The Basenji dog is an ancient breed. It has also been identified as a basal breed, predating the emerging of the modern breeds of dog, which ultimately means that it has a direct lineage with the common ancestor of the group. In this case the “Late Pleistocene Wolves”.
Pre-Historic Cave Paintings, dated 6000BC, and later 100AD, depict drawings of Basenji type dogs in hunting scenes.
Egyptian tombs from as early as 3000BC yielded many things that show Basenji type dogs; for instance, a game (Hemaka Game Stone), and various Pyramids where dogs are shown with their masters, hunting, sitting and with other dogs.
In 1843 a painting showed three dogs that belonged to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, where one of the dogs is a Basenji dog. This date is almost a 100 years before Basenji dogs were imported from the Belgian Congo into Europe.
In earlier writings about dogs in Africa, around 1868, dogs that have a resemblance to the Basenji, is mentioned. They were mostly used for hunting in packs.
From 1880, the Congo Terrier is mentioned in the earliest European travelers, adventurers, missionaries, scientists, and explorers, when they write about their experiences while traveling through Africa.
Having their origin on the continent of Africa, Basenji-like dogs have been living with humans from prehistoric times.
However, several attempts to bring these dogs to England for breeding were unsuccessful. There is mention of singular Basenjis in England, but it was only in 1930 that they have been successfully established England.
From the 1940’s onward, Basenjis were established in the Americas, etc. They even made appearances in a few movies during the 1950’s.
In 1964, a story was published in “The New York Times”, in which the praises of the Basenji breed are sung. It stated that is a quiet, clean breed that is easy to have around.