European visitors were looking to shoot them, a misunderstanding that Tudor-Williams guessed “stemmed from memories of the days when white men shot dogs because of rabies outbreaks.” More Unique Than Most The remote natural range of the Basenji has made it possible for modern breeders to return to Africa themselves for new imports. In 1990, the Basenji Club of America petitioned the AKC to open the studbook, and numerous successful Basenji safaris have ensued. Each import has been evaluated, and many have been approved and incorporated into the gene pool. Every purebred-dog fancier considers his or her chosen breed to be unique, but the Basenji is arguably more unique than most, from its yodel-like vocalizations, which are due to the unusual flattened shape of its larynx, to its lack of a distinctive doggie odor. Unlike most modern breeds, Basenji females only come into heat once a year, similar to wild canids.
in “Good-bye, My Lady.”
While this quick-witted, cat-like creature was new to most American theatergoers, the breed had left the central Congo more than a century before: In 1843, Queen Victoria was gifted with an “African dog” with hooded ears and fine bone from a captain returning from an expedition to Niger. In the 1920s, Lady Helen Nutting acquired a half-dozen Basenjis in South Sudan, only to have them all die after receiving the new distemper vaccine – which, unlike modern vaccines, could become virulent. Still, more British breeders struggled with vaccination losses, until the breed was finally established in the U.K. by the late 1930s. The Land of the Barkless Dogs For her part, Tudor-Williams returned to “the land of the barkless dogs” in an effort to get the native peoples to part with their treasured hunting dogs. Silently hunting birds and other small animals in the thick jungle vegetation, these intelligent, speedy dogs often wore wooden bells with monkey bones as clappers. They flushed game into the waiting nets of hunters, led the way to nests containing eggs, and exterminated rodents and other vermin in the villages. “Owners apparently considered their Basenjis as precious as their children. Their dogs followed them quietly to heel and, if we stopped to observe, were picked up protectively in their arms,” wrote Tudor- Williams, who often drove 100 miles a day over dirt roads in search of the dogs. “I had been told that natives seldom parted with adult dogs — a statement I could hardly credit, but it proved true. Occasionally we saw a young adult that we wished to buy. Through our interpreter, we would offer jewelry, cigarettes, and finally large sums of money” – up to triple the price of a bride’s dowry – “but to no effect, the native owner walking away, a disdainful expression on his or her face.”
DNA studies have found that the Basenji does not cluster with any of other breeds, but rather holds a genetically distinct position of its own that predates not just the evolution of purebred dogdom, but likely agriculture itself: Research in 2021 found that, like wolves and dingoes, the Basenji has lower numbers of the AMY2B gene that produces amylase, an enzyme that helps digest starch. This is a hunter-gatherer’s dog, through and through. If there was one criticism of “Good-bye, My Lady,” it was of the ending. In this coming-of-age story, My Lady’s young owner eventually returns her to her rightful owner. But real life, at least, turned out to be much more satisfying: The contract with Tudor-Williams stipulated that My Lady would belong to young Brandon deWilde once filming was complete.
A Basenji displaying its similarities to an Ancient Egyptian limestone statue from 1080-332 BC entited “A Sitting Dog.” The dog pictured is a descendant of Fula of the Congo, an important brought back in a 1959 Sudanese expedition by longtime fancier and breeder Veronica Tudor-Williams. Undaunted, Tudor-Williams changed tactics, deciding to purchase puppies instead. But she soon found that word preceded their arrival, with the empty-handed villagers explaining the puppies had already been sold. In truth, they had been hidden because of rumors that the
So that’s a real-life happy ending for a boy and his dog – which, Basenji lovers would be quick to add, is not just any dog.
Article reprinted from https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog- breeds/basenji-history-barkless-dog-congo/ 4
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