I consider I'm lucky to have a large play area around the house where my dogs are obviously off leads but I always take them for their walks on lead where they might chase and kill running animals. Obviously you feel confident in letting Maya run free but please as I said before don't be too complacent.
I know of one Basenji who always ran free in his own country park, nowhere near a public road and obediently came back when called. One day he was startled by a bicycle that appeared apparently from nowhere and he panicked running across a very large field onto a busy road and was hit by a car. He did survive despite horrible injuries but had many major ops to rebuild his face.
Obviously you are lucky that Maya hasn't got a strong hunting instinct but others aren't so lucky.
It's your choice to let her off lead but free running is not the bea all and end all and many don't have the facilities or the opportunity.
When I review my post it does seem a bit stern - I'm not in any way intending to be so. Please don't take it amiss, Jess.
I understand that a lot of basenji owners feel the same as you which is why I would never tell people that the way I exercise Maya is the way people should exercise their own basenji's, that is down to each individual to decide and no one can tell anyone else how to do something like that, we can only give our opinions from oour own experiences. But as for the story of the basenji getting hit by the car, I could tell you countless almost identical stories of dogs getting scared or chasing things and getting hit by cars. Gundogs, working dogs, toy dogs - it is not something that is unique to basenjis, i think that is what a lot of basenji owners forget. Yes there is always a risk, but theres a risk when walking them on the lead, they might pull it out of your hands when they chase after something and get hit by a car! At least by walking my dog off lead well away from any roads I am dramatically reducing the risk of any such accident.
I have no intention of swaying anyone to my way of thinking about exercising, I was merely giving an opposing opinion to some others based on my own experience with my own dog. I have only had the experience of one basenji, but I have had a lot of different breeds in for training over the years and have not found her to be much different to any other dog in terms of the pack mentality they have and their trainability. I cant help to think the basenjis used for hunting in africa wouldnt be much good at all if they were all so disobedient as everyone thinks basenji's are… :rolleyes: And I do stand by what I said, I believe giving my dog a good run every day is very important to her health, both physically and mentally. They are a hunting dog with very high activity level and I personally believe that it is an important part of Maya's general care that I provide her with what I believe to be the correct exercise. All of my dogs have the same exercise as to me free running a dog is the best form of exercise so I believe, it is the "be all and end all" 
I dont mind if other people dont agree that it is the correct exercise, no one else knows my dog like me. But please accept that it is my choice and I do it for the welfare of my dog as I see it, she is a part of a pack as the breed are designed to be, and as such she doesnt stray far from them at all. I waited many years until I was in a position to cater to the needs of a basenji and i am very happy I did as she is a lovely, well balanced dog to live with and I put a lot of that down to her exercise regime! If she doesnt have her daily runs she is quite literally bouncing off the walls and a nightmare in the house 
Yes, it's your choice indeed and I'm relieved to hear that you're not advocating it for all
Hounds on the whole do have a totally different mind set to other groups as you know. And indeed other dogs have accidents but in my opinion it is our responsibility to take the utmost care with all our pets. Basenjis can have extremely strong 'race memories' and it is difficult to halt the adrenalin at the sight of a running creature and that is why, I'm now wary. I'm pleased that you are confident with Maya, she is a nice little girl.
I do agree that exercise is essential for all dog according to their needs and it would be lovely if we had dog parks in plenty and in particular for those who live in cities. I do envy these other countries who have the facilities - it seems to me that there are always moves afoot to ban dogs from all sorts of places.
We normally kept a 3 to 5 acre field 'basenji' fenced and it was always available for local people to bring their dogs to play as I'm always aware that there are people who for some reason or other can't exercise their dogs properly. Unfortunately (I suppose) we are now free ranging our sheep and so have had to relinquish the field for a while.
I think you'll find that most Basenji owners would not say that they are disobedient and indeed there are many on this forum who have basenjis with obedience titles. There are quite a few here who have completed their Good Citizens courses. Mine have competed highly in obedience too although I've never bothered to campaign them for Ob. titles.
I laughed to think of Maya 'bouncing off the walls' Literally??
Yes, she will bounce around the living room off the sofa and just be completely wild. Maybe it is because she is in the habit of having two good, long runs a day and now she cant settle without it…!!
