Thank you all so much for the suggestions!

It's good to get opinions from actual Basenji owners. I need to start taking her out first thing when I get out of bed b/c she peed immediately when I put her on the floor again this morning. I think I'm going get some of Nature's Miracle too and I'll try the Nylon Bones and Tennis Balls. The only problem with Kongs is she is a very picky eater - she doesn't like peanut butter or cheese or dog treats… its very odd. She will only eat the food the breeder gave her which is a Holistic Dog puppy food.

I like the idea of putting her in her crate while I'm with her to slowly get accustomed to it - I know it will just take time. I'll try putting her food dish in it and see if she'll eat out of it.

I'll post an image of her as soon as I can. She's a cute one!

Kananga,

That's one of my greatest fears right now, her chewing and swallowing something that will harm her. I've been wondering about the anti chew sprays, but I'm a little weary about buying products like that as I've spent a lot of money on training stuff and so far not much of it is working.

• Logan

Ivoss, thank you for the links, I will look at that as soon as I have a chance tonight.

Tanza,

The breeder had kept her in a small gated area with a male Basenji. I believe she was kept in there a lot of the time. I wasn't too thrilled with the living conditions when I saw it - the place seemed a little shady to me. She was in a room with other dogs and cats who were also in gated areas and the lady who kept them was a heavy smoker and it smelled extremely horrible.

She sleeps in the bed with me at night. I tried putting her in her crate when I first got her but she would not settled down - the crying and howling was constant and I simply could not sleep. So I gave up and let her sleep with me. BUT surprisingly she does great with that. She doesn't chew on anything and she hasn't relived herself as long as I've done it. She just curls up on top of the covers and stays put all night. But the moment I let her off in the morning, she starts chewing on everything in sight, and usually pees on the carpet before I even have a chance to take her outside.

I guess I got the wrong kind of toys, I will try what you all have suggested.

Thanks

• Logan

Thank you for responding Ivoss,

I have about 5 different chew toys for her, but she is not happy with them. A couple are ropes, one is a rubber horseshoe with rope attaches and the others are fuzzy animals. Everytime she chews on something she's not supposed to I put the toy in front of her but she just ignores it. She has never started chewing a toy after I've put it in front of her, she just runs off.

Her schedule is before work, at noon, when i come home from work, and before I got to bed. I've been doing this for 3 weeks, but she doesn't go sometimes when I take her out for 30 minutes or so. I do have to admit she's gotten much better about it, so I guess it will just take time.

I have thought about getting a babygate, but I took her to my girlfriends house and she climbed over the one she had like it was nothing, and that was taller than most baby gates and it had a door - it was actually made for dogs.

I've been trying to get her to be comfortable around her crate. I leave it out in the open when I'm with her, and sometimes she walks in it. But she never goes and lays down it it, she just sniffs around. But the moment I put her in she starts crying and going berserk. If it is claustrophobia, one concern i have with getting a bigger crate is her finding a "bathroom" spot. What is your opinion on wireframe vs plastic. I've heard many pros and cons for both so I'm really not sure what would be best for her. I want to get her a plastic one b/c she hurts herself on the wireframe. But the problem with that is her not being able to see her surroundings as well in a plastic crate.

-Logan

Hi all,

I recently got a 6 month old basenji from a breeder. I've had her for about 3 weeks. She was not crate trained or house trained before I got her.

So my 2 serious problems are her constant chewing and her crate anxiety. She also pees on the carpet regardless of pee pads or odor removers.

First, I cannot seem to get her to like her crate. She has somehow managed to pop out the "pan" of her wireframe crate and shuffle the crate along the floor. She completely mauled my blinds. I do not get mad at her and scold her for that b/c when I catch her it's after it's happened. But what should I do?

Should I buy plastic crate?

When I put her in her crate she wines and howls and scratches and bites like crazy at the wire frame. I feel so horrible. But I can't let her loose in the house while I'm at work. When I come back there are scratch marks all over the inside of her crate and sometimes a little bit of blood.

My research has led me to believe she has anxiety/claustrophobia issues.

Also, she is constantly chewing on things she is not supposed to. Corners of wood base frames, blinds, table legs, cords, basically anything she can get to. I tell her "no" and sometimes I grab the skin of her neck and growl, and it seems to work for a minute but then she goes right back to it. So far I have not really been physically forceful or anything of that manner. I'm really stumped and I've read up on a lot of techniques but I don't think using my voice to teach her not to do something is working.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you ,

Logan