The barkless dog who spoke to me

The Basenji made an appearance in civilization at the dawn of history as a palace dog of the Pharaohs, so long ago that he watched the Pyramids being built. Pictured in bas-relief and sculptured in stone as far back as 4000 B.C., the Basenji even lent his ears to the dog-headed god Anubis. He was found in Mesopotamia many centuries later. The Metropolitan Museum of Arts owns a bronze statue of a man and his Basenji-like dog, including curled tail and wrinkled forehead. This is identified as Babylonian. Representing proud ancient Babylonians, my Basenji, never barked...We took her with us on many outings...

She liked camping...

But outings can be quite tiring as you know...

On alert, she could see, smell or hear dogs quite far away.

But since no barking? Not the best guard dog...

She was more like a cat than a dog. She kept herself clean and tidy stroking her face with a licked front leg just like cats do. She spent most of her time sleeping and loved nap time. Yes, Basenjis can live with cats ...

What is a Basenji?

When I met my husband to be in 2000 and we eventually got around to getting married and setting up home, the subject of getting a dog came up. He said "Let's get a Basenji..." and I said "a what?...". I had never heard of them. He brought home (more on her rescue later) a funny but beautiful little dog who stared at us and never barked. She was not leash trained and pulled on the leash on almost every walk. Negative or bossy 'be the pack leader' type training didn't work with her so we just enjoyed her for who she was: she was the boss. A Basenji.

Sleeping quarters

On her first night with us, we had a nice doggie bed next to ours ready for her in our bed room. We got in to bed and wondered what she would do. We called her saying "time for bed...". She ran into the bedroom, zipped past her intended area and lept into our bed. She proceeded to burrow directly under the covers between our feet, curl up ready to go to sleep. We looked at each other and laughed. We looked at her and asked her "... are you sure you're OK down there...?" She didn't budge and closed her eyes. Apparently that is where she wanted to sleep. That was her routine from then on every night with us. During the first couple of months, one of us accidentally kicked her (gently, ok more like a nudge) and she vocalized her displeasure loudly. Not a bark though, more like a loud yelp-cry. We all would wake up and tell her it was OK, no boogey men trying to get her: just us here. (Who trained who?)

In Africa, Basenjis sleep outside in the nighttime sometimes awakened by predators. Thus, Basenjis can be startled when awoken - ready to fight a predator off. We were careful not to nudge her any more. We would warn friends not to awaken her by touching her if she was in a deep slumber. She would always awaken as if startled and ready for action. ... Just a funny little Basenji quirk. We enjoyed her unique and quirky Basenji personality. Not.Your.Average.Dog.

I'm the boss thanks

She was a dominant personality and did not like other dogs. She took on a couple of bigger dogs who were off leash wandering on to our N. Illinois property where she was leashed. No harm done, but size didn't bother her. She would try to kick their a&&. However, once we moved to NZ: she finally made friends with Shane's mum's dog, a shepard mix Bella pictured above. Good to finally have a dog friend.

A funny looking Gazelle

Sheela and Bella weren't friends at their first meeting. We put Sheela in a kennel inside Bella's yard for a few days. Then, we put a muzzle on Sheela and let the two out together. A muzzled Sheela lept on to Bella's neck trying to attack her. A stunned Bella lurched backwards into a flower bed (Bella is a submissive personality and a super sweet girl... a pacifist even).

The second next time, Sheela did not attack, but chased Bella around the yard ... well chase isn't the correct word. Sheela trotted behind Bella as Bella lumbered around in circles. I think Sheela thought "... well, this funny looking gazelle ... may as well make friends". Bella figured Sheela out quickly moving away if Sheela got snarky. Bella let Sheela be the boss and a beautiful friendship ensued.

Oh, you're home?

Basenjis are a very unique breed of site & scent hound, bred to stealth hunt gazelles in the North African area. They are not like other dogs. They don't bark but do vocalize, baroo and laugh. They'll greet you, but not the usual tail wag, bark or lick.

When we would arrive home, our dog would rouse herself, seemingly a bit annoyed, from her obviously enjoyed nap, stretch and trot over, look at you for a few seconds then run to the door to be taken out. That's it.

Her version: "oh, you're home?... hmm... yep, guess I could go pee... shall we go walkies then?"

More on Basenji rescue

In 2001, after I agreed to a Basenji, I of course wanted a rescue. We contacted B.R.A.T. (Basenji Rescue and Transport) and put in for adopting. Within about a month or couple weeks, they had one for us. She had been found in February in Illinois, almost frost bit, forraging and roaming the streets. She was being fostered by a BRAT representative who had named her "Sarah". Since I have a sister and niece with that name, we gave her a new kiwi name for girl: Sheela.

Shane drove her back the 3 hour ride home in a dog crate in our SUV. She cried a bit in transit as she did not like being in a crate. She arrived still on the mend from her winter ordeal, quite thin with a straggly coat and an itchy tail she had been chewing fur off. We tried a couple of different special food types until we found one which helped her coat and she then finally thrived. Below photo shows her tail still in recovery.

Basenjis do not smell

We bathed her maybe once or twice a year if she got into some mud... but she never smelled. Ever. Trust me, this is a nice feature of Basenjis especially if you have allergies. No shedding either.

The doggie signal

How do you know when a barkless dog wants out? Easy: Dog quickly locates main door. Trots to the door, look at it, trot back to you, look at you, trot back to door. Repeat several more times until human gets leash and goes for a walk.

Basenji games

Wanna play fetch? Tug of war? Other dog games? Not gonna happen. Our Basenji girl was much too busy smelling the world and seeing things really far away as a sight/scent hound. Do cats play fetch? Exactly.

Used tissue or napkin sometimes qualifies as food

Her nose could find a small crumb of food anywhere in the house. We observed, for Basenjis, a used napkin or tissue sometimes qualifies as a food item.
When said edible food item was found? The exact location is then stored in dog memory forever: all locations to be checked regularly. Repeat at other houses visited.

Humans drop lots of edible or chew worthy stuff

Humans in kitchen? Time to wait silently, patiently hoping something would drop. Helps if you stand right near human's legs to try and trip them, too (not close enough to warrant ejection from kitchen).

Basenji games part 2: "The Basenji 500"

Basenji web sites 'warn' you about the "Basenji 500"... (umm, we wondered was this some type of race?) After a couple weeks of "owning" her, Sheela's version of the "Basenji 500" manifested itself at our house: played once or twice a week as a "tag-bite" game.

Game location: our bed. Opponent: Daddy (my husband). Mommy (me) was never quick enough thus insufficient as a tag game opponent. Mommy did often recognize game had started, though, and would retrieve the daddy opponent to commence.

Tag as fast as possible: Daddy/opponent tries to quickly tag front dog legs or body while dog tries play-biting opponent arms or hands. Hopping on the bed like rabbit during each round of play is encouraged. Jumping off the bed, running down hall and leaping back on to the bed signals round 2 or 3 during tag-bite. Game lasts about 3-5 minutes total until next week. Winner: Sheela

Napping in sun stream is form of artistic expression

Sleeping anywhere in any position is fine... as long as the sunshine is on the body somewhere. Relocate to new position when sun moves.

In remembrance of Sheela

Stealth hunter of sandwiches

Under the covers bed sleeper

Always her own dog

With us USA-NZ 2001-2010

Click here for short video with more pictures of Sheela ... we'll miss you girl