basenji.co.za

What is Happening to “Nature’s Masterpiece”?

by Mary Lou Kenworthy

Early Basenji Clubs were formed with the intention of protecting the African barkless dog we call the basenji. The basenji is considered to be a natural breed because it evolved for hundreds of years in isolation without the interference of man. The basenji was shaped by nature and culled by an environment where only the fittest survived. This little hunting dog came to us in a form designed by its function.

Researchers still can’t agree on the exact time the dog split off from his ancestor the wolf but mitochondrial DNA evidence places the split in a range from 15,000 to 135,000 years ago. The African Basenji dates very close to that split. This places them in the ancient group. As one of the oldest natural breeds the basenji deserves to be preserved in his original state.

Earliest recorded history rediscovered the basenji in what was then the Congo. Early explorers describe the color of these African native, barkless, dogs as mostly tan, brown or yellow and some “black coated”. Not so surprising as these are the colors that appear naturally in the wild.

Just what did they mean by ‘black coated’? A really wild imagination could picture them as running around dressed in a tuxedo. It could easily be interpreted that these were black and white basenji except that no dominant black and white basenjis were known in this area in the following decades. Considering that the record was written by explorers and not by ‘dog people’ the ‘black coated’ dogs could just as easily have been tri colors (or Fula blacks or Fula tris). However, it was taken at face value and black and white was written into the early standards because that color had been reported. Only red & whites and tris were brought out in the beginning by early British dog fanciers.

The breed got off to a rough start in civilization.

Some of the first basenjis had problems as described in the words of Veronica Tudor-Williams,

“In the 1939-1943 period, at least 20% of all puppies were born undershot. At first about 50% of all pups born had bad inguinal or scrotal hernias, but thank goodness, this was under control quicker than bad mouths, though bad umbilical hernias persisted for a long time. And by bad, I mean bad, with hernias sometimes the size of walnuts. Then we had the cream problem – cream being a pretty colour, but quite ruined by pink noses, pink eye-rims, and yellow eyes. I would say at least 20% of the early puppies were cream, and sometimes there were more creams in litters than reds. On top of this, we had a few cleft palates in the early days, but these did not persist. And we had “sprawlers” which are puppies which cannot get up on their feet, not many of them, but enough to be a problem, and I am glad to say these have not been seen for many years.In spite of the struggles of the war years careful selective breeding eliminated these problems. Veronica further wrote,

“I remembered Mr. K. B. Smith’s remark to me in the first two years of Basenjis. I had said to him in despair, ‘What can we do, we are surrounded by insurmountable difficulties, is it worth trying to carry on?’ By which I meant bad mouths, hernias, creams, sprawlers, the lot. He replied that if one has the patience, one can in-breed to strength, as well as weakness. And how right he was – one had to pick, for instance, the only sound red pup in a litter which contained creams and undershot pups, and by carrying on doing this sort of thing, in time the faults were gradually bred out.”Many of the first basenjis in England were lost to the early distemper shots. However, the early breeders were able to greatly improve the breed by working with the few basenjis they had, without the need to out-cross to other dogs.

Recessive traits can crop up at times and if they are undesirable they can be eliminated. For example, dilute colors, sable (black hairs or black tipped hairs among the red), saddles, blankets and/or black masks. Recessive colors can reoccur because they are carried unseen for generations and then reappear. However, dominant colors are another matter. A dominant color comes only from dogs of that color. If that dominant color is not in the pedigree it can not just magically appear. It would have to be brought in by a dog carrying that color gene.

Basenji-like dogs are common throughout the world.

Any brown, tan, or red dog on four legs with erect ears and a tail with the slightest curve is thought to be a basenji or part basenji. This is probably because the basenji resembles the generic dog. Dr. I. Lehr Brisbin Jr., a Senior Research Ecologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Lab gave a seminar at the BCOA National Specialty in 1989. Here is one of the things he pointed out. If a lot of different pure bred dogs were put on a deserted island and left to breed at random, after about ten years the last generation would look like bad basenjis – a little bigger, longer backed, with larger, lower set ears and straighter tails.

This is why basenji-like dogs are seen throughout the world – this generic dog is easy to breed. The things that separate the true basenji from a generic mongrel, land race, pariah, pi dog or whatever they are called around the world, are his barklessness, his square proportions (high on leg compared to height), his refinement, and his smooth short coat of clear bright colors.

