My family recently rescued a a german shepard/basenji mix dog from an animal shelter. She has been great!! We think she is under 2 (goes to the vet on tuesday) and has had some sort of obedience training. She is fully house broken. Her down falls are few, she seems to be extremely timid around my husband (she was a found dog so not sure of her history) and she seems to have severe anxiety when we leave her home alone. She is being crate trained so at night she sleeps in our room in her larger crate with no issues. But during the day we put her in a smaller one and she pees in it every time. We have only left her alone for max of 2 hrs at a time. My husband is unemployed so he is home with her most of the day. She is a chewer so I don't feel comfortable just yet to let her roam the house free. She does not like to be in the yard for too long as well. She goes for atleast 2 walks a day and has never had any accidents in the house Is there something we can do to calm her anxiety????
We also had a "rescue" dog and in 12 years she still has some residual from being beaten as a pup. I suggest getting HOW TO RAISE YOUR PUPPY from the Monks of New Skeet. They also have another book which deals with behavior. Blessings.
Research Basenji's, the have a tendency to be high strung, maybe you can find a dog group tht can give you some pointers and or trainers that have experience with the breed.
We had the same issue with a rescued, abused dog. The only thing that would keep him happy if we were gone was to be with another dog. Our rescue dog would have "panic attacks" if we left him, whether he was left in his box, or in the house loose; he too would soil his box. We finally started putting him outside with our outside dog or bringing in our outside dog during inclimate weather. The two dogs ended up being great friends. It also took our rescue several years to warm up to my husband (he was severely abused by a man).
Our adopted dog with 'unknown' history was never successful with the crate. He struggled with serious separation anxiety. We finally had to give up on the crate training. It wasn't until we gave it up that he started to heal from the separation anxiety. I put the crate away and never looked back. I used doggie pads, diapers, and covers, and trained him that way. He's great now. He can be free in the house and he rarely has an accident. When he does, it's our fault not his.....because we didn't get him out on time.
Best of luck to you. I know it's heart rending.
B.
