The short answer is yes, a Basenji can be trained to go off leash. If you have trained two JRTs then you already have experience teaching stubborn dogs that prefer to ignore you. 
As with JRTs, some Basenjis are going to be more difficult than others. I have had five Basenjis. Two have been reliable off leash, my first one and my current one. My second female was also pretty good, and the other two I wouldn't trust, but part of that story is that I didn't work as hard with them.
Full disclosure, I use an e-collar for insurance with my current boy. He was pretty good without it….....taught initially with a long line.......but I didn't have complete confidence so I did e-collar training and now I have no doubts about my ability to control him in pretty much any circumstances. I know this is a controversial subject on this board, and I would not recommend this approach to anyone unless they take the time to do it properly and get help from an experienced instructor.
No, actually Pipet and I live only minutes away from Canada as we are just outside Detroit, Michigan USA…..Here in the land of the wayward, warring politician! HA! I am so pleased you checked out our little film, I was so proud of her! Now that it is nice out (74* and sunny), we are going to the graveyard everyday and she is having a blast chasing squirrels! She's getting better at it and I now actively fear her catching one off guard....luckily they can jump in about 5 directions at once so I am hoping we will not have face off over a critter as Pip has eaten a few birds and small gray squirrels (sadly). I cannot approach her when she is being a killer, and she is always immediately sorry and begs me to forgive her wild way's...it's really very endearing, I just hate the way the poor little bugger's meet their end, a bit rough.....
I will be posting a full 3 to 5 minute video of her doing her thing in the graveyard for you....I should have it up by later tomorrow night on Youtube. CHEERS!! >Dave & Pipet
Haha, thanks for the videos, she is awesome! Your song you made up is pretty awesome too!
We don't have fire hydrants over here so to see that was an added bonus!
Thanks again.
She is very adorable.
Are you from Canada?
Training a Basenji can be difficult. There are a lot of variables to take into context though. (You got luck guys) I have one line that would be pretty reliable and are more attached to me. However, my other line simply does not acknowledge I exist at times. So that line, I would say, would be unreliable. There are people out there who breed specifically for certain traits, such as hunting, tracking, sporting, etc. So if you are looking, please remember when selecting a breeder to search out the ones that specifically breed for the traits you want.
Personally, when I was training my boy for Rally Obedience, I found that if I moved quick enough, he focused on me rather than what was going on outside the ring-again this is from the more reliable line.
Some Basenji's are fine with cats-others not so much. Three of mine (again, the more reliable line) are okay with my cat, the other line, I wouldn't trust with a 10 foot pole.
All of my basenji's are good with kids. Shadow was older when my grandson came along and is fine with him, as are all the other basenji's that I have. They have been raised with kids and are used to them.
Basenji's can, and do, do well with training, they just need to get past the boredom factor. I would love to have more time to do more obedience and agility with my kids, unfortunately, this is not the time. But it can be done. My opinion only.
Thanks for the replies, it is all very useful info
Yes we have squirrels and foxes in our garden but last thursday during agility poppy decided she was going to chase the bunnies so she found a small gap in the fence and didn't come back for ten minutes even with four trainers and I trying to get her back. She does that probably once every three months or so.
Our cat used to play with the foxes. Seriously.
Basenjis can learn to be off leash and if you lay a good foundation of making yourself valuable to them and reinforcing sticking with you then you can probably enjoy off leash time in safe areas. That said, basenjis are unlikely to resist chasing squirrels, birds, and rabbits if they find them when off leash. So if the area you want to walk them has these distractions and these distractions are likely to bolt out of the safe area then that would be problem.
We only allow our two off leash in safe enclosed areas, have to say most of the walks are onlead. We use extending leads and lunge reins to give more freedom but caution needs to be used with these.We also have a garden that the dogs can zip around in.
When we first got Malaika we did lots of training, including recall and both dogs have perfect recall if there are no distractions, the reality is for us if there is something else they are interested in such as a rabbit, another dog, tractor then we don't stand a chance (maybe we are boring, i don't know) I used to take Malaika to a nearby park to play with other dogs which was wonderful to watch, however she ran out of the park twice and i weighed up the risks and decided it wasn't worth it.
My dream is to own an enclosed field for them
This is how I look at the on leash/off leash thing.
Could I ever live with myself if Kipawa saw something across a road and dashed to get it (bunny, squirrel, other dog), without any regard to a moving vehicle? The answer is 'no'. So, despite Kipawa being my 'shadow', he doesn't go off leash unless we're in a fully enclosed dog park, on the dikes or in a fully fenced and gated back yard.
I know the decision is a personal one, and many things need to be taken into account. I don't put anyone down for making a decision I wouldn't make. I just know that for us, it's too big of a risk to let him off leash in certain areas. Besides, I like when we do what I call 'our structured walks'. We use it as a time for further bonding and training.
I concur with Fran. Although my dog is good on recall, I wouldn't take him loose along the road. I do take him in the woods and fields, but where I have enough of a reaction time to deal with any distractions. If I am in the forest paralleling the road and close to it, he goes back on leash, or comes to heel until we are past that area.
Personally I don't like flexi leads and think they are dangerous. My niece who is a vet has dealt with many, many cases of "hit by car" when the dog was on one of these. Shouldn't happen if people are paying attention, but unfortunately it does. There can also be serious injuries…....to both pets and people........if the dog wraps his lead around someone's body or leg. Flexis also train the dog to pull, something most of us want to discourage. Given the choice, in a field I would prefer my dog to be on a long, soft, thick rope, either held or dragging, than on a flexi lead. Fortunately I don't have to choose, as he gets to go loose.
Yes, training is possible. I have had Basenjis that were perfectly ok off lead even when surrounded by sheep as ours are. However I've also had them them that are not safe off lead and would chase and probably kill anything that aroused their hunting instinct. Mine are all trained in the same way so that isn't the difference.
To quote one of our respected posters 'It works until it doesn't'
Personally, If your mother isn't keen for you to own one I would be very wary. They are so different from other dogs that she might not want to accept one.
I had 5 who I trained very easily to come to a sports-type whistle. They were 99% reliable and we never had them in any car-traffic area, but in fields or wooded areas I could let them run. They stayed pretty close to me and to each other but went on leash when near a road. Once on my dad's farm in Georgia all 5 ran off into the woods. I whistled over and over and was starting to get worried, when all 5 bolted back through the brush to us. The whistle is louder and carries further than a voice. We let current three off leash in secure areas, remote beaches; they stay close to us.
So it can be done. You must stay focused and vigilant and aware of your surroundings…and still you take a chance,however small.
Thanks all, great info!