Where did the dominant black color come from?

History tells us that the dominant black & white basenjis did not come from the Congo (Zaire) region and weren’t seen before the 1960s when they appeared in Liberia. This black is a dominant color in basenjis and since there were only reds and tris in previous history, where did the black color come from?

There are clues in the history of the breed. Dr. Leon Standifer supplied information about the breeding of hunting dogs on the rubber plantations in Liberia. In letters to individuals, to The Basenji Magazine and the Basenji Club Of America Bulletin he tells us that a group of people on the plantation worked on selectively breeding basenjis for about 10 years. He also tells that the natives liked to cross breed their dogs with the bigger barking dogs brought in from the outside world.

In his Liberia Paper – 1964 Dr. Standifer has this to say:”For many generations this was a pure breed simply because there were no other breeds. Now it is a pure breed only in very isolated villages. Generally speaking, if a road of any sort goes to a village, there are no longer any pure Basenjis there. The native is sold on the civilized idea of bigger and better. They don’t want a pure ‘American’ dog, because it will probably die of disease, but they want ‘some American dog to make him big and some country dog to make him strong’.

One of the natives working in my laboratory had a rather nice Basenji bitch which he had named “Research”, and he usually bred her to a good stud, but finally, he broke down and mated her with a Doberman, which was owned by one of the staff members. (I say he ‘broke down’, he felt he had finally come up and was delighted at the prospects of
the fine dogs he would have.) Just before I left, the bitch whelped three Doberman/Basenji pups, apparently without a great deal of trouble. In Liberia, at least, the Basenji is rapidly disappearing as a pure breed except among foreign personnel who are interested in preserving them.”

Dr. Standifer also says, “One of my dogs, Goa Gba, hunted Guinea fowl as a brace with a Labrador Retriever and held her own very well in the brushy areas.”One must wonder what else they (or others like them) may have done in the brush. It doesn’t take much imagination to theorize how the dominant black appeared in the basenji breed especially when you consider that some of the early dominant blacks barked. Barking is another trait of domestic dogs. The basenji’s barklessness appears to be recessive.

In the Bar Harbor experiments J. P. Scott compared barking behavior between Basenjis and Cockers under stress. While Cockers tended to continue high-pitched yaps for dozens or even hundreds of times, Basenjis managed only a low woof with much effort and gave up after two or three barks. Crossing and back-crossing the two breeds suggested that barking or not barking under social stress may be due to genes having the effect of altering the threshold of response. Back-crosses to the Basenjis produced a less amount of barking than back-crosses to the Cockers. Scott suggests that the Basenji may have evolved as a result of selection under circumstances where barking would be a non-adaptive trait.

Besides having a higher threshold for stress there are physical differences between the Basenji and other dogs. A post mortem was carried out on Fula of the Congo, and Fulafab of the Congo, and a terrier for comparison. The post mortem was done by Dr. Ashdown. Mr. Richard Fiennes, Head Pathologist of the London Zoo and several other notable veterinarians were present. Following is the part of the post mortem treatise pertinent to vocalizations:

“The cavity of the laryngeal ventricle is shallow, also the cavity leading out of the laryngeal vestibule. The laryngeal saccule is markedly reduced in the Basenji. I have however compared this larynx with specimens from a Great Dane and Foxhound, there is no doubt about the shallowness of the ventricle and the poor development of the saccule in this Basenji compared with other breeds.”

The following is also quoted from VTW’s book FULA – Basenji from the Jungle.

“In America, two well known anatomists, Dr. Erwin Small and Dr. L. E. St Clair both found that the Basenji has a very shallow ventricle, and of this Mr. F. B. Johnson writes: ‘Based on their findings the Basenji dog does not bark, due to the physical structure that differs from other dogs. This difference does not prevent him from making the other noises that he makes.’ In her ‘blue book’ first printed in 1946 Veronica Tudor-Williams tells of a young red and white bitch imported with Simolo of the Congo. When the bitch was released from quarantine Veronica was walking her along a country lane. The bitch spent ten minutes barking at a cow looking over a gate. She was not used in breeding but given away to a pet home with no pedigree and of indefinite breed.

Good quality basenjis were getting hard to find even in the 1940s.

