Basenji ‘Kuru’ Competes at 2023 AKC Agility Invitational

“Kuru” the 10-year-old Basenji is traveling from Texas to Florida in December to compete in the 2023 AKC Agility Invitational. Kuru (Briden’s Kuruka Roha RN AXP AJP OFP CGC TKN) began competing in Agility with handler Denise Vertrees when she was 3 years old and has won the top Basenji PACH (Preferred Agility Champion) Agility Award from the Basenji Club of America in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Competing with a non-traditional agility breed can come with both challenges and joys.

Vertrees, Kuru’s owner Helen Cronhenberger, and co-breeder Carol Kirk all knew that there was something special about Kuru from the time she was a small puppy. In some way, they’re all experts: Cronhenberger and Vertrees have been involved with Basenjis for decades, and Kirk has a particular skill for evaluating puppies. Kirk knew from the start that Kuru would be a dog who would excel at Agility. Because the breed is known for being naturally independent, Kirk looked for traits like being eager to please in the dogs in Kuru’s litter, because she felt this can be harnessed into a successful team dynamic. And she found that in Kuru from the start.

Breeding and Training Agility Champions

Cronhenberger, Vertrees, and Kirk have made it their mission to breed Basenjis’ who will enjoy and be successful in the sport of Dog Agility — Kuru among them. Before she was born and every moment since, this trio has worked to give Kuru the best chance in the sport of agility. They started doing basic training with Kuru, like coming when called, from the start. Kirk explains that they were also trained in the kennel from very young puppies on basic obedience before they went home. Kirk also helps match handlers and owners interested in agility with dogs that show this drive and athleticism from the start.

Next, the puppies with agility traits go to live with Cronhenberger, who starts their agility training. She is now 86 years old, and still runs her own agility dogs, just not as much as she used to. She and Vertrees work closely together to train these dogs in agility. Vertrees is a good friend, and Kuru’s primary handler, but Cronhenberger was the one who got her involved in agility. Vertrees, who is now an experienced agility handler, wasn’t always involved in the sport. “”Helen started doing agility, I was always the conformation girl. She started having some knee issues, and she said ‘you’re going to have to run my Basenji in agility.'” After Cronhenberger showed her how to run the dogs, Vertrees was hooked. She is now Kuru’s primary handler.

This team of Basenji breed experts and enthusiasts all worked to get the dog ready for the AKC Agility Invitational. Cronhenberger has a full agility course in her backyard, and starts puppies with small agility obstacles to get them used to what they’ll encounter later on. This also helps the puppies learn confidence and body awareness, like where their feet are, which will help their motor skills overall as well as their agility skills. Cronhenberger and Vertrees also take their agility prospects to puppy classes to work on socialization and basic training skills.

Denise Vertrees

An Independent Dog Doing a Team Sport

Basenji are considered an aboriginal or primitive dog breed. They maintain a close likeness and connection to their aboriginal population, including cave paintings that date back to 6000 BC. This doesn’t mean that these breeds are impossible to train, but Basenji are more independent and have high mental stimulation needs. The same way that not all dogs are going to excel or enjoy agility training, a dog like Kuru who really loves a team sport despite being known to be more self-willed is special.

Kirk specifically looks for this kind of teamwork drive in puppies when selecting to train them for agility. “We try to find the ones that want to do stuff for you,” Cronhenberger says. She describes the breed as very loving, but also very smart. She says that they do have a mind of their own, and need a patient owner who is going to enjoy their antics.

If you’re thinking about a Basenji as a dog sport partner, Cronhenberger and Vertrees caution that the breed is very self-willed, and their plans might not always align with yours. “You’re taking an independent breed and say let’s go work as a team,” Vertrees explains, “They will match you wit for wit.” At their first agility competition, Kuru got distracted, and left the ring. Vertrees says that they can be a challenge, but that as a handler, it makes it fun.

Often, their owner-handler team is the only one running Basenjis at agility events – such is the case for the AKC Agility Invitational. “There are a lot of people who say, ‘oh you’re going to run a Basenji in agility? What are you thinking?'” Cronhenberger says, adding that sometimes even agility judges are astonished because Kuru is the first Basenji they’ve seen in their ring. Although Border Collies and other breeds developed to work alongside people tend to dominate the agility world, Basenji are agile dogs that with the right temperament can do well in the sport.

“They are far and few between,” Vertrees says. “In the world of Basenji, there are a handful of us that are brave enough to run agility with Basenji,” Vertrees says playfully. Although people are often very surprised to see a Basenji at an agility trial, for Vertrees this is part of the fun of competing with a Basenji. “It is very rewarding when your dog does very well,” she says. “People go ‘Oh wow, you can do that with a Basenji?'”

Denise Vertrees

Agility Strategy: Have Fun

This isn’t Kuru’s first time at the AKC Agility Invitational. They competed in 2022 for the first time, but Kuru struggled a little without Cronhenberger. Right before the competition, Kuru’s owner got COVID and wasn’t able to attend with Vertrees. This year, Kuru and her whole team will be traveling to Orlando to compete. Cronhenberger and Vertrees are looking forward to showing off what Basenjis are capable of, and meeting up with all the other competitors’ dogs and people who they don’t have a chance to often see.

Cronhenberger and Vertrees will be road-tripping with Kuru from Texas, and are looking forward to seeing all the other competitors. “We always set up with all our Texas people, and it’s a good comradery,” Vertrees says. “We all support each other.”

Going into the AKC Agility Invitational Vertrees has three priorities: having fun, avoiding injury, and staying upright while running. As for strategy, she keeps it simple. “My only strategy is that Kuru has fun,” Vertrees says. At the end of the day for Vertrees the most important thing in mind when she steps into the ring at the AKC Agility Invitational is going to be making sure that Kuru is having a good time. Beyond having fun, she notes “if we do all the things right, and we get a ribbon, that’s the icing on the cake.”