@jaclempner:
An interesting thing I read about basenjis roaming free, which apparently is how they live in villages in Africa, is that they don't have all the quirky behavior they exhibit as house dogs here in America. There's no real aggression, unless they're protecting their property (owner's property) and they are not destructive. While reading the "horror" stories of basenji ownership some years ago, someone who had lived in the Congo said he observed basenjis living the way they had evolved to live with tribes and they behaved very differently than they do when we expect them to be house pets. I just thought it was really interesting. I think we ask things of them that are not natural for them by making them our pets and the more we can do for them that mimics what they were used to before we scooped them up and brought them to England and America, the happier and more well-adjusted they'll be.
That only makes sense to me. Of course they are not destructive – they are not confined, so they don't get bored, if they want to chew something there'd be plenty of things to chew -- sticks, straws, bones, whatever and no slippers, pens, pillows -- they can run to hunt, so the crazy B-500 is not an issue. They wouldn't need to be aggressive --if someone or something makes them uncomfortable, they can leave and go anywhere.
Remember the saying "A Tired Basenji is a Good Basenji". {That saying works for a LOT of breeds, all of which I'm sure would be much "better behaved" if allowed to roam free with nothing to destroy, such as shoes, neighbors tools, etc. Imagine how happy a little fox terrier would be in a field all day instead an apartment}
Don't you think we'd ALL behave better if we were always left free and never confined?