I forgot to mention that they can also be extreme houdinis. My female has learned how to manipulate the latch on her crate so I have to use a lock and she taught herself how to open the screen door. My friend had a male that could climb an 8 foot fence and escape. Be sure to check about such things when you talk with breeders or BRAT.
The Wonderful Myths you hear about the Basenji's
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1. Basenjis are Lion Killers! ?? Doubtful, unless they accomplish it as a pack.
2. Basenjis cannot be Trained! False. Of course they can. But you have to be at least half as smart as the dog.
3. Basenjis do not Retrieve! False. They can be taught to do so quite reliably, as long as the reward (or consequence, if you train that way) is sufficient. (video proof!)
4. Basenjis are one of the oldest Original Breeds! True.
5. Basenjis are deathly afraid of Water! False. Some Basenjis are afraid, some dislike it. Some will launch themselves off the dock after water skiers! (the rope isn't to pull her off the dock, it is to prevent her chasing passing water skiers!)
6. Basenjis are pound for pound the most Vicious Dog Alive! False. Ever meet a Jack Russell? My friend's JR put the fear of God into my guy in ten seconds flat! And he outweighs her.
7. Basenjis cannot Swim! False. Tell that to my girl who would determinedly swim after water skiers.
8. Basenjis cannot be Trusted! ?? Trusted to do what? True, you generally can't trust them not to steal.
9. Basenjis have short a very short Attention Span! False. They can be amazingly focused when they want something.
10. Basenjis will only do something when they Choose to do it! False. But it definitely helps.
11. Basenjis prefer Clean Clothes to Dirty Clothes! False. At least when it comes to underwear. Lost the crotch out of stray panties more than once, but never from clean ones.
12. Basenjis cannot Bark! False.
13. Basenjis are Quiet Dogs! Hard one to call. A content Basenji is generally quiet. A frustrated one, not so much!
14. Basenjis do not require a lot of Attention or Care! False.
15. Basenjis cannot Jump! False!!
16. Basenjis are the Unintelligent Breed! False. Obedience intelligence is not the same thing as intelligence.
17. Basenjis can Climb a Tree like a cat! False. But they can and do climb accessible trees.
18. Basenjis have no Fear! False. An animal with no fear would not survive long in Africa.
19. Basenjis are Lap Dogs! True!
20. Basenjis need no exercise! False.
21. Basenjis are Naturally Socialized! False
22. Basenjis have no Health Problems! False
23. Basenjis with poor hunting skills were culled out and killed in Africa! Probably true. And likely ones with snarky temperaments ended up in the soup pot as well, unless they were wonderful hunters.
24. Basenjis do not get Fleas! False!!
25. Basenjis have Color Preferences! ?? In relation to?
26. Basenjis are not loving pets! False.
27. The Internet is the best place to get information about the Basenji Breed! True, but only if you are selective.
28. Basenjis tail's only Curl on One Side! True for the individual, I think.
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Jo, you can contact Sanda Allen for info on Father Titus who gave a speech at the BCOC Regional specialty re the lion part of this.
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Jo, you can contact Sanda Allen for info on Father Titus who gave a speech at the BCOC Regional specialty re the lion part of this.
Okay. Thank you! Did you mean Sandra or Sanda? Do you have a website for her contact or a kennel name?
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No, it's Sanda. Her kennel name is Africanadian Basenji's. The website is africanadian.net and her email should be on there. It took about 2 min for the page to load, but you can probably see her address there.
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No, it's Sanda. Her kennel name is Africanadian Basenji's. The website is africanadian.net and her email should be on there. It took about 2 min for the page to load, but you can probably see her address there.
Thank you. I found it.
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Just to make a small but important clarification. Usually Basenjis did not kill the lions. They surounded the lions and the humans did the killing. So the Basenji is not really a lion killer. However Father Titus did hear of stories about packs of Basenjis having killed lions. But it would be very rare. For those who are curious. Father Titus is my parish priest here on Base Petawawa, Ontario, Canada. He was born and raised in the Congo. His grandfather, who hunted with a basenji, was the cheif of a village. This village still does not have power. People still live in huts. He also mentioned that often Basenjis would scare the lions and other predators away from the encampments. Basenji packs would always protect their humans through intimidation. Often scaring lions away!!! This for thousands of years. He also mentioned that the Basenji in Congo is in danger due to a rabies epidemic and some waring tribes using them for food. So the Basenji is not really a lion killer however it is a lion scarer. Absolutely! A pack of Basenjis will take on anything that threatens their humans. Heck yah!!!
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Nice to hear you speak up Sanda! Your memory is much better than mine, but the establishment was quite noisy as well. I heard 'lion' and 'kill' in the same sentence. So technically, when threatened Father Titus did say they would kill a lion if needed.
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Nice to hear you speak up Sanda! Your memory is much better than mine, but the establishment was quite noisy as well. I heard 'lion' and 'kill' in the same sentence. So technically, when threatened Father Titus did say they would kill a lion if needed.
Yes we had information overload!!! Yes he did say they could kill a lion as a pack if need be but that is rare. Usually they scare the predators away. It is very hard to beleive that small dogs like that could kill a lion. I will ask him for more info about this topic. Next time he goes to the Congo, he will gather more stories on this topic and share them with us. I will ask him to video interview people. We can all watch it together. It will be so much fun!!!
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Hopefully next Sept at the next Regional you put on? It was really good. And so much info from everyone and a wonderful slide show from Father Titus on Basenji info.
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Hopefully next Sept at the next Regional you put on? It was really good. And so much info from everyone and a wonderful slide show from Father Titus on Basenji info.
Yes The BCOC Regional Specialty should be at the same place same time "ish". The last Saturday of August. August 31st 2013
Yes I will try to get part B of the Father Titus presentation. So much we never got to present. I will work on it with him all next spring and summer.
I will make sure to weed out any unimportant info. As too much is not the best. Just keep the most interesting and most relevant. We will have loads of fun too! -
http://www.basenji.org/african/macd6709.htm
There is a good part on the lion hunting in this article…. sooooooo good!!!!Interesting part about a possible brindle connection in there too, towards the end.
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OMG I wonder if the SAFANDO talked about in the article could be this African Wild Dog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycaon_pictus
Go look at the map of where it lives. It does overlap known basenji territories.
What if… what if....
We need John Curby to do a DNA annalysis to see if any possible genetic input could have come from there????
(He is the only guy I know of who would be capable and pehaps interested.)
In the article it mentions people crossing them with local dogs.
Sooo interesting.....
Sanda -
Or Aardwolf? but the geography doesn't really work for the Aardwolf (but the tiger stripes do!)
