I think what they say in the below link about off leash and behavior is true. My last 2 lived their whole lives in the house and didn't wreck anything. 8-10 hours by themselves. I took them out a lot off leash, of course in safe areas away from traffic. A few times they stayed 2 weeks by themselves in the house and my neighbor fed and walked them. There's a dog door to get out. My first was really good too. I'm working on my new tri. 8 months off leash now. I don't want to crate him all day all his life. I've been taking him to the dog park for off leash fun and he's calming down. Just my 2 cents.
I have to agree, but we always have more than one basenji, I find that keeps them out of trouble too.
Great web site: Stine, whose dogs (Eddie & Fea) those are, used to post a lot to B-Pix, it is great to see her web site again. And Blixen, the basenji with the tiger cubs, now lives in Africa. Basenjis in Denmark have very exciting lives!
We took ours to safe off leash areas for years, I trained them all to come to a sports whistle and 99% of the time they turned on a dime and came to me when I blew it. That other 1%, well, that's why we went to safe places! Once Topper & Nicky took off into a swamp called "Rattlesnake trace" and didn't come out for almost 10 minutes, I was a basket case!
And other than a newspaper shredder, I have not had destructive basenjis.
I used to let Benji off his lead in safe places and he would come back but only when he wanted,lol.
When i first got him i was rather naive and when i first let him off i chased him over hill and dale to try to get him back. Eventualy i felt so cross with him that i stormed off in the opposite direction and Bingo there he was by my side.
Great to hear other Basenjis go off the lead too. I frequently find that other dog owners dont want their dog to mix and get mad if your dog goes up to sniff. Unless there is a good reason i think its a shame that some dogs are denied mixing with their own species.
Whoops better get off my soap box now.
I think the important phrase here is 'in a safe place' As many of you know, I am not an advocate for off lead dogs, unless they are under impeccable voice control. If you can achieve that with your basenji, then awesome.
What I don't like is going to a park with my dogs on lead, and having someone with their off lead dog come up to sniff mine…my dogs don't like it, they will act nasty towards the sniffer. If you have your dog off lead, it is your responsiblity to keep them under control to the point that they don't wander up to dogs that are on lead.
I do agree that dogs need to be able to run off lead, and run with other dogs...but that is why we have a large fenced yard, and multiple dogs 
What is nice if you haven't got a large yard or multiple Dogs is to meet up with other people and their Dogs in a safe place to let them play together.
Our 2nd basenji rescue, Bongo, was a handful when we brought him home but he has turned into an affectionate, happy dog. I give a lot of credit to our discovery (thanks, Dan!) of an amazing fenced dog park/island with hills and beach areas where they can run and run and run.
Fiji and Bongo are not crated when we're gone and while we still have occasional issues with newspapers left too low (Bongo is a newshound :rolleyes:), they aren't at all destructive. They were both pillow de-stuffers and furniture chewers early on, but again I think the extra exercise from the unleashed runs are what's cured that.
It'd be great if we had a big fenced yard but we have urban basenjis and the 10 minute drive to the park is well worth it for tired and happy pups.
What is nice if you haven't got a large yard or multiple Dogs is to meet up with other people and their Dogs in a safe place to let them play together.
Agreed! 
Ha, ha ,ha! I may have to eat crow today. I just got back from the beach and many dogs there. I let Buddy on and off just to see how he does. He doesn't even listen to me at all. OK, no big surprise there. I grab him as he plays with the other dogs. So there's high cliff on one side and ocean on the other. I decided to let him off again to play with a large crowd of dogs but we're close to the steep, sandy trail that goes back up. Damn he decides to bolt up that trail and I'm yelling his name and he stops half way up and turns and looks at me for 2 seconds and continues to run up. Panic! I'm yelling at him while I'm running up this trail and a young guy with his Spaniel grabs him and he yells "I got him"! Oh God he saved the day. Are we having fun yet! ggggggg. He said his dog just took off on him but stopped at a crowd of dogs and he grabbed him. He said he was freaked out. I think there was just too much activity and excitement. OK, more time to mature and more obedience classes. I need to get him out there when it's empty. He follows me everywhere in the house but when he gets in the outside environment it's whole new world. He's going to take more work than my past Basenjis.
Checking out the hang gliders.
The end!
Watch how Buddy beautifully responds to my whistle. Can you say gone, like the wind.
http://s579.photobucket.com/albums/ss238/mybasenji/?action=view¤t=MVI_0196.flv
Jepp is outta there..
Thanks for poting that cool little thing from Denmark. I didn't know males have a season as well, interesting..
We just came back from spending all day out in the country and the dosg had so much fun. It wasn't fenced in or nothing but a bout 55 acres of shrubby terrain, with clearings and even a pond. Fun day, indeed.
I bought Otis a bell, small cobellish looking thing, and had that attached to his collar and it was awesome hearing him everywhere he went..worked splendidly.
