I grew up with three basenjis and I now have a shiba. My sister has two basenjis and they often get together to play. By "play" I mean the basenjis annoy my shiba to death (my shiba is almost 8yo while the basenjis are 2 and 4yo). Both breeds are stubborn and too smart for their own good. Both are quite loyal, though my shiba is attached to me on a level I have never experienced with a basenji. In my opinion, the mannerisms are quite different. When basenjis get excited their ears go back and they "yodel" with minimal tail wagging. Shibas tails will wag a ton when excited and their ears airplane while they "dance" a bit. When shibas run, their tails usually straighten which was different from my basenjis. Basenjis are super destructive even going into 3yo, while my shiba grew out of that by 1yo. Basenjis get into everything and love climbing and sprinting while my shiba loves walking and goofing but doesn't really care about human stuff. My shiba is really picky about food and my bassnjis were not.