History and Origins
Country of Origin: Africa
The Basenji is said to be as old as the Pyramids and indeed it appears in art from ancient Egypt from 4500 years ago. The same type of dog appears throughout hundreds of years – mostly in funeral art which indicates they were favourite dogs of the Pharaohs.
While the civilisation of ancient Egypt vanished, the Basenji survived, and soon became prized possessions of local tribesmen and hunters. The Basenji has been an all-purpose hunting dog across Africa for thousands of years and unlike most hounds, it is both a sighthound and a scenthound – and can be trained to point and retrieve.
The breed is virtually unchanged since the days of the Pharaohs making it one of the oldest ‘true to type’ breeds.
