You’ve probably come across articles ranking dog breeds by intelligence. The Basenji usually lands in the bottom two tiers. So you may be wondering why I keep writing on this site that it’s a very intelligent dog.
The explanation is simple, but first: how do we define a dog’s intelligence? Those articles measure it by how quickly a dog learns a trick and how willingly it listens to a human. The dogs at the top of the list are so-called biddable breeds. It’s true that a Basenji will probably take longer to learn a trick and won’t always want to listen — some days they just don’t feel like it. That isn’t a sign of stupidity. A Basenji has a will of its own: one day it may ignore you completely, and the next it learns 5 new tricks in 30 minutes!
It’s all about understanding the brain of the dog in front of you. Basenjis evolved over thousands of years to think for themselves and make decisions. Put one in a room where it has to solve problems and it will outshine the “smartest” breeds. The problem is that we humans measure a dog’s intelligence by obedience alone.
Search online and you’ll find hundreds of videos of Basenjis climbing fences, opening doors and finding creative ways onto kitchen counters. My favourite saying: “a Basenji is too smart for its humans’ own good.” That’s why I tell anyone who wants to share their life with one to bring an extraordinary sense of humour.