee in it because she gets extremely unhappy there. Not all dogs need to be crated - I've never had a dog who was crated, and the two I have now are loose when we're gone because Shaye, who was 10 weeks when we got her, always hated it, never changed, and started breaking baby teeth on it. When we leave we leave them with a treat to get their immediate attention, and they usually sleep or keep themselves busy, with no damage or upset. Of course, we aren't usually gone more than 6 hours when we leave them.
