@Thylacine:

The shock collar I use is a sports dog. It has given our basenji nearly unlimited freedom on his long romps. He might get shocked twice a week.

It changed his whole life.

When I took my dog to the vet, the entire staff were congratulating me on making a common sense decision. The vet said" That will be one less basenji in the shelter.
Being a dedicated liberal it is painful to see such obtuse political correctness as is often exhibited on this forum.

Be aware if you admit to using a shock collar the PC's will hound you to death.

HA! I voted for Bush twice, I know all about it. Seriously though, I appreciate hearing from someone that has used it effectively and humanely. And while I agree with the theory that walking a dog helps in training, I cannot believe that any human is going to be able to give a basenji, of all dogs, enough exercise through walking unless they can do 20 miles a day. My dog out runs golden retrievers and still wants more, no way I can compete with that just going for a walk. If I can only get my giant hamster wheel hooked up to my generator…

@sharronhurlbut:

Oh, please…the PC stuff has nothing to do with it.
I think there are more positive methods that will work, helping your dog learn to "listen" to you, and you to read your dog, but its not quick or done with a press of a button.
Can you say "clicker" training??
Sorry, we will have to agree to disagree and believe it or not, I am a liberal as well.

Clicker? The kind that has a button you push?

Hmmm.
Read most of the posts and still don't know what to do. I have been contemplating getting a shock collar as well, or at least one of the noise making ones.
My only problem with my dog is the running off leash. Granted, she's on leash all the time when outside now, but these dogs are smart. She knows she can turn around, pull hard enough and get the collar over her head, she also knows she can bite through a leash if given the time. Accidents happen, people come over and open the door and the dog gets out. Doesn't happen often, but when it does she's off to explore at full speed. Now, when my dog is running into the highway into traffic and won't stop, it would be nice to reinforce my "NO!!!!" with something. Treats don't help when the dog is 50 yards away about to get run over by a humvee.
Other than this, she's a great dog. Doesn't care one bit whether it's raining or not, she'll run around in the rain for hours. Doesn't chew anything she isn't supposed to. I lost one audio cable in my truck at about 6 months, and that was it, a good stern "NO, not yours" and she's never touched an electrical cord again. (I'm a computer tech, I've got electronics everywhere in my house) I don't even crate her when I leave the house most of the time because she only chews her bones and toys. But if she gets off the leash she isn't coming back if there are people or other animals around to meet, not without a fight. Now, I don't want to hurt or traumatize the dog, but I want to scrape her smashed corpse off the road even less. So if anyone has been able to deal with this kind of a issue I'd love some advice.

@Nemo:

Hello! Welcome to the forum! How far north in WI are you? I live in the Green Bay area. There is a regional basenji club (www.bcosw.org) you can join if you want to get involved with any local basenji-related activities.

I live in Wabeno, about 90 miles north of GB. I've looked at their web site before and would love to get my dog in the lurecoursing event they have in Somers. I have the land to make my own, so I'm actually contemplating doing that too. Otherwise, they are pretty far away from me to attend events with any frequency.

Hello Basenji Forums Community.

I've been reading the forum for awhile and figured I should finally register.
I got my basenji in april 09 and she just turned a year old a couple days ago. Her name is Q and I got her from a breeder in southern wisconsin. My roommates in college had 2 of them and I've wanted to get one ever since. I bought my first house a couple years ago and wanted to get a dog, and the basenji was my first choice, it just took a little while to find one around here.