Best posts made by Lustopher

@eeeefarm It comes with experience, I suppose. But for a first time dog owner, it's not as simple :p. Everything it's a learning process.

@Scagnetti Thanks for the input. We've been working on the crate since day one. We actually do crate games and impulse control drills daily, with and without the crate. Things like hand feeding with the food right under his nose, but he is not allowed to touch it; or dropping things around and moving through them; or simple things like waitting for my command to start eating, sometimes more than a minute (he just stares at me waitting for the release); or placing food close to him and just leaving the room (again, he just sits and waits). Also simple sits & waits before doing anything or when he is agitated (going out, getting back in, getting in the car, playing with toys, getting inside a room he wants or basically everytime HE wants something)

Now of course, we are talking about tens of seconds (under a minute or a little over), but what what can you expect from a puppy. He is doing great in this regard.

He also sleeps fine in the crate both during the day (we don't always have him lay in the crate, but for exercise purposes we have him sleep there once) and at night (with us in a separate room). If I have something to do and ask him to get in and stay there for a little while, he does. A few days ago he went inside alone and fell asleep for the first time ever, I was amazed. Didn't happen again since, but still.

I've noticed that he follows us around way too much. I fugred he was just curious, but it may be more than that. He jumps out of bed anytime both of us leave the room, or wakes up when one of us leaves. Since yesterday, we started to show him back where he was and ask him to stay (it takes a few tries before he does), so we are starting with that, alongside with short leavings (today we had in the crate with a kong for about 30 minutes and we just did what @elbrant suggested, aka leave for 1-3 minutes and come back.. after 2-3 times he didn't even bother checking on us). We'll continue this way, trying to increase the duration.

@senjisilly I've got one for 'emergency' usage, but it's not the best fit. I'll try to pick a better one this weekend.

And yes, his paws are cold, of course. I try to get him warm when I'm back inside, but still.

Hi

TLDR: First time owner, 5 old month B with what seems to be separation/confined spaces anxiety, is doing better with lots of training and trial & error.

First time owner here as well. We've had our boy for close to 6 months now and it's been a hell of a ride. First month is pretty much the hardest, after which it gets easier. But for that to happen, training is mandatory with each and everything you do with him, including alone time (well, obviously, as others have stated to me here, he is a puppy, he needs to feels safe, be with you etc, so by training I don't necesarily mean going hard on him)
We are in a similar situation, where me and my fiancee WFH, and leaving him alone has been quite a process so far. My first advice would be to start as early as possible, as I believe we got to it a bit too late (at around 4 months we actually started really working on leaving him alone). It's probably never too late and fine while he's a puppy, but earlier might be easier.

Second, would be crate training right from the start and stick to it. Even so, he might hate confined spaces, in which case leaving him alone in the crate for hours will probably cause more harm. Ours is fine with it (sleeps in it sometimes, by his will, at night by ours; goes in by command, stays there as long as I want him to, even if we're not in the room) but I believe he hates confined spaces, which is why we started leaving him alone in the house (he has access to the main room, hall and kitchen) and with that he has progressed way faster.

3rd and probably most important, things to have him occupied. We've got at least 1 frozen kong ready at all times, to be prepared for any sudden leavings. But that' the main thing that keeps ours busy. A kong stuffed with moist kibbles and topped with something that he goes crazy about (chicken pate, soft cheese or, sometimes, peanutbutter). A size M kong lasts him for about 45 minutes, until he gives up (last kibbles are hard to get, he goes to it later when they melt). A fresh bully stick/beef tendon, we also hide 2 cups greased with greek yogurt and topped with small bits of freeze dried meat (these usually keep him busy for at least 10 minutes, because they slide on the floor tiles or they flip).

Needless to say that the last point has him focused for about 1h, which on itself is exhausting. Now, if you combine that with a 30-45 minutes walk right before, you got yourself a rather chill B. Our routine consists of a morning/mid day ~45-60min free walk through the forest and ~1h of play time with other dogs later in the day (having him run with a husky has been the most welcoming thing.. he gets home and drops). And 2-3 training oriented sessions per day, of course.

This has been my experience so far. We got from a point where he'd panic the moment he'd hear the keys, to a point where he goes into his crate when hearing them :)). He just loves his "alone time" treats now. I'm not confortable on leaving him without following all these steps (like an emergency leave), but fortunately we still have the time to work with him around our routine, which hopefully prepares him for future unplanned alone time.

I didn't expect it to be this hard, honestly, as none of my friends or family members that have dogs had similar issues, but if you have the time to work with it, it's worth it. I wouldn't trade my B for any other breed.

I can definitely get fresh beef bones. But aren't bones too hard for a 4 month old? I actually have already bought and stored some in the freezer, but was waitting for when het gets to 6-7 months.

Hi again,

Coming back with another, say, "issue", that I am not sure how to handle.

I'm starting to understand that most dog related advice on the internet does not apply to a Basenji. I don't mind that, but I want to have him feel safe and more relaxed.