From this same ‘blue book’ VTW tells that she had a Game Warden of the Sudan looking for basenjis for her. He reported the following:”Once more I must stress the task is a hard one, and will take time, perhaps a year to eighteen months. I have just returned from a trip during which I visited all the country on our side of the Belgian Congo border where the Basenjis are the native breed. Of all the dogs and litters I saw, there were perhaps only four or five (according to specifications) with which you might have been pleased. With these the owners had no intention of parting for money, and I had no other inducement to offer.”

“I am afraid the breed has become highly adulterated with the common pi-dog in many of the areas I visited and it may be necessary to pursue the search into the depths of the forest, or across the boarder into the Belgian Congo.”In a later book, Miss Tudor-Williams tells of her experiences and difficulties of finding good basenjis when she brought Fula back to England in 1959. On this same trip the brindle dogs were discovered and a male, ‘Tiger’, eventually went to South Africa with Michael Hughes-Halls and became Binza of Laughing Brook. The brindle color was not bred down from Tiger and VTW says this of what he produced:”Tiger, with a perfect mouth sired 4 very undershot puppies in his 2 litters, and was almost sterile.

A red ‘Tiger’ daughter, M’Bunga of Laughing Brook out of Carmen of the Congo, went to England and some of her descendants found their way to U.S. The tri dog Black M’Binza of the Congo, a Tiger great grandson, was imported into the United States by Shirley Chambers. His descendants produce muddy coats where the black and tan bled together so badly that it took many generations for the breeders to get clear tri-color once more. Tris fell from popularity during this era and could not win in the ring.

There were reports of brindle ‘basenjis’ being sighted from the mid 1950’s on and the numbers of this color increased over the following years as would be expected with a dominant trait.

Once again, how did a dominant color suddenly appear?

Brindle is not a color found in the wild; it originated with domestic dogs. Some of the early basenjis bred in the USA from imported brindles barked – further indicating foreign blood.

In a letter to the BCOA & AKC Veronica Tudor-Williams voiced her concern about the constant influx of foreign dogs mixing with the native basenjis. Her letter, quoted in part, reads:”Major Tiger Wyld, O.B.R. wrote to the controller; Sudan government, London, in 1945 from Yambro, South Sudan, in the country of the Barkless Dogs, where he was the world’s greatest expert on Basenjis as we know them. He wrote, ‘I hope that legislation will be made to stop people bringing other dogs into this area. Otherwise there is a risk they will be spoilt by imported blood. The country of the barkless dog is a small area in S. W. Sudan. There are many native dog to be seen in the surrounding country and they usually reproduce some of the Basenji characteristics both of color, prick ears & curly tail.’ ”

Have we crossed the line where basenjis are no longer a natural breed?

Whether intentional or unintentional, there have been some man-made changes to the breed over the years. With cross-breeding diluting the African basenjis since the early 1900s and continuing to escalate with time as more civilization moved in, what are the odds of finding pure basenjis in Africa today? Many of the early brindles bred in the United States from the ‘87/’88 imports barked. Both the dominant color brindle and the ability to bark were inherited from other breeds of dogs.

Do basenji breeders in Africa believe there are still pure basenji left in the wild? It appears that they buy their basenjis from the USA and other countries.

Marie Knight is a breeder who lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa and is a member of the Kennel Union of South Africa and several other KUSA affiliated clubs. She has shown and worked with Dobermans for about 30 years breeding occasionally. Marie has had basenjis for about 12 years and breeds selectively. Her basenjis were imported from Australia, Canada, Sweden and the United States. All of Marie’s basenjis are breed Champions that have won under International judges. She has worked to establish a viable healthy population that also conforms to the breed standard. Along with a few partners, Marie works to get the breed established, understood and appreciated. When asked what she thought about the most recent dogs brought out of Africa this was her reply:

“You asked me to comment on what I thought of the most recent collection of Basenjis out of Africa. I do not believe that even the previous collection was pure Basenji. It is well known that a missionary working in the area had his Brindle Whippet with him. Taking the conditions there into account, no dog is ever confined and breeding happens with whatever gets together, it is very likely that the brindle colour, which until then had been unknown in Basenjis, came from that Whippet. At least that lot would have been fairly pure as there at that stage were not very many people who moved into the area with other dogs.

