Basenji

Basenjis in popular culture
The title character of the 1954 novel Good-bye, My Lady, by James H. Street, is a basenji. It's the story of a young boy in Mississippi who takes in a most unusual stray. The book was made into a movie of the same name in 1956, with a cast that included Brandon De Wilde, Walter Brennan, and Sidney Poitier.

Veronica Anne Starbuck's 2000 novel Heart of the Savannah features a basenji named Savannah. Savannah narrates this story about her adventures as an African-bred dog brought to America. Starbuck also wrote a sequel titled August Magic.

Simon Cleveland wrote a novel titled The Basenji Revelation, published by Lulu Press in 2004, in which a government agent suffers amnesia and undergoes a change in personality after inheriting a basenji from his late mother. The book delivers insightful facts about the ancient origins of the breed.

The true story of a basenji was featured in the episode The Cat Came Back on the radio program This American Life. The segment tells the story of a family who chose a basenji because they do not shed or slobber, but became frustrated with his aloofness and destructiveness. They eventually bring him to live on a farm 30 miles (48 km) away, but within a few days the tenacious dog found its way all the way back home.

In Spike Milligan's War Diaries "Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall" (Sept 24, 1943) the following exchange takes place:

...we are bloody lost. Lt. Budden is looking studiously at his map, the wrong way up."It's upside down, Sir.""I know that, I turned it upside down for a reason.""Sorry, Sir, only trying to help.""If you want to help, Milligan, act like a basenji."

According to the webcomic Achewood, if Jesus Christ were a dog, he'd be a basenji.

A man and his Basenji were featured on an episode of LA Ink. The basenji has an unusual marking of a diamond in the middle of his back. The owner has a replica tattooed on his own back during the episode.

Basenjis are featured in an episode of the animated television series The Wild Thornberrys In episode 3.04 "Tyler Tucker, I Presume?", Nigel Thornberry encounters a group of tribesmen along with their Congolese hunting dogs.