I have done it this way with Voodoo from the first day I got him. Works well if there isn't anything special around, but like you said, it isn't very usefull when they find something that is more intresting.
If he sees a rabbit, I can stand still for a long time, he wont come to me then. :p

I have been working as a dog trainer for some time, and my job was to prepare a team of alaskan huskies for Europes longest sleddograce.
I had Voodoo with me, and he did fine in the team (as a swing dog) the first months of training. But when the snow got deeper and the distance got longer, he couldn't cope any longer with the other dogs. He was running with them for about 30km, through snow about 20cm deep en at a pacce of 25km/hour, and that was no problem. But when 1 of those circumstances changed (more snow, longer runs or higher speed), he fell behind. So the last months of training, he was running loose around the sled, jumping on it when he was tired, and making sure the reindeer got of the trail (he loved that part).

For recreational mushing, a team of basenji's can be great fun I'm sure, but for races in deep snow or very bad weather, they aren't the breed you want in front of your sled! Maybe they could finish races like the Iditarod, with nice smooth trails, in a decent time, in a year with realy good weather, but I guess they would have to give up on the first day on the tougher races like the Yukon Quest.

But in opposite of mid and long distance mushing, I would love to see a team of Basenji's in some sprint races. I think they could do very well there and be a suprise to many of the hound-type drivers.

And in a recent study of what is the DNA of the Alaskan Husky's (the dogs that you see most in all the big races), they found Basenji DNA. So the Basenji has been used to create the ultimate sleddog.

When looking up the price, I found another couple eukanuba bags with basenji pics:

Here in Belgium we have those bags for years now. Think they used all the dogs in the commercial for pictures to put on the bags.
I'm working in a pet store for the moment, and we have a couple other products with picture of a basenji on it. If I think of it, I will take my camera with me to work next week.

I feed Voodoo about twice the amount that is suggested on the bag of dogfood (Hill's). Allways been feeding him on sight, but have been measuring his food after a discussion with some other basenji owners. So I found out I give him double the recommended amount. And he's not at all getting fat from it.

If I remember correctly, it is still the best selling book ever published in Thailand. I found it in a second-hand-bookstore a few years ago. Nice book if you can get it cheap, but I wouldn't pay a lot of money to get one.

That's also the reason I allways have a leash with me that I cut in half. I can then just say that the leash broke and that that is the reason my dog is running loose.

Voodoo also doesn't really mind the rain. Only when it's really pouring (the rain that get's you soaked in less then the minute) he will run from tree to tree, standing dry under the leaves and waiting for me to catch up to him (and I would swear he is having real fun, standing dry and watching me get wet…)
But with 'normal' rain, he acts just like any other (dry) walk.

Voodoo does that all the time. Sneak up to the other dog, give him a pinch (most often in the tail), makes a play-bow when the other dog turns his head and then storms away in the hope the other dog will chase him. If he doesn't, he just starts sneaking up on him again…

Allways in for a playdate kjdonkers.
I'm allways free on mondays and tuesdays, so just shout when that fits for you!