I am co-owner of a dog we were told by the shelter is half yellow lab and half Basenji. From what I have read, this dog's behavior matches that of a typical Basenji. I have taken this dog on 3 mile walks, jogging for parts of it, and when we get home the dog can still play for hours! I get the feeling she wants to run, but I have read that they tend to take off and risk getting hit by cars, harassing strangers, etc. What else can I do to excercize her? Also, I have never had a dog before. (The other owner has.) She sleeps alone at night, and doesn;t seem to have too much of a problem with it, but in the morning when we open she is VERY shy and hesitant to come out. It was worse today, I got up later than usual and she had had an accident on the floor. She seemed to know she had done something wrong before I even came in the room. She hid behind a table and didn;t come out until I went to her and told her it was ok. When we got her from the shelter they said we were her forth owners, and she's only a year and half old! I suppose anything could have happened to her in these other homes, but do you think these are signs of mistreatment? Could she just be a shy dog? Back to the excersize question, how often/long do people walk their Besenjis?
Thanks!
Jackie
Hi Jackie… You've come to the right place. I swear my Basenjis NEVER tire out either. I used to take Lexi to the off leash dog park where we ran trails- and she would run FULL OUT for HOURS... I mean, like 4-6 HOURS straight!! And we'd get home and she'd still be wired. 
I guess you could say I saw a slight change around age 3. Now at age 6, she does Indianapolis 500 a minimum of 3 times a day along with our mile jogs. lol... She is still very high energy and will run as fast and as far and as long as you can manage. The more energy you burn, the less of your stuff gets destroyed. I've decided it's a direct correlation. But at a year and a half, you've got your hands full-- she will definitely be full of energy-- but that's ANY dog at that age. And each Basenji has a different energy level. I would try taking her to an offleash dog park where it's secure and she can run at her own speed.
As far as the other issue you're having, I'm not sure what you meant by your dog "shyed away". Where is she sleeping? Do you put her in another room? If she had an accident and for the most part she is housebroken, it doesn't surprise me that she shyed away "knowing" she had done something wrong. I think every dog I've ever had cowered/sulked when they knew they did 'wrong'. I don't think it necessarily indicates they were abused or mistreated. If when you put your hand out over the dog's head at any given moment and the dog cowers and/or lays his ears back anticipating getting whacked-- that might be indicative of a heavy handed former owner. But I wouldn't worry just yet. Sounds like your pooch was just acknowledging that she pee'd on the floor and felt bad.
I have taken this dog on 3 mile walks, jogging for parts of it, and when we get home the dog can still play for hours! I get the feeling she wants to run, but I have read that they tend to take off and risk getting hit by cars, harassing strangers, etc. What else can I do to excercize her?
Basenji's are SMART dogs, so put that brain to good use… train! Training often tires a dog out more than jogging, walking, hiking, playing, etc... training requires the dog to THINK, to make connections, to learn new voice commands, hand signals, and read body language. incorporate some short training sessions into your daily physical activity - i.e. before heading out for that 3 mile walk, take 10 min to learn and run through some drills - sit, down, touch, wait, left, right, etc... then go on the walk (which serves as a positive reward for the training). I incorporate training drills whenever I can - before a walk, during a walk, before play, during play, before meals, etc... my dog must think and work for things. I always keep the sessions short though - multiple short sessions is better than one long one.
When we got her from the shelter they said we were her forth owners, and she's only a year and half old! I suppose anything could have happened to her in these other homes, but do you think these are signs of mistreatment? Could she just be a shy dog?
I think 4 homes in such a sort time probably has much to do it. be sure to be her confident leader and interact in a positive manner. over time you'll build a stronger relationship, but she'll need to learn to trust you. Training can help here too - regular training helps create a special bond w/ your dog - one of trust and respect - equally.
Mine NEVER tires either!!! However I have figured out that if I make him work he does tire I use a backpack & it's great & has worked wonders for tiring out our crazy dog 
Here's the one I got & I fill it with a couple of bottled waters (no more than 2lbs) and THEN we go out for 3 miles
http://www.ruffwear.com/Approach-Pack-trade-II?sc=2&category=13
I also have a treadmill at home that I'm trying to get him used to so that he can do some extra work there too!
I can't ride a bike but there are some people on the forum that do bike with their dog for about 6 miles & they use this contraption
There are ways I PROMISE you…we just have to outsmart them!!
