Hi, our little basenji gem, Frida is 14 months old. She is a very active dog and is taken out at least 5 times a day, with at least one longer walk, where she is allowed to run free. This used to work great until two months or so ago... At around a year old, she figured out, that she can avoid being put back on a leash after running free if she doesn't let us catch her. She still comes when called, but stays 2 meters away. She threats the whole thing as a game, but the longer it goes one, the less funny it is until she can see we are getting really annoyed (it works the same wit me or my husband, or both of us there) and then she starts to run around us in bigger and bigger circles, even running away from us.
We have tried ignoring her (on the advice of our trainer) and walking into the opposite direction, but she follows us and runs her circles around us, just not allowing us to grab her. Unfortunately we can't just leave her - we are either out of time and need to come back to work, or, we have to go back home and she can't be left alone...
We are really at our wits ends, not knowing how to stop this behavior. For now, we have her running "free" with a towline attached to her, so we can catch her when it's time to go home, but we miss our free walks, when we would all enjoy her running free and then go home afterwards without an issue. Has anyone had the same problem and how did you deal with it?
oh, and here a picture of the little troublemaker

thank you everyone! The collar is ordered

We have exactly the same situation with our tricolor girl, @basenjilovers. We were told, that the coat might changed after spaying and she did develop some undercoat around her neck, but she is now losing a lot of hair (like never before), which I contributed to extremely hot summer here (Europe).

Thank you, i think a key word and a special treat is definitely worth a try - she understands so many words it's scary...

We have exactly the same situation with our tricolor girl, @basenjilovers. We were told, that the coat might changed after spaying and she did develop some undercoat around her neck, but she is now losing a lot of hair (like never before), which I contributed to extremely hot summer here (Europe).

thank you everyone! The collar is ordered

Thanks for the answer. I did try it, but as she's not used to it, she makes choking noises at the lightest pull... But I guess she can get used to it.

My 1 year and 8 months old Frida is wearing a harness. I tend to rotate between 3-4 of them but she still developed a bit of a bold spot on her chest, where the harness would touch her skin. She doesn't seem bothered by it, but I would still like to encourage a bit of hair growth there, as well as get her coat a bit thicker on the sides of her body as well (where the harness is touching her). Has anyone experienced the same and were you able to get the hair to grow back / grow thicker? Thank you for your answers!

@scagnetti actually she used to have a really good recall, but nowadays, if she notices that we want to put her on a leash, she can be quicker than us and then the game starts. Otherways, she comes when called, sits for her treat and is also trained to get the treat only when we get to touch her harness. This all worked really well for a year and then suddenly she didn't want to anymore. I think being a bit more unpredictable might also be a good tip. She is not very food motivated, but keeping her on her toes might be fun for her as well... Thank you all!

Thank you, i think a key word and a special treat is definitely worth a try - she understands so many words it's scary...

Hi, our little basenji gem, Frida is 14 months old. She is a very active dog and is taken out at least 5 times a day, with at least one longer walk, where she is allowed to run free. This used to work great until two months or so ago... At around a year old, she figured out, that she can avoid being put back on a leash after running free if she doesn't let us catch her. She still comes when called, but stays 2 meters away. She threats the whole thing as a game, but the longer it goes one, the less funny it is until she can see we are getting really annoyed (it works the same wit me or my husband, or both of us there) and then she starts to run around us in bigger and bigger circles, even running away from us.
We have tried ignoring her (on the advice of our trainer) and walking into the opposite direction, but she follows us and runs her circles around us, just not allowing us to grab her. Unfortunately we can't just leave her - we are either out of time and need to come back to work, or, we have to go back home and she can't be left alone...
We are really at our wits ends, not knowing how to stop this behavior. For now, we have her running "free" with a towline attached to her, so we can catch her when it's time to go home, but we miss our free walks, when we would all enjoy her running free and then go home afterwards without an issue. Has anyone had the same problem and how did you deal with it?
oh, and here a picture of the little troublemaker