Training a Basenji with low food drive

Basenjis with low food motivation are genuinely one of the trickier training puzzles — the usual treat-and-repeat playbook just doesn't land with a lot of them. Good training tools amplify good technique, they don't replace it, but the right equipment really does move the needle when food isn't the currency. So, tell me a bit more: what specifically are you working on with your 18-month-old — loose-lead walking, recall, something else? And what have you already tried in terms of rewards or tools?

That's a classic Basenji pattern — they're sighthounds at heart, and the moment the environment gets interesting, food drops way down the priority list. The good news is that many Basenjis are actually quite play-driven, even if it doesn't look that way at first. Before I point you toward a specific tool, one question: does he ever chase things — leaves, a ball, your hand moving fast? Any flicker of prey interest at all when you're outside?

Perfect — that tells me everything. He's not unmotivated, he's just prey-motivated rather than food-motivated, which is actually something you can work with very effectively. The tool I'd point you straight to is the Tug-E-Nuff Bungee Tug toy — specifically their sheepskin or fluffy versions. It's a handled tug with a bungee section that makes the toy move erratically and unpredictably, which mimics fleeing prey and triggers exactly the chase instinct you just described. The bungee absorbs impact so it's safe for his neck and joints during play. You use it as a marker reward: ask for a behaviour, the moment he gets it right, the toy explodes into life on the ground and he gets a short frantic chase-and-tug game. That game becomes the reward. Tug-E-Nuff are a UK brand, well-made, and their toys hold up to serious use. They're on Amazon UK and directly from their own site. Once you've built value in the toy at home, you bring it to outdoor sessions and it competes with the environment in a way cheese never will.

Yes — toy conditioning first, training second. Keep the toy completely out of his reach when you're not training; scarcity builds value fast. For the first few sessions, just make it move on the ground near him, let him chase it, let him win and have a brief tug, then calmly end the game and put it away before he's bored. You're building an association that this specific toy means the most exciting game in his world. Once he's lunging for it the moment he sees it — usually takes a few short sessions — that's when you start attaching it to behaviours. With a Basenji you'll also want to keep sessions short, under five minutes, and end while he still wants more. They switch off fast if they feel the session dragging.

For a Basenji I'd go with the medium size — it's big enough to have a satisfying tug and move dramatically on the ground, but not so large it's unwieldy for you to handle quickly during a training session. The fluffy or sheepskin versions tend to trigger prey drive most strongly because of the texture and the way the fibres move. Start with one of those over the rubber or canvas options.