There is however not one single chance that the latest collection is pure Basenji. Conditions in those countries are worse than anyone from a 1st world country can imagine. Dogs from all over moved in with the soldiers, with people migrating just to find a potentially better place to survive and with aid workers. What did not change is the conditions under which the dogs are kept – still no restraint totally random breeding. Take a look at the photos. I do not for a minute doubt that there is some Basenji in the dogs but not a lot! The face, colour, basic body size and shape is not that of a typical Basenji.

Here in SA there is a ‘new’ breed on the development register called the Africanis. It is the result of years and years of random breeding of tribal and township dogs. Guess what? The look is vaguely that of a Basenji, bigger with bigger lower set ears and straighter tail. And there are colour variations a lot like the photos you forwarded. Nobody in their right minds can call this a Basenji though.

I also want to add that when Mr. Kirby visited us a few year ago I asked him how he could imagine that with the breeding conditions in Africa what he took out was assured to be pure bred. He said that they based it on asking the locals if they had ever seen any other dogs and only took from areas where there were never any other dogs. A few things make this a very dangerous assumption.

Half breed dogs will resemble Basenjis quite closely and the locals simply would not care so probably would not notice the difference. Over time the breed characteristics could change substantially and the Basenji genes totally diluted. Say a local visits the nearest town for provisions and his bitch in season goes with and mates with a dog in the town. By the time the litter is born the bitch is back at home where there are no other kind of dogs, at least not till her litter hits the scene.

Communication with the locals would have to be via an interpreter. The people would have no way of knowing how reliably the message is being passed back and forth. In African Tribal culture it is impolite to disagree with someone you respect. The result is that often what is given as an answer is what they think you want to hear even if it bears very little resemblance to the truth.

The local people are often just about starving and if they have to tell a lie about what is to them irrelevant to assure a meal or two why not? If they can sell a dog or two by saying there were never any other dogs in the area, they have never been where there are other dogs what is the harm to anyone?

The Basenji is from a health perspective in better shape than quite a few other breeds. The problems can be sorted out by responsible breeding practices. However, if new genes are really desperately needed to sort out problems why assume that this is going to be achieved by using dogs from breeding that is totally unknown? Genetics is complex and the full history of problems for several generations is going to be needed to have any idea of just what these ‘new’ dogs can assist in fixing and goodness knows what additional problems can be introduced. So then if this is for health reasons the much more logical thing would be to cross with a breed in the West that is already known and where the history and problems are well documented.

If I were in your shoes I would fight registration of these new dogs as Basenjis very hard unless genetic testing is able to prove that they are pure bred Basenjis. At very least they should be bred on a separate development register for at least 5-10 generations so that a history of their health and confirmation can be built up.” Is the Basenji becoming a man-made breed?

The aforementioned blacks and brindle were not the only dogs that added foreign genes to the basenjis. Other dogs, domestic and/or feral as well as some of Africa’s wild dogs have added to the contamination of basenjis. While it happened by chance early in history, humans are adding to the problem by breeding to African dogs that already carry foreign genes. The quest for ‘new’ colors has perpetuated the problem. Add a little foreign blood here and a little more there and how much more down the line? At what point does this dilute the naturally evolved barkless dog we know as the Basenji into extinction? Have we already passed the point of no return?

In this modern day and age of advancing knowledge why would anyone add unknown quantities to the basenji gene pool without test breeding and DNA testing? Health was the excuse used to open the studbooks for the imports of the ’80s and that turned out to be a dismal failure for the breed as a whole. Basenjis still have Fanconi syndrome, IPSID, PRA, thyroid problems and an increasing incidence of hip dysplasia.

There are cries about the limited gene pool since all current basenjis came from a small number of founders. There are still a lot of different genes out there because, in earlier days travel was not as advanced and frozen seamen was unheard of, different breeders in different parts of the country went in different directions. There is an average of more than 1,500 new basenjis registered with the AKC every year. Multiply that by the past ten years plus all the other basenjis that were already here. If one can’t find diversity in that many basenjis it’s because they haven’t looked any further than the few current big winners of each decade.

With contamination of the basenji increasing every year the earlier the dogs were brought out the purer they would be. It is more important than ever to be selective about what is added to the basenji gene pool. Fanconi syndrome is the breed’s most devastating problem and with a test for that just around the corner, improving health is no longer an excuse to further mongralize what is left of “Nature’s Masterpiece”.