Although Gossy has shown no indication of wanting to clear the fence (standard 4 foot chain link yard fence) she will on occasion make it to the kitchen table
in one leap. El D could jump straight up to nearly 5 feet from a standing start! And my first beastie never showed any inkling for this at all. An individual trait as are some others.
The stand and spring without warning!!!:eek: The first and only time Kate did this she not only scared the crap out of us, she must have scared the crap out of herself….she never tried it again. (Picture a casual but special holiday table....candles, flowers, multiple guests, and all of a sudden a Basenji in the middle!! Well, not exactly in the middle, a little left center of the turkey. Delicate paws between the taters and the corn. Like an Olympic gymnast, perfect foot placement.)
2. Basenji's cannot be Trained! - Depends…do I have pepperoni?
3. Basenji's do not Retreive! - True, but She-Ra will chase whoever IS trying to retrieve something
4. Basenji's are one of the oldest Orignal Breeds - That's what I've been telling people - one of the 8 "Ancient" breeds of dog
5. Basenji's are deathly afraid of Water! - Yep! Well, mine is at any rate. But she'll tolerate a bath.
8. Basenji's cannot be Trusted! - Oh heck yes!
9. Basenji's have short a very short Attention Span! - Depends...do I have pepperoni?
16. Basenji's are the Unintelligent Breed! - "They are not smart, but they ARE clever" is how I describe her to others.
26. Basenji's are not loving pets! - 100% not true.
16. Basenji's are the Unintelligent Breed! - "They are not smart, but they ARE clever" is how I describe her to others.
I think they are very intelligent. They are simply not very obedient compared to other breeds (unless you work with them more in-depth).
2. Basenji's cannot be Trained! - Depends…do I have pepperoni?
3. Basenji's do not Retreive! - True, but She-Ra will chase whoever IS trying to retrieve something
4. Basenji's are one of the oldest Orignal Breeds - That's what I've been telling people - one of the 8 "Ancient" breeds of dog
5. Basenji's are deathly afraid of Water! - Yep! Well, mine is at any rate. But she'll tolerate a bath.
8. Basenji's cannot be Trusted! - Oh heck yes!
9. Basenji's have short a very short Attention Span! - Depends...do I have pepperoni?
16. Basenji's are the Unintelligent Breed! - "They are not smart, but they ARE clever" is how I describe her to others.
26. Basenji's are not loving pets! - 100% not true.
Seriously? #16? You don't think they are smart?
I don't every say they are not smart, but when people ask I reply "they are clever." When people ask if they are hard to train, I reply "they can be hard to motivate"
I tell people that the Basenjis are problem solvers who think outside the box. And I too tell them that they can be hard to motivate.
Our first Basenji, Dino, used to retrieve until we got our second Basenji, Holly. The first time she saw him chase a ball and bring it back, she looked absolutely horrified! Within 2 weeks he refused to retrieve any more… I think she gave him 'the word.'
When people ask if they are smart I tell them that I have no children in the house but every cabinet and drawer has a child safety latch installed so the dogs don't get into them and I had to buy an upside down refrigerator model so my dog would stop helping himself to tri tip roasts. I also tell them that basenjis have their own sense of humor and if you can not find it funny to come home to the inside of your house TP'd and your dog yodeling and wagging its tail in great satisfaction about a job well done then you probably want to look for a different breed.
I tell people they are way to smart for their own good… which is 99% of the time what gets them in trouble....gggg
And Terry, that is a great line... "think outside of the box"!
I guess some people equate smart with easy to train…but I still contend that Bs ARE easy to train...really easy....the thing that is difficult is to motivate them to do it your way, not theirs.
I think they are really, REALLY smart. Think of it this way...the smartest people are not usually the most obedient...they are the ones, like Terry said, that think outside the box.
I guess some people equate smart with easy to train…but I still contend that Bs ARE easy to train...really easy....the thing that is difficult is to motivate them to do it your way, not theirs.
I think they are really, REALLY smart. Think of it this way...the smartest people are not usually the most obedient...they are the ones, like Terry said, that think outside the box.
Exactly. 
Our first Basenji, Dino, used to retrieve until we got our second Basenji, Holly. The first time she saw him chase a ball and bring it back, she looked absolutely horrified! Within 2 weeks he refused to retrieve any more… I think she gave him 'the word.'
Ha! Bongo will retrieve, and Fiji gives him a look that says "Oh, please, have some dignity, we're basenjis for God's sake." She'll eventually run over and grab him around the neck if he won't stop. :rolleyes:
There was a newspaper here a couple of years ago that listed the most intelligent dogs and the least intelligent dogs. If I remeber correctly, the Border Collie was top of the most intelligent and the Afghan was top of the least intelligent, closely followed by the Basenji. I have a BC and 4 Basenjis and I would definately say that the BC is not that intelligent at all!!! I go to training with one of my Bs and we are now doing off lead heel work and send aways. 3 of my Bs will retrieve (Ok only in my living room with a tennis ball). I always ask people what their understanding of the word 'intelligent' means when it comes to dogs. BCs and the likes are maybe slightly more willing to obey their owners but Bs (as a previous post said) like to do things their way. By working out how to open doors and crates etc does that not make them the more intelligent breed?? 
