Hi Hoot,
Welcome to the forum. I wanted to introduce myself to you because I too adopted a dog for the same reasons. I wanted a companion for my Golden Retriever who is also my service dog. He had gained a lot of weight during a period where I was sick with my MS. I decided to go to our local shelter and found my baby Taz. He had a great personality and got along well with my Golden "Levi" . I too did not know what kind of dog he was until my BF figured it out. All we knew was that he was hound/terrier mixed. Little did I know he was Basenji or even what a Basenji was. I learned quickly. lol.. He too likes to chew a lot and we have to put everything out of his reach, especially cell phones (from experience) He won't mess with the remote control though. He does like to table surf and will take anything from gloves to mail to cellphones off the tables. He is a very loveable dog though. He loves to be in my lap and is a leaner. You will probably find she is very cat like as it is a trait of basenji's. My Taz likes to lean up against me when i am getting ready in the bathroom or when I am standing around. He is very partial to me though he loves my BF (not sure why) but he doesn't sit with him unless I am out of the room. I have to put baby gates up to keep him from going into the kitchen or from going upstairs to table surf in the bathroom or bedrooms or keep the doors shut. You will find baby gates very helpful. Also you will find that keeping lots and lots of chew toys around will be very helpful to keep her attention off of things she shouldn't chew. We use Nylabones for powerful chewers and they love pigs ears and will take them a while to chew them. Kongs are great as well because they can chew them and not destroy them as they tend to do to other softer plastic toys. I have also found he loves tennis balls and won't destroy them as well. He is fully crate trained but will sleep in the bed with me when my BF is not here. They are very playful as well. Females do tend to try to be more dominant but being a dominant person can offset that problem. Here are some pics of my Taz and you can see they look very much alike. Taz's tail is curled but not nearly as much as a full Basenji. His ears also tip more like a terrier as well. He sheds very little though when I brought him home he was shedding very bad and I don't know if it was stress related to him being at the shelter or if it was just his diet. I feed him purina pro plan sensitve stomach and skin formula which consist of salmon, brewers rice and oatmeal which are very healty for them and keeps their fur shiney and their skin healthy as well as their stomachs. You will find though the longer you have her you will fall in love with Basenjis. I hope you enjoy her and have lots of fun.
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Re:basenji mix?
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Hi, I’ve been following for sometime and I love all your stories. We adopted Penny 2 years ago she is 3 now. We were told she was Basenji and whippet I’ve had 2 other Basenji mixes but they did not bark much. Penny barks at every dog and person she sees. She has so many basenji behaviors though. So I thought I’d ask all you experts if you think she looks like she has basenji in her. I love her to pieces but she is a handful. Thank you! 
.Thanks for your responses.
She weighs about 20 lbs. she stares directly in my eyes. She is very smart, but stubborn. She learns things quickly. She make cute noises sounds like baroooo. Loves to snuggle and Plays very actively She doesn’t have cloven hooves. -
Do you have pictures of her stood up and sitting?
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Her face looks like a basenji. I'd also like to see a photo of her standing up. Curious to know some of her behaviors that might indicate if she might be part basenji. Regardless - she's beautiful!
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@kembe The ears look right and so does the tail, but the nose is too square at the tip instead of tapering. For sure could be a mix though.
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Definately basenji in there. You can have a DNA test done now for around $100 if you really want to know. Just make sure that they have basenji DNA in their data base. My Bolt, who is 3/4 African, has a square blocky head just like yours, although, I have to say he does have a slightly 'different' look than our others, but he is 100% basenji, he's just got a big blocky head!
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@dagodingo
I agree - snout doesn't look like a basenji.