I live on a "farm" and although Tenji isn't allowed to run free in the yard (too close to the highway and no fence) he is allowed to run free in the fields behind our house, we always see rabbits, deer, gophers, skunks and all sorts of critters and Tenji hasn't chased or even given notice to any of them yet, he has never been around horses or cows or anything though so i'm not sure how he'd react to that. He also doesn't go very far from us..usually no more than 50ft. I guess it depends on your basenji and what kind of environment they're in.
I'm with you Maya. Though I'm far from a dog expert and I would never tell anyone what they should do , I too take my pair out to the fields for a run several times a week. It is well away from traffic and they enjoy it soo much. When we go it is usually with my bosses 2 dobies and to see them running with such joy does my heart good. The funny thing is that out there zoey has great recall but if she manages to escape out our front door she runs and plays keep away from me. Which is very scary even with the small amount of traffic on our street. It only takes one car. I think she knows that in the field she will get to run to her hearts content ,they get at least a half hour and many times an hour or more, so she is happy to come when I call. I also make sure that I dont end the walk the only time I call her in. I usually call her to come several times just to give her a treat before I call to end our run. Even though we have a somewhat nice size yard its not the same as being able to run full out in that field. I try to keep things as safe as possible but I believe as with children you cant keep them locked away safe and still keep them healthy and happy, but as with my kids I try to make each situation as safe as possible. JMO
I agree with Maya and Forever Amber. I also believe that Tillo needs to run and play and feel free just for his health. The added bonus is that he is a very sweet boy in the house. We live in a city, so I can't walk out of the door without a leash. We do make lots of visits to the forrest and I also bring Tillo with me to the University, where he has the space to run around with other dogs and hunt the rabbits, horses and cows.. (from a distance of course… horses and cows are huuuge ;))
If there is too much wildlife or the cars are too close, I use a long leash. And I always wait untill he's obedient on leash and then he's allowed to try it off leash 
@Maya: I do think that you are very lucky that Maya is so good on recall. Tillo has been to obedience training since he was 10 weeks old and we also do agility, but he is not more than ok on his recall.. He can be great.. but he can also totally forget that I'm the one that drove him to the forrest :rolleyes: Lycia was much better on her recall.. she 'needed' me more than Tillo does. He's a free soul
I'm lucky enough to be able take Sonny to a 118 acre farm (no animals) every night where he gets to run free in the fields with the other dogs and play. There is nothing that makes me happier then seeing him be able to run at full speed thru the grass after his friends. Sonny's been coming here since he was 8 months old and his recall is is very good when we are there. He knows a yummy treat happens when he's called. Being able to run is something Sonny needs for both his mental & physical well being. It's a personal choice I make to allow Sonny this time off leash and its not for everyone.
@sonnyboy:
I'm lucky enough to be able take Sonny to a 118 acre farm (no animals) every night where he gets to run free in the fields with the other dogs and play. There is nothing that makes me happier then seeing him be able to run at full speed thru the grass after his friends. Sonny's been coming here since he was 8 months old and his recall is is very good when we are there. He knows a yummy treat happens when he's called.
Wow, that's great. The only danger is holes. Is it a private farm and the owner says "come on over and let em off"! I used to take my previous ones to a large field but it's been closed off I thing by the state to turn it into a wetlands preserve.
Wow, that's great. The only danger is holes. Is it a private farm and the owner says "come on over and let em off"! I used to take my previous ones to a large field but it's been closed off I thing by the state to turn it into a wetlands preserve.
Actually it's the city that owns the farm land! They purchased it 30 years ago to preserve the area from being developed. They up keep the land…cut the grass. I'm lucky to have such a beautiful place 10 minutes removed from city life!
@sonnyboy:
Actually it's the city that owns the farm land! They purchased it 30 years ago to preserve the area from being developed. They up keep the land…cut the grass. I'm lucky to have such a beautiful place 10 minutes removed from city life!
We have a 200 acre park here that's off leash along the SF coast. Here's the live shot web cam.
http://www.flyfunston.org/newwebcam/
We have a 200 acre park here that's off leash along the SF coast. Here's the live shot web cam.
http://www.flyfunston.org/newwebcam/
How beautiful is that..right by the ocean! I love to take Sonny to run on the beach in the off season…but the ocean air can be a little chilly come January! :eek:
My past Basenjis got alot of off leash time and I think that helped them in being well behaved. I have work to do with Buddy as he's very rambunctious and enthusiastic which makes off leash more difficult. He's calming down though.
