Thanks, candiejohn.

My problem isn't getting him into the rain, it's sort of like the adage, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." Except that in our case it's that you can take a Basenji outside, but you can't make him potty. That stinking dog will hold it until I'm sure that his kidneys will rupture. I was concerned because I will be in classes from 8am to 5 pm, and that's a long time to wait if he refuses to potty in the morning. We'll just have to see how it goes, and hope that the umbrella and trees will provide enough cover for him to want to go.

@kipsdad:

I am having the same problem with my male puppy. He has jsut recently experienced rain and I started picking him up and taking him to the grass but I am afraid I reinforced him for not going out. Any thoughts on carrying vs. literally having to drag him out to an appropriate spot?

Well, I'm not sure on this one, as I've never had a Basenji puppy… I adopted mine as a crotchety 7 year old (now a crotchety 12 year old) However, if my boy is any indication of the breed, I'd say that picking up your pup is not a problem. Mine seems to loathe being picked up, he'll tolerate it, but it's certainly not a reward for him to reinforce any sort of behavior. In fact, I think mine would start going out on his own just to avoid the humiliation of being carried. For my B, being picked up has the connotation of the "argument" being non-negotiable - if he will not go where I say on his own, I will just put him there (calmly and gently, of course).

Additionally, as others here have stated, when your dog does his business in the rain, he gets rewarded for doing it quickly by getting to come back inside where it is dry. My problem has been that the weather reinforces my dog to "hold it" since the desert rain inevitably lets up before he goes.

One more tip - if you have any gravel, I have found that a lot of dogs that dislike water prefer to potty on gravel over grass when wet.

Thank you, all!

I'll post some pics in the show off your dog category… as soon as I get photos transferred over to my new laptop.

Until then, I'll try posting this poor cell phone pic of Robin caught playing with my parent's dog last January.

Thanks for the suggestions. I may have to consider making my own dogbox to place on the porch (out of retaliatory-chew range), thanks Basenjimama. While I am very persistent, and in the habit of taking Robin out for two 30 min. walks a day, I may not have time to drag him around until he relents - I will be enrolled full time in classes and living in an apartment, so walks are the only option unless he decides to use a dogbox.

I'm sure he'll eventually get used to the rain, I'm just a little worried about the transition since the rainy season will start while I'm in school and away from home quite a bit.

I'll be moving from a VERY arid climate to a rather wet and rainy one with my Basenji, Robin. Robin has been a desert dog his entire life (as far as I know… he's a BRAT rescue, and came from a previous home in the desert), so he hasn't really had to deal with rain. We get little rain, so he usually just "holds it" until the weather clears up. In fact, he once urinated on the porch's doormat, rather belligerently, when I insisted that he could not wait another 12 hours. The look he gave me still makes me laugh. Robin will not poo when the ground is too damp, let alone if water is falling from the sky. He once went for two, nearly three days without defecating when we were having a really wet spell, despite regular walks (he considered them forced marches).

So, here's my question - does anyone have tips for encouraging Basenjis to tolerate the rain long enough to do their business? Or any help in acclimating a desert B to life in Western Oregon? Any thoughts on those astro-turf looking dog "restrooms?" Thanks in advance!

Hi, I've been lurking around this forum for a while, and thought it was time to join (there is a link on the Basenji Rescue and Transport site).

I have one Basenji, a 12 year old neutered male that I call Robin (he is my avatar pic). Robin was adopted through BRAT five years ago, and he is still as troublesome as a puppy! I wouldn't have it any other way, of course. Upon adoption, I changed my B's name to Robin because he is quite the prince of thieves, like his namesake, Robin Hood. He enjoys stealing food, all manners of trash, dirty laundry, paper products, and of course, hearts.

Currently, we live in Arizona, but we will soon be moving to Oregon, before I start vet school in September!