Ha! Bongo will retrieve, and Fiji gives him a look that says "Oh, please, have some dignity, we're basenjis for God's sake." She'll eventually run over and grab him around the neck if he won't stop. :rolleyes:
My two MOST prey driven Bs will retrieve, right up until they decide they are done with the game…it's like they say 'yeah, I am done chasing this ball, there is no reason for me to bring it back to you' The others are like 'Seriously? Chase it? Why?"
There was a newspaper here a couple of years ago that listed the most intelligent dogs and the least intelligent dogs. If I remeber correctly, the Border Collie was top of the most intelligent and the Afghan was top of the least intelligent, closely followed by the Basenji. I have a BC and 4 Basenjis and I would definately say that the BC is not that intelligent at all!!! I go to training with one of my Bs and we are now doing off lead heel work and send aways. 3 of my Bs will retrieve (Ok only in my living room with a tennis ball). I always ask people what their understanding of the word 'intelligent' means when it comes to dogs. BCs and the likes are maybe slightly more willing to obey their owners but Bs (as a previous post said) like to do things their way. By working out how to open doors and crates etc does that not make them the more intelligent breed??
Well, I think so
But I don't want to take anything away from Border Collies…holy cow! As a trainer, it is always such a treat to train a herding dog...and you will find that most serious trainers end up with at least on herding dog. I don't think it is because they are 'smarter' than a 'clever' dog...but they are ALWAYS listening to you, cuing off of you, ready to learn. Again, the difference between a genius who struggles in school (Basenji) and a Yale Valedictorian (BC)...who is smarter??? Neither. But if you boil it down to the lowest common denominator...guess who would survive the longest if dropped into a completely unpredictable environment.....I am rambling now 
Well, I think so
But I don't want to take anything away from Border Collies…holy cow! As a trainer, it is always such a treat to train a herding dog...and you will find that most serious trainers end up with at least on herding dog. I don't think it is because they are 'smarter' than a 'clever' dog...but they are ALWAYS listening to you, cuing off of you, ready to learn. Again, the difference between a genius who struggles in school (Basenji) and a Yale Valedictorian (BC)...who is smarter??? Neither. But if you boil it down to the lowest common denominator...guess who would survive the longest if dropped into a completely unpredictable environment.....I am rambling now
Indeed. I had a Border Collie for years. Very intelligent but also very eager to learn something new. Basenjis also appear very intelligent, but only if you look past the obedience part. I think you could train basenjis to do anything. It will simply take patience. Border Collies want to learn. Basenjis will think about it for awhile. They like to learn on their own. Hence their independent personality.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing the Border Collie a disservice. I love mine to bits. I'm only quoting the newspaper list!! Chance, my 2 yr old B, is ever so eager to please so I am taking the opportunity to do a bit more than just basic training with him.
In order from above: Here's how my B Moses ranks
f
f
f
t
f
f
unknown
f
t
t
unknown
t
f
f
f
f
f
f
t
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
t
Show me a border collie that can open its crate from the inside (without being trained to do so) - Gossy could do that before I would make it out the door - then maybe they (BC) can be equated with basenjis for intelligence
I have never owed a collie, but my little guy is only 5months old and is the smartest dog I've ever known. I have had many dogs of different breeds over
the years and none of them compare to Moses. He is by far the smartest. He
makes his bed at night, he puts his toys away in there basket. He knows my children by name. I can tell him to go find Raven and he'll go until he finds her. I told him "find Benjamin" (who was hiding out of sight & Moses did not seen him hide) he ran around the yard, looked & looked and when he came across the stuff my son was hiding under, Moses leaped on him. He knew what he did and was very proud of himself. So was I! And YES, Sometimes he doesn't listen and he tears things up, and does what he wants to, but so do I, so does everyone I know - I don't consider stubborn people to be Unitelligent? When trained with Love & patience a Basenji is as smart if not smarter then ALL other dogs. No one in my family dumb, everyone can be trained. Sit, good family LOL!
I too have had, and do still have one, and have competed in obedience with them.
Yes they are intelligent in lots of ways but not intelligent enough to disobey if necessary. I was once told by a BC enthusiast and expert trainer who also had a Basenji that if told to do so a Border Collie would jump off a cliff but a Basenji would say "Are you mad?".
When we used to train our collies one of our then basenjis learnt the obedience moves merely from watching us and the collies. She competed in matches with some very trainable breeds and never disgraced herself. The only thing she refused was to do the 'Fetch'. She would just turn and say 'You threw it, you go and get it!'
