Breed history
The Basenji is considered to be an aristocratic dog in appearance. He is from the Congo and happens to be an ancient breed. Indeed, he is descended from the hound of Egypt. We found its trace more than 5,000 years ago.
Like many races, the morphology of the Basenji adorns some tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. But then, the breed disappeared from the radar for a long time. It only reappeared in the 19th century in the Ituri forest in the province of Kasaï-Oriental in Congo. Its discovery is the fruit of British explorers. The latter gave the name of Basenji to the ago angry. A word that comes from “basenji,” which means “wild” or even “primitive,” and which were adjectives used by the colonists to designate the natives.
The first Basenji to be imported into Europe date from the beginning of the 20th century, in the mid-1930s. It arrived in France in 1966 but is still very little known in France. Conversely, it is very popular with English families and Nordic countries, mainly thanks to its excellent friendliness. The International Cynological Federation recognized the breed on March 26, 1964.