The reason Otis has not been overly destructive (yet) I think is beacause he has the two other non-B's a s company. If I am gone for longer periods of time I crate him, if not I lock them all into our utility room and they are happy as could be, with the exception of some paper damage, but that is OK..
Well I'm glad I have a good sized fenced yard with lots of flower beds - it makes for many trails that Gossy can run down and sniff and hide from me :D. She goes to day care once a week so she gets to play with other dogs and people.
However, I would never let her off leash in the woods or anywhere else. Her prey instinct is so great I have yet to regrab her attention when she's on a squirrel.
And when she gets startled by something it sometimes scares the living daylights out of me. When I took her to her first races, we tried starting her through the box, which made such a loud noise when opened that she ran after the lure (so it seemed) but then kept running and running and running - I thought I'd never get to her before she got to the highway :eek: - whew, she finally turned around. And the other day we were walking and something in the grass startled her and she jumped straight up and away as basenjis do and then in less than a split second bolted in the opposite direction - straight into the road! :eek: - except I had her on 6 foot leash and so she was "rudely" stopped :).
Urban environments are not really the safest places for basenjis!
. Eventualy i felt so cross with him that i stormed off in the opposite direction and Bingo there he was by my side.
.
My 6 month old is an escape artist - when we get out of the car sometimes, she's quicker than I am and takes off - we've found all she does is walk over to the side of the house to pee, then comes right back. The two times she has pulled out of a harness or broken a leash, I ran in the other direction and like Bingo, Shaye was right by my side. Still don't trust her off leash unless she's at a dog park - doubt I ever will.;)
My breeder friend Susan (Apu Basenjis) recommend this DVD.
"Really Reliable Recall"
Leslie Nelson; DVD
This is the first time I've had a B bolt like that. No more open space off lead till he's recall trained. Fenced in dog parks only.
@Shaye's:
My 6 month old is an escape artist - when we get out of the car sometimes, she's quicker than I am and takes off - we've found all she does is walk over to the side of the house to pee, then comes right back. The two times she has pulled out of a harness or broken a leash, I ran in the other direction and like Bingo, Shaye was right by my side. Still don't trust her off leash unless she's at a dog park - doubt I ever will.;)
Isn't she restrained in the car? Either with a crate or doggy seat belt?
Isn't she restrained in the car? Either with a crate or doggy seat belt?
Loose in the car is really dangerous. They could bolt right out into traffic. When I was 12 we had a Maltese Poodle and my mother took it loose in the car when she opened the door the dog ran out and a car hit it. It survived but had epileptic attacks after that from the hit doing some damage to the brain. We had to put the dog to sleep a little while after because the attacks got more frequent. I always crate Buddy in the back of my truck which also has a camper shell.
Lovely pics of Buddy Dan, hope you have recovered from your fright.
I have never heard of the saying have to eat Crows, i guess it's the same as when we in the UK say eat humble pie?
Lovely pics of Buddy Dan, hope you have recovered from your fright.
I have never heard of the saying have to eat Crows, i guess it's the same as when we in the UK say eat humble pie?
It was a really nice day except for being scared out of my wits!
Eat crow means humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proven wrong after taking a strong position. Eating crow is presumably foul tasting in the same way being proven wrong might be Off leash is a good thing as long as you have your Basenji under control. I didn't. I was really lucky that guy grabbed him.
There are so many sad stories from dogs riding loose in a car/truck/van, etc…. from the Road Rage in San Jose, Calif where the guys came up to the persons car and she had her dog loose on her lap, only to have it yanked out of the window and tossed into traffic... to having an accident and having the dogs flying from one end of the car to the other or worse yet out of the car completely.
There are so many sad stories from dogs riding loose in a car/truck/van, etc…. from the Road Rage in San Jose, Calif where the guys came up to the persons car and she had her dog loose on her lap, only to have it yanked out of the window and tossed into traffic... to having an accident and having the dogs flying from one end of the car to the other or worse yet out of the car completely.
That's exactly correct Pat! I have had to stop suddenly a few times but he's safe in the crate as I also have a bungy cord to keep it stable.
to having an accident and having the dogs flying from one end of the car to the other or worse yet out of the car completely.
Indeed, and in doing so can prove a lethal missile for any humans in their way. I have a Guardsman fitted crate in the back of my Volvo V70 estate car; it is bolt together with a one inch mesh and boy is it heavy; it took two of us to get it out when I had to change the battery. It has a divider and escape doors at the front so that the dogs can be got out in the case of a rear end collision. They aren't cheap to buy new, probably in excess of $1000 but I was lucky to get mine second hand and I am very happy with it.
I am horrified when I see people with little dogs riding unrestrained on the parcel shelf of a saloon car behind the back seat. It's a disaster waiting to happen for all concerned.
