Train only with respect for your dog, love and kindness.
Don't do anything to your dog that you wouldn't do to your own children.
Continually socialize your dog with other people, small
children, and other dogs. Your Basenji will need these social skills
to adjust properly to any situation in which he finds himself. (This
is no less than you would do for your own human children.)
Keep all training positive and reward-oriented. If the dog
is misbehaving, make him do an obedience command and then give him
praise and a treat for compliance because he has then been
"good."
If he is grumpy getting off a bed, "talk"
him up until he is fully awake and then lure him off with a
cookie or "happy talk." (You, too, might be grumpy
if someone suddenly awakened you!)
Even if your dog is good loose in the house,
crate-train him for an hour a day at least. There are times
you will want to travel with him and keep him in a motel,
times when he will need to be kenneled--perhaps during a
vacation--or have to spend time in a crate at the vet's,
times when you may just want some peace and quiet, times
when you have a repair man over and don't want him to eat
the man's tools, and times when you simply don't want him
putting his muddy feet all over the guests or trying to
play with the kids (he thinks he IS a kid!).
Don't use the crate as punishment; it should
be used only for a brief "time out," if necessary.
Good things should normally happen in the crate: feed him
in his crate; give him a chewie or cream-cheese stuffed bone
while he is in his crate and turn soft music on.
Basenjis often prefer open-wire crates to
enclosed plastic ones. (Some Basenjis appear to be almost
claustrophobic in the plastic ones.) Make sure his crate
is roomy enough, too. He should be able to fully stretch
out when lying down and fully stretch his head up and not
bang his ears on the top. Put a nice piece of non-raveling
material like fuzzy Sherpa cloth (like fake lambs' wool
and is sold in cloth stores. Polar Fleece works well,
too, but it more expensive--wait for sales!)
Basenji proof your house. Basenjis love to chew.
They also chew when they are anxious, nervous and bored, and
it may be your rug, the sofa, or the trash. Don't set your
dog up to fail. Avoid the pitfalls in the first place; it's
much easier. This is also a good reason to crate train for
times when you cannot supervise your Basenji.
If your dog is destructive and lonesome in the
house when you are gone, consider getting him a buddy (opposite
sex, please, to avoid fights!). Usually destructive dogs
are lonesome dogs and are feeling anxious when you leave.
Another dog frequently alleviates this. If they are crated,
crate them side by side so they can see each other.
If your Basenji pulls excessively when being walked,
consider training him with a head halter such as the Gentle
Leader. Premier
has a good description. One of our Basenji Companions' members, Susan Hayek,
carries Gentle Leaders in her retail store: Reigning Cats & Dogs:
retail gifts in Cambria, CA; Phone: (805)927-0857, Fax (805) 927-3452.
See the little dog
laughed:internet catalog. It can also be purchased through
SitStay.
Copyright © 2001 by Janine Peters & Betsy Polglase
All rights reserved.