Anyone know anything about Basenji's?

[TriciaHowe]

I found a 1 yr old female at my local animal control. She is a basenji mix but looks a lot like one. I am thinking about going and looking at her on Saturday but wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this breed. I did google it and found some great info but wanted some first hand knowledge. Her face screams take me home!!!
Thanks

 

[joebryant]

I started liking Basenjis when I was about twelve and read Goodbye My Lady. If you leave a Basenji at home alone uncaged, you will be punished, badly.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Thanks Joe - learned that lesson the hard way with our old lady dog that just passed away. She had seperation anxiety (were going back 14 yrs now when crating wasn't the norm) that we weren't really aware of. Needless to say we had no couch when we got home. She pulled all of the stuffing out of it. I came in, saw the mess and turned around and went right back out again. I sat on the steps while dh cleaned it up. I didn't want to loose my temper with her when it was our fault.

It's funny now - wasn't then. We kept that couch for many more years. We stuffed all the stuffing back in and I sewed it up. Looked like a Frankenstein couch. Nothing a blanket thrown over it couldn't hide.

 

[mamaKate]

My neighbors had a basenji. They were somewhat clueless and by no means experienced dog trainers. The dog was well behaved, friendly and great friends with their 8 yr old son.

 

[CaGoatLady]

I used to have one, but he died at a nice old age already. Anyway, he was very sweet and very smart, but lived up to the breed decription of how they have a mind of their own when it comes to listening, but that could be any breed. Ours would run off though if he got out the front door. Mine ended up living his last few years with my parents and I think my dad is still a little shook up about losing him; he was a great companion. A mix might be good for that non-listening part to be sort of thinned out or gone.

 

[LA~Poulet]

My FIL had a basenji mix that died of old age last year, she was a nice, well-behaved, intelligent dog. Her only vice is that she was a little bit kid-aggressive, but we attributed that to her being raised for more than half a decade before ever really interacting with 'little people'. She didn't ever bite any of my kids, but she would growl if they entered her space.

 

[taraann81]

I would say Basenjis are still pretty rare in most places, so for an irresponsible Basenji owner to allow a mixed breed breeding would be an oddity I think(not impossible though). Besides her coloring which is a pretty common color, I don't think she looks that much like a Basenji. Honestly I think she looks more like an Am. Staff cross, which many shelters are reluctant to actually call Am Staffs and sometimes give them more lets say...adoptable names.

Regardless, she is absolutely adorable ( I love dogs with goofy ears)!

 

[TriciaHowe]

That is what she is listed as on the animal control website. I can't say I have ever seen a basenji listed before (either pure or mixed). There are several on the basenji rescue website so I guess it does happen?? But I agree it probably doesn't happen very often.
There are 425 basenji's and basenji mixes listed on petfinder. Don't know how many are true basenjis. The strangest was the basenji/maltese mix

 

[Sequin]

In the right hands, I think Basenji's can be wonderfully intelligent dogs. However, you Must be leader of the pack with this breed. They are closely related to dogs imported from africa and not necessarily the right dog for everyone. Be prepared to give regular structured exercise and consistent leadership and boundaries.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I have a Basenji/Jack Russell mix. He's a rescue. Basenjis are supposed to be silent, but aren't really. They have an oddly shaped voice box. When you cross that on a Jack Russell, you get a dog with the weirdest high-pitched voice I have ever heard. Our "Jack" is a soprano! He can't yodel but he sure can howl! Which is odd for us because all of our other dogs are Dobies and GSDs with those wonderful deep voices.

He definitely has a mind of his own and he is so freaking smart it's scarey! You only have to show him something one time and he's got it--like how to open a door and where the cookies are. He is definitely high energy and the only time he is still is when he's asleep. He thinks the back of the couch is his own personal throne and jumps up there as easily as a cat. In fact he is very cat-like about a lot of stuff and seems to have springs on his feet. He regularly jumps from one side of the room, across the chair AND end table without touching either of them, to get to the kitchen before the big guys.

I crate him whenever I leave the house or there'd be no house left when I got back!

Your pix could be our Jack--except he is brindle and still has his curly tail.

Rusty