• well, i do not own a purebred basenji, though i have loved the breed for years. my family has owned akitas for over 30 years and after their last akita died 2 years ago…they adopted a mutt from the SPCA. "Cleo" is their first non-akita in over 30 years. LoL, my mother adopted her as she wanted something "a bit smaller"... well needless to say Cleo is more of a handful than any akita we've ever had at times.

    Cleo was labeled as a rotti/chow. she is anything but that. she is very fine boned, weighs 40 pounds, never ever barks (but makes all sorts of crazy noises), balances on various house-hold furniture, and is EXTREMELY primitive.

    the more and more i spent time with Cleo i started bouncing around the idea of a possible basenji mix. Im now almost certain of it. She manhandles my parents 110 pound akita like hes nothing. She takes joy in constantly chasing the cat around the house. lol, and hearing her YIP as she looks out over their 2 acres when she sees an animal is hilarious.

    we're guessing she is mixed with pinscher of some sort. either miniature, dobe, or german. she is surely the most interesting dog ever.

    I also volunteer at the local SPCA ocassionally, and fell in love with a dog they had in their a few years back. So I made my friend adopt him. Lol. We named him "Ezra". she was "rehabbing" him if you will until we found him a better home.

    This dog surely put cleo to shame. we have since guessed he was a basenji/hound mix (possibly pharoah hound not sure). he was a step above feral. the first time he went in for training...he was almost un-handleable (lol i dont believe thats a word). Ezra was clearly never trained or socialized, but he learned VERY fast (as has cleo).

    Ezra was re-homed with a family who dress him up and love him very much.

    I'll try to remember to post some pictures of both dogs tomorrow. Im very glad to be here and see all the basenjis and read the forum!


  • Hi & Welcome…we do have a PA contingency here so I'm sure you will feel at home 😃 And PLEASE post pics we LUV them :p


  • Welcome-we definitely love pics!


  • Welcome from central PA! Great forum, loads of info and fun…enjoy!


  • Welcome - this is a great place for dog lovers…and we LOVE pictures!


  • Welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see pics.


  • hi. thank you everyone! im going to post some pictures of ezra in a bit. i'll try and get cleo done tomorrow. i need to "compile" some of her for the forum. 🙂

    its odd to know so many PA'ers are members here. ive honestly ever only seen a basenji (full bred at least) once in PA.


  • Wow, that is a wonderful story. I am sure you are going to be extremely happy with your "B" mix. I have had mine for almost 2 weeks now and I have fallen completely in love with her. Good luck, enjoy the forum and post pics 🙂


  • thank you arizonaskyy! cleo has lived with my parents for a year and a half now. she has been a constant surprise and joy. lol.

    we took her and tony (their akita) to the vet today. cleo started out very well compared to last time. and we praised her. then a hoard of dogs were checking in and she started yipping and whining crazily.

    she sits and obeys commands, but the noises she makes are loud and just so…strange sometimes. lol. people often assume tony is the one to watch out for as cleo looks so sweet and innocent and well...small compared to him.

    i tried attaching pics of ezra the mix we adopted awhile back to re-home, but theyre too large. so ill have to re-size them tomorrow (my comp is so slow to open the program now).

    anyone have suggestions for controlling the vocalizing in a basenji or basenji mix when around other strange dogs? lol.


  • Hey ho! Welcome to the forum!

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