Tanza, Thanks for the tips, we are working on stay, Sahara seems to have problems with the stay command. She already sits when I come home for me to greet her, and if she does not sit, I do ignore her. She just doesn't want to stay for long, and lately she runs when I try to put her leash on, any tips on that, she tries to make a chase game out of everything. She is some character, and lots of fun.
If I take the great things about Topaz & the great things about C3PO then VOILA…A PERFECT BASENJI 
LOL LOL
We love them both just the same
Tanza, Thanks for the tips, we are working on stay, Sahara seems to have problems with the stay command. She already sits when I come home for me to greet her, and if she does not sit, I do ignore her. She just doesn't want to stay for long, and lately she runs when I try to put her leash on, any tips on that, she tries to make a chase game out of everything. She is some character, and lots of fun.
If she runs rather then sit for her leash, NO LEASH… easy, you just ignore her... the minute she returns to you ask for the sit, reward her and then try to put the leash on, if she runs, same thing all over again, she will figure it out... once you get the leash on, then a treat/reward... she will get the message
I'll address traits Jenny does not display first, then the jumping and door bolting questions.
Jenny loves the water; she lives with a lab and her first lake intro was in the dead of summer and the water was warm. That being said, this winter, late march when things were thawing, Jenny stood in 6-8 inches of thawing lake (meaning she was standing on ICE covered with water) straining on her leash to get to the geese out further in the ice water. She stood there for a couple of minutes until she was nearly convulsing with the shivers. 
She is a chewer (less so now and anytime she's tired) and often rude at the door (rushing to go out) but has learned that Nothing In Life Is Free (Google that phrase for more detailed explaination - also one link out of many http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nothingfree.htm) and she has learned great patience and SOME self control because of it. She has to at least sit for everthing - food, outside, inside (when it's cold, she does her business and bolts to the door and sits so fast it is comical), chew toy, meet the dog (the dog above that is bonkers in it's own neighborhood most likely is bonkers to meet the other dogs), meet the child, chase the squirrel - get the picture? NOTHING in life is free. Basenjis are smart and as long as you maintain some self control and are calm but firm, you will see progress. Jenny will actually wait in the other room in her kennel while I prepare her food, AND as long as I remind her "wait" she will let me set it down and wait until I say "Take it". For the first 9 months we had her, I thought that type of obedience would be impossible due to her "basenjiness", but about 2 months ago she started to develop some self control. NILIF - Nothing In Life Is Free.
Exactly…. NILIF!!!!!!! It takes a while but they get it... and they think of it as fun interaction with you with totally positive results at the end!!!!
As far as water, I would bet my bottom dollar that if there was a critter that ran into a body of water, my B's would go right in... And Jamari would run into the ocean waves.. especially if someone was play ball in the water... his favorite was the big round colored beach balls that people would be tossing back and forth!
My boy Rosco (who died in January) never liked to sleep with us or snuggle. He was a loner.. not cuddly at all. He never yodeled, either. He stopped chewing everything up for several years before he died, so that was nice. Other than that, typical basenji!
Here's a GREAT site with basenji quirks: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/9467/bquirks.html
Senji doesn't really like toys. He has a ball that he will retrieve ONCE, and then he's not interested anymore. He doesn't bolt anymore either, since he knows he'll get walked. He used to bolt all the time when he lived with my brother and his family, because they hardly ever walked him. They just kept him tied out on a long leash. He isn't destructive any more. Once in a while, he'll tear up some papers if he gets frustrated. My grandma used to keep tissues up her sleeve, and it was hilarious to watch Senji poking his snout up her sleeve to snatch the tissues. I don't know if this is a basenji trait, but he likes to pee and poop on an incline…the steeper the hill the better! Sometimes I think he's part mountain goat!
That's funny C3PO is not a big snuggler either. He likes the petting & once he's had enough he goes off into a corner to curl up & sleep. He absolutley HATES it when his sister TOPAZ tries to snuggle with him…he gets very mean & snarly.
So I let her snuggle with me instead of that "meany"
My boy Rosco (who died in January) never liked to sleep with us or snuggle. He was a loner.. not cuddly at all. He never yodeled, either. He stopped chewing everything up for several years before he died, so that was nice. Other than that, typical basenji!
Here's a GREAT site with basenji quirks: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/9467/bquirks.html
So sorry your boy Rosco went over the rainbow. Now he can freely hunt all the bunnys and squirrels there. Your memories of Rosco live on in heart forever. Would love to read more about Rosco.
I found this website last year researching Basenji's. I laughed so hard upon reading the Diary. I read it several times and each time it put me in stitches as I related to almost everything. I let my DH read it and the same thing happened to him. We adopted Duke in March, and didn't know what he was until July when I read this website - It convinced me that he is a Basenji with a twist of Jack.
You can check out my pics of Rosco. I miss him every day, but he's in a better place. I imprinted his paws in cement before he died, and we're going to make a garden step with it to cover where we bury his ashes, now that it's warm out!
Your pictures are SO cute! I love the one titled "Ditto Stretch." I miss those basenji stretches!
Senji doesn't really like toys. He has a ball that he will retrieve ONCE, and then he's not interested anymore. He doesn't bolt anymore either, since he knows he'll get walked. He used to bolt all the time when he lived with my brother and his family, because they hardly ever walked him. They just kept him tied out on a long leash. He isn't destructive any more. Once in a while, he'll tear up some papers if he gets frustrated. My grandma used to keep tissues up her sleeve, and it was hilarious to watch Senji poking his snout up her sleeve to snatch the tissues. I don't know if this is a basenji trait, but he likes to pee and poop on an incline…the steeper the hill the better! Sometimes I think he's part mountain goat!
This doen't really have any relevance (I already posted my non-basenji traits) but I had to laugh at this comment. My grandma does the same thing, I always thought that was a little funny. And my B also likes to pee and poop on hills. It makes it a little tough to get to especially when the grass is wet.
My Rue is pretty perfect. She is mixed with something (I don't know what) so she doesn't look like a real B… and she isn't interested in anything in our house (chewing wise), doesn't bolt out the door, and licks like CRAZY! She also doesn't really like to play with other dogs at the dog park, she just smells them, occasionally chases them, then comes back and lays down by me (EXERCISE DANG IT!).
The only normal B behaviors that I see in her are the little noises that she makes (she makes a lot of them for different reasons) and her BAROOOOOOO (which is fitting because we named her Rue before we even knew she was a Basenji) and it seems like she is stubborn about sitting. It's like she is saying, "yeah I know you want me to sit, but first I'm gonna spin around in a circle. Then maybe I'll sit if I feel like it." Haha! She is a character!
