Welcome to Flutesong Basenjis

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Welcome to Flutesong Basenjis, and thank you for visiting. Our dogs are part of our family and do not live in a kennel situation. We feel that this is not appropriate for this breed. However, a pre-requisite for owning a Basenji should include having raised multiple children, close in age with individual and unique strong personalities with quite a bit of the stubbornness to go along with it. Our children are all grown and out of the house so for us, Basenjis Rule.

We have had so much fun with our dogs over the years; we started with Basenjis in 1994. Previous to that we had Shar-peis from the 1970’s until the late 1990’s. The Basenji is a sight hound. He is a small muscular dog averaging about 17 inches tall and about 24 pounds. Basenjis do not bark, unless they learn it from other dogs. It sounds like a fake bark along with their other noises of howling and yodeling and the more sophisticated ‘talk growling’. Some are very vocal and some a very quiet it just depends on what they decide their level of vocal communication will be.

Generally, Basenjis adore people but can be aloof upon the first meeting; they are a very good judge of human character, in my opinion. They love to be held, petted, and hugged and to be on your lap or lying right next to you when you are sitting watching T.V., for example. They don’t shed much and don’t have doggie-odor being a very clean dog. Since these dogs have been around for about 4000 years they think they are invincible, they are not afraid of anything much and are more curious than we sometimes like. They want to investigate things like fireworks, street sweepers and most things that make a noise they are unaccustomed to, that are usually a dangerous thing. They cannot be trusted off leash unless they are in a very controlled situation. They need an environment that has a ‘Basenji proof’ fenced area, because again, they have No Fear of cars or danger, especially if they are pursuing prey, the squirrel or bunny.

Basenjis love to play, I have a toy basket that has all their fun stuff and their variety of ‘chewies’ in my family room and 99% of the time it’s tipped over and half of the room is covered with their stuff, it’s their room, too. If they could really talk they’d tell me that they are entitled to have the toy basket tipped over and their stuff where they want it. My dogs are in their crates at night and when we are gone, it is their safe haven.

The Basenji is highly intelligent, creative, loving, loyal dog with a very determined personality. They are not a watchdog, they are not real obedient but they do follow the rules of the house. These dogs are not for everyone, but once you fall in love with a Basenji you are hooked for life.

The history of the breed is depicted in hieroglyphics in Egypt. It is said that they appeared next in the Congo basin in Central Africa around Zaire where today they are treasured hunting dogs, helping to feed their family. A Basenji was exhibited at the Cruft’s Show in 1895 as an African Bush Dog or the Congo Terrier. In 1937 descendants from African imports were exported to America from England. In 1943 Kindu won best of breed at Westminster. The Basenji Club of America was formed in 1942 and accepted the breed standard set forth by the Basenji Club of England. And as we say, the rest is history. These dogs are a delight to have in the show ring. One must have a good sense of humor with these dogs because striving for perfection and consistency will drive one crazy. It’s best to just go with the attitude to have a great day with your dog. This holds true with any show event with your Basenji.