Now, onto the problem. He seems to be really anxious when I close the doors. For example, if I want to cook something and I wish to have him with me, he gradually gets stressed out and starts to run around, scratching doors and whining. This happens even though I play with him or try to calm him down. The second I take my eyes off him, he is panicking. He goes in and out just fine if the doors are opened, is just when I close the living room door (where we spend most of the time) that he does it. If we sit in the living room with the door closed, no issue there.

Crating at night is fine too, he's not that worried.

I just don't get why he's so stressed out if I am there with him, playing and all that. Is this normal behaviour for them?

@Zande His registered name is 'DUMILAND SOLID GOLD' and his parents go by 'ITURY PUZZLE INNUENDO' and 'QUEEN OF DUMILAND AFRIKATA'.

Thank you for the tips. I will give pads a go for now, next to the door (it's close to our room) and see how it goes. I am guessing that since we are going to wake up and carry him over, the transition shouldn't, hopefully, be that bad, since we will basically do the same but take him outside instead. He is so young that I am afraid not to catch a cold or something, it's 0 degrees C right now.

As for the crating, he seemed OK with the wire one. He went in by himself, played a bit, I stayed around and close/open the door. Then I walked away (still in the room) and he started whining, even howling at some point. Eventually he stopped for a bit, maybe 30 secs, so I took advantage of that and got him out + treat. Hopefully he will settle in the following days.

Thank you again.

Yea, I've started doing that yesterday. We had him with us while preping dinner and he was busy with a frozen kong. Will continue with that and see how it goes.

@Zande My vet also recommended us to use Nexgard monthly. Since there aren't many basenjis around, I've asked the breeder and he said to avoid pills that provide external protection due to possible liver issues. Ever had issues with Nexgard in that regard?

Unfortunately, I'm limited in options here. For external use, I can only get Frontline Spot On (doesn't seem to be as effective as Plus) or Vectra 3D (which seem to be somewhat similar to Frontline Plus). As for heartworms, I couldn't find anything really, even online is hard to order Nuheart or similar products in EU. But I believe that heartworms are not as prevalent here, either.

@elbrant I'm trying to, but I'm not completely sure how many calories he needs. From what I've gathered, it would be around 600 calories for the indoors effort he makes. He currently weights 3.8 kg (~8.3 lbs) at 10 weeks ( in 3 days). Seems about right, according to online calculators and other opinions on here.
I feed him Royal Canin semi-moinst kibbles (what he was fed by the breeder) and I'm following the package prescription and adapt daily (I try to keep treats @10-15% of his overall intake). It's really hard to balance training/positive reinforcement with food (he eats like a machine) :D.

@tanza Technically, we tried to dog-proof our home as much as we could, but he is obviously really curious and loves to chew and climb on thigs. I try to pay attention to this and correct in a calm manner whenever I get the chance. He seems to be getting it most of the time, but it's gonna be a work in progress for the weeks to come. So yea, I do have some cables that I cannot hide right now so I'm a little reserved to let him free roam when I can't pay attention. I tried to move in and out of the kitchen to check on him and it's really about split seconds with him.

PS: Any advice for the first vet visit together? My parents came by the other day and he was a little curious, but also scared. I let him do his thing but I didn't push it. So not sure what to expect tomorrow.

Grass has been cut where we take him to meet other dogs. I'll keep him away for now and see if that helps, although he seems to start sneazing when taken outside, even more so when in contact with grass and plants (for potty only now).

Taking him to the vet tomorrow again and I'll ask for blood test as well.

@tanza I suppose none. I had my parents over twice and a friend. Treats seem to do the work rather fast. My friend was able to check him out (ears, teeth and touching all over with just some bits of chicken)

For anyone experiencing similar symptoms, gonna post a recap from today's visit. Vet said that it's very likely to be an allergy, since his symptoms didn't really worsen, other than 2 or 3 breathing difficulty attacks (probably due to extra exposure to the allergen). Chances to be a foreign body stuck in his nasal passage or ear are very slim, because he would've already gotten at least some yellowish/greenish, pus like, nasal discharge and a lot more pawing and overall discomfort. Same goes for kennel cough, but since it has a longer incubation period, he said to keep under supervision for 2-4 more days (should at least get some specific coughing, fever or something related to infections).

He said that a blood test would pretty much say nothing in this case, and a lung X-ray is also not needed since he didn't hear anything weird with the stethoscope.
He just recommended to stay away as much as possible from grass for now and keep an eye on him. Prescribed Aeurius in case of other breathing attacks.

All in all, my boy seems to be getting better. Not much sneazing, other than a few times when taken outside. Nose doesn't seem to be as runy either. And he seems to be getting his energy back, as he wanted to play today. As much as I dislike his zoomies sometimes, I 100% prefer that than not feeling well and laying down, heh.

@tanza We got him at 8 weeks. It is what it is now, trying to learn by trial and error.

