@antigone said in New Puppy Crating Advice ... Feeling Discouraged:
That Sea of Puppies is a very fond memory for me. I know now that my Dog lived the longest of her litter. 16 years is a long time...

Yes 16 years is a good long time. Of course we'd like it to be longer but nature will take its course, with them and us as well. Great that you have the memory. Puppies are quite wonderful things even if they are a ton of work.

@julier said in New Puppy Crating Advice ... Feeling Discouraged:

@eeeefarm our room is very warm. We made sure of that since we knew they do not like being cold . She was in our room last night and still cried but did not scream like she was doing before. So that is progress, but we took her out to pee a lot (4 times).

That is progress. I think together you'll figure it out. I wouldn't worry about the temperature so much. If there is a nice blanket in there she should be fine. Basenjis like to be cozy but some also like to be on the cool side. Heated doggie pads also work if you're worried.

Having them sleep on the bed is a great idea if you're willing to have it continue. But if you start letting them on the bed you are going to have an incredibly hard time convincing them they can't later on.

Just keep in mind that this is a huge change for her. All her life she's been with her litter, always having companions and sleeping in dog piles. Now suddenly this is all gone and she's alone. So a little crying isn't a cause for concern. It's not an easy transition, which is why I don't understand why people want a pup at eight weeks.

@tanza said in New Puppy Crating Advice ... Feeling Discouraged:

@donc - I disagree with your point about taking the pup out... at 13 weeks, way, way too young to consider they can go an entire night. I would take my pups out every 4 hours and I also woke them up to go out AND most important I would carry them outside. Typically they would pee quick and were carried back to their crate and they would go back to sleep just about immediately. I would do this until at least 16 to 18 weeks... but I would also increase the time between when I would take them out, but slowly. Also if they woke up during the night, I would immediately take them out. But of course not all of us are light sleepers as I am so I would know right away they were awake. Main thing as noted already is that the crate should be in the same room as where you are sleeping and close to your bed

I don't think this was my experience. We've never taken pups out at night. With one pup we'd get up when they did in the morning and immediately take them out. With multiple pups, not only do I like to sleep, but we have so many coyotes around I wouldn't risk taking pups out at night. Just let them have access to two areas -- one for sleeping and one for peeing and pooping. They figured this out and cleanup was pretty easy most of the time (not always though!). I am almost certain that at 14 weeks they were capable of holding it through the night (reports from owners) as well as on six hour car rides. I am certain that at 16 weeks they could hold it during a day long plane trip or a day long car trip.

That's why I'm saying 3 hours seems short. Then again I'm not that concerned if they don't make it since things are set up so no damage will be done.

Congrats on your new pup! Some dogs/puppies like crates more than others. Sorry that you have one that seems not to like her crate at all. Agree that putting the crate in the bedroom is a good idea. Maybe even a great idea. We left our second dog in a crate in the kitchen for one night. Disaster. We put the crate in the bedroom and he slept through the night. We even stopped using the crate and just had a dog bed.

Another idea is to just have a fenced area with a dog bed on one end and an absorbent mat with some pee pads on top at the other. This seems to work better than a crate at nighttime. If they sleep through the night great. If they have to pee or even poop they should do that on the pads. You don't have to worry about anything so you can get a good nights sleep, and it's not a big deal to clean up.

The other thing I'm wondering about, which is related to the setup mentioned above, is the need to take her out every few hours. Every three hours seems excessive. At 13 weeks I'd think she should be able to get through a night or darn close to it.

Such a handsome boy! He's sure to get many Basenji girls hearts racing. LOL

The reflected light from the snow also gives a great nice soft light. Makes for nice photos. Snow pics would be fun but no snow here for the last few hundred years.

Thanks for posting.

@reblin95 said in Luxating Patellas in Basenji’s:

@donc she’s 3 years old. The Vet that diagnosed her said she was grade 3 but I’m getting a second opinion on Saturday. Her hind legs are noticeably wobbly when she walks and runs and she limps sometimes too so I’m not sure if it will get better on it’s own. I’m worried about putting her through surgery but I don’t want her to get arthritis and be in pain so I’m going to talk to a few different vets to see what we can do.

Sounds like a good plan. You don't want to do surgery unless you have to, but you don't want the dog to be in pain or to have health complications. I also doubt it will get better on its own. That was something that would happen to a puppy or a very young dog.

I've never had a dog who had the condition but obviously it happens. How old is she? If she's young my guess is there is a good chance she'll outgrow it. I agree with Zande that there is benefit in trying to avoid surgery, either in dogs or people. Of course sometimes you don't have a choice. In that case I would definitely get a second or even third opinion. If surgery seemed the best course I'd then find a vet who does a lot of them. Practice makes perfect. PetMD says about 1 of every 2 dogs after successful surgery have the problem re-occur, so IMO the surgery doesn't have the highest success rate.

I have had one friend who has the problem but I can't remember if he had surgery or not. My understanding is that at least in people it's usually a wear issue.

I've had dogs bite people but it was usually a really stupid move on the person's part. Once a friend's son, who we told to be careful around the dogs, pounded on a male when he was fast asleep. The dog shot straight up in the air and latched on to his hand, before figuring out where he was and who he was biting and released.

You might have different issues. The sales/strangers seems protective. The runners might be a herding instinct. I've had friends who had dogs which nipped people running. Wasn't an intent to injure. Not being there and seeing the action makes it hard to tell.

Never had one who would affirmatively go after someone. Haven't seen others do this either. The aggressive behavior is always when they are startled or feel trapped or threatened. I'm sure that one suggestion will be to see if you can have strangers give him treats so he associates them as being a trusted food source.

That said, I would make sure the dog didn't slip out when the door was open. That you can control.

Haven't seen this exact heat related behavior. However, I've had dogs that loved the dog park until one day they decided they didn't. Very little interest after that. I've also gotten an adult dog that loved it and one which had no interest. My guess is this varies from dog to dog and in your dog's case is just part of growing up. Sad in a way but not much can be done. If they don't like it they don't like it.

The good thing is that they've had the socialization experience which will carry over going forward.

IMO the most concise guidance I've seen is from Zande Basenjis: http://www.zandebasenjis.com/inform.htm It's all good but perhaps too short for people to give it the attention it merits. Runs counter to the idea that why use one page when fifty will do.

I think there is also a note about why you might want to get one. LOL

My first piece of advice would be to know you don't want to let them off the leash. It's a mistake everyone makes but it's one you don't want to make (I confess being stupid and doing it twice with our first Basenji). My second piece of advice would be to not get one too early if you're getting a puppy. They need time to socialize. My third piece of advice would be that the price of the dog doesn't matter. Hopefully you'll have many years together, and by the end the price paid will be a rounding error with all the expenses.

Good luck. Basenjis can be great dogs.