@balidad He is still young, so things will change as he grows and matures. Over time you will find out what his primary drivers are. With some dogs it’s food, with my girl it was food, heat (usually sunny spots) and comfort. With my first boy he liked some treats but his primary drivers were walks and exploring. My third and current boy is the same, he loves walks and exploring first, then play and toys with food a distant third place.
In the winter we can’t walk as much so we substitute with Creative activities. One of which is the “hunt” where I get a high value treat and place small pieces of it around a room while he is not there, then tell him to “go find” and he sniffs everything until he finds them and eats them all.
A good tip is to find the one or two treats they like the best, save these for only the best behavior / reward and use very sparingly, maybe two or three times a year. When the dog gets older there is a good chance you will need to get meds down them when they don’t much want to eat, these high value rewards then become very useful. Freeze dried liver and chicken treats are usually very popular and are natural.
Many other dogs are driven by praise, basenjis usually seem to be more focused on activities. I tend to grade each in my mind to keep track. For my current boy, parks with lots of wildlife like squirrels and other dog smells are a level 10 walk lol, more boring parks are lower. A living room treat hunt is about a 7, a treat as a reward is only about a 5.
With my food driven girl, fresh cooked chicken or steak was a level 10, a walk on a cooler day was only around a 3-4, a hot sunny walk was a 7-8.
Squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs always seem to be level 10s lol but be careful as skunks are also. It’s their natural instinct, while I can’t have them wandering off chasing, I can improvise. We have an electric remote control model car which is improvised into a squirrel, he chases that in the back yard sometimes. Lure coursing is also ideal for a basenji but make sure it is safe.
Over time you will find out what drives him, use the info to keep him stimulated, content and happy. Also they are independent dogs, they are very affectionate when they get older but don’t like to be overwhelmed with affection when they are younger. When people come to the house I tell people to ignore the dogs, that way they become curious and ok about visitors. A visitor that tries to get friendly is treated with suspicion. As they get older they will become much more affectionate and bonded if you keep them content.