@Micah I give him alone time after each play to be honest, he usually chills on the sofa, chewing on something (I don't mind him sitting there, as long as he stays calm). It would be great if he'd stay in the crate with the door opened... . Once in a moon time he does so, but not for long. He sleeps in there with no issues, goes in by himself when he sees food. I now put him in there if he goes overboard when overstimulated and he cools down for a few minutes with little to no whinning, sometimes falls asleep, but only if the door is closed.

But now that you put it this way, it makes sense. I'm probably trying to comfort him too much. I'll pay more attention to these little things.

I've been feeding him Acana Heritage for Medium Puppies. It's mostly chicken, so perhaps he developed a pouldry allergy overtime? I've taken out most of the treats already and will try to switch his food for a few days to see how it goes. I found a fish formula from Orijen (6 fish), that should do the trick if poultry is the problem.

@elbrant most of the time yes, one of us or both are home, but when we'd exercise leaving him alone, we'd both leave the house. The "ritual" would be similar to what you said: set up the camera, give him his favorite stuff, pet him a little and then just leave with no big fuss.

I have ditched the pen and though of a new plan, which implies the kitched too. I have just put turf in our balcony and he just loves it there. He lays in the sun all day. So I am going to get a baby gate and use the kitchen and the door to the balcony. Have his second crate in a corner, in case he wants to sleep in there. This was the initial plan with the pen, was set up in the livingroom with opening to the balcony, but oh well.

Funnily, yesterday I left him with his kong for about 10 minutes (wasn't frozen enough) and he was fine. I actually left him extra 5 mins to see what he does after he's done, and he just sat there. I am guessing this is a good sign.

Thanks for the idea, I'll see how it goes. Technically, next week will be the last with bad weather so his favorite new place, the balcony, will be all his.

Back with some visuals to see what I am dealing with.
So, until we get the baby gate, we figured we'd keep trying with the crate.

We took all the necessary steps: we fed him, we took him out aftewards for a walk + play with and other dogs (about 1h in total), we got home and stayed for a bit, then we got his kong + bully stick and said we d leave for a few minutes. He didn't react at first, but after 1 min he started.
He lost all interest in his favorite kong filling, peed a little after a few minutes (although we made sure he pottied before). At some point I turned on the TV to see what he does and he eventually settled down a bit, so I took advantage and came back in. Unfortunately, he kept at it afterwards so I had to ignore him until he layed down

This was already about 10 mins in:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zimrovpO4vw&feature=youtu.be

This is where he calmed down a bit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EluiP7Q9U&feature=youtu.be

I figured that the cage is kinda mandatory, as we plan on taking him with us on vacations and leaving him free in other people's homes is not always an option. The baby gate is on the way, however.

I just find it weird that he sometimes is fine and focuses on the kong, sometimes he goes mad right away.

He was also a little distant too afterwards

Don't allow bad behaviour to be reinforced by him getting what he wants.

That has probably been the issue with taking him to dogplay. Everytime we hop in the car @6-7 PM, he know we are going there and he becomes really restless and excited and it's impossible to get his attention, especially once we get there. And now that I think of it, we've unintentionally reinforced that behaviour. Would going the same way but not stopping there, multiple times, help in that regard? He is fine in the car otherwise (stands all the time, but is not over excited and does not whine).

During todays walk, I tried to have him more focused on me by just doing lots of U turns on the way to the woods(especially before the fences I know he would pull towards). Then, in the woods, total freedom with occasional recalls and 'leave it'. Got to say that it helped, not 100%, but this is the first time I tried it. When we were coming back, there was actually a stray dog in the middle of the sidewalk so I started doing bunch of U turns like 10 meters away, which didn't seem to help (understandable, first time and also highest distraction for him), so I crossed the road and stopped next to the dog but on the other side. I let my B just look at him and eventually he came back to me at which point I rewarded him plentifully and moved on.

This being said, I will continue with this twice a day and hopefuly results will show faster.

I know this is the second day, but I'm just amazed as to how much more responsive he is. Last night we all went for a walk, and usually he is much more agitated when it's both me and my wife with him (for some reason), but this time around he didn't even care that my wife would sometimes remain behind or would be in front (due to sudden U turns).

And today, he only had one sudden lunge at a fence, whereas before he would pretty much do it at all fences where he'd hear a dog. But even then, I was ready and as soon as he lunged forward I turned and called him and the leash barely tensioned, he was right next to me in a second. And when we turned around, he was just focused on me and ignored the barking.

Besides, he seems to be more tired than on a usual walk. He goes right on the sofa or his kennel and lays down. I suppose that all that focus tires him quite a lot.

I don't know why I haven't applied this earlier, with all the other training. But I guess it's only natural that we all learn from mistakes.

Things took a 180 turn, unfortunately. Feels like everything has reset, barely listening, even in doors. Constant whining and restless, feels like he wants to stay outside all day.

I am going to assume it's because of the mating season, since he is all over the place sniffing and marking. How long does this usually last?