Canicross/bike/scoot

[BBP]

Do any of you do one or all of these with your dogs?

Canicross looks the most simple and accessible but with my dodgy heart I can’t necessarily keep up the intensity, so I was looking at the bike/scoot options as a way of getting some extra miles in and trying something different together. Not sure if some of my collies habits might make it a no-go/recipe for havoc. Just interested in your experiences. Ta!

 

[blackcob]

Not for a while as my big dogs are retired now but I've done all three in the past. The limiting factor with bikejor and scooter is suitable places to do it - obviously it's a no to footpaths, it's usually fine to bikejor on a bridleway but not to use a scooter or rig (some archaic law about dog powered vehicles IIRC?!) and you might need a permit for either or have to abide by time restrictions on Forestry Commission land. Honestly it's a bit of a nightmare unless you can get permission from a private landowner, or a permit for one of the 'known' training locations.

 

[BBP]

Not for a while as my big dogs are retired now but I've done all three in the past. The limiting factor with bikejor and scooter is suitable places to do it - obviously it's a no to footpaths, it's usually fine to bikejor on a bridleway but not to use a scooter or rig (some archaic law about dog powered vehicles IIRC?!) and you might need a permit for either or have to abide by time restrictions on Forestry Commission land. Honestly it's a bit of a nightmare unless you can get permission from a private landowner, or a permit for one of the 'known' training locations.

Hmm. I do have a place near here that is public access for 9 miles off road on dirt tracks, used by pedestrians, bikes and horses in places. Bike might be suitable there. But perhaps I’d better just grit my teeth and get running. Probably better for me long term. Plus I guess I’d need to start there anyway to teach the cues?

 

[Ranyhyn]

I canicross with mine. I am crazy mad passionate about it, so feel free to ask any questions

 

[druid]

Canicross with five, one also bikejors. Ask any questions you like!

 

[BBP]

Thanks both, do you have any links to resources to follow? Dog prefers to walk/run in front anyway, rather than at heel, and we were running together at the start of the summer til my heart got bad again, but how do you transition from just jogging along behind dog to it being an active team sport? I guess I mean teaching the dog that we can’t just stop and sniff at everything, and to follow direction cues?

 

[Ranyhyn]

I got my kit from DogFit, they were super helpful with sizing etc and their belt is just sublime. Ive suffered with my low back since I had my daughter but this belt is brill (for me) We use a Zero DC short harness, my dog isnt a massively strong puller so this suits and a 1.2m parkline as to begin with I didn't want him too far infront as my goal was only to Parkrun with him *snigger* bye bye plans 2020

I joined a club locally but I dont run with them, I always run by myself but thats not because I dont want to, just it fits my schedule (and lockdown) you can find clubs by joinging Canicross trailrunners on Facebook and there's a lovely interactive map of clubs.

It took me a few months to nail the training with mine. As a 35kg+ GSD he was taught from a young age to walk to heel, so I had to undo that with canicross and now he knows the difference. Collar=heel, harness =run. I started early with my directional commands, but used them on narrow tracks where the direction was obvious. Plenty of praise when he did right (he had no opportunity to go wrong but still ) First ten minutes is a walk where I warm my body up and he gets to pee and sniff but when we start running i keep stops to the minimum but he's an entire dog so we do sometimes have pee breaks on unmissable trees (whilst I gasp for air)

We dont run far, our distance is 10k which i feel is appropriate for him. He's a showline shep and he's hefty so that'll do us, its meant to be fun for him too. If I had a smaller dog I'd probably go for half marathon. We started out at 2k then built it up to 5k. After 5K we've used to 10% rule (no more than 10% more every week) to preserve MY health but its also been good for him to increase incrememntally.

As for the teaming up element, the more you do it the more you gel into your team. We have excellent runs where for us, we're helping each other, he's steady down hills, I'm running hard up them so i dont yank him, we jump obstacles together, he pulls me at the start to get my old body going, I keep him going at the end when he's running out of puff. I cant imagine running without him now.

 

[BBP]

That’s a great summary, thanks so much. Mines a 16kg collie so ought to have speed and stamina for whatever distance I want, but he’s pretty chilled out. He’s been happy to give me a little tow out on runs previously, if I’m a little out of puff. I’ll admit I did use the critical tree stops as a chance to get my breath but I’ll have to try to make them fewer and farther between. My biggest issue with him is he seems to get overheated really easily, so weather that I enjoy running in is too hot for him, even at 6am in summer we were having to stop as he was too hot. Now we are hitting autumn he should be much happier.

Do you have any tips for keeping feet comfy on winter off-road runs? I’m thinking wet muddy feet are inevitable round here.

 

[Ranyhyn]

Yes, canicross is a winter sport. Although I ran through the summer too its much more enjoyable now!

Your muddy feet I presume? If so, Otter socks. Allow you to stick with the trainers that suit you but stops you from getting wet feet and getting fitted (this is paramount) by a specialist store for good trail shoes. I cocked this up and I paid for it, thinking I could just buy the right trail shoes. Nope, I need expert fitting for my first pair.

 

[BBP]

Yes, canicross is a winter sport. Although I ran through the summer too its much more enjoyable now!

Your muddy feet I presume? If so, Otter socks. Allow you to stick with the trainers that suit you but stops you from getting wet feet and getting fitted (this is paramount) by a specialist store for good trail shoes. I cocked this up and I paid for it, thinking I could just buy the right trail shoes. Nope, I need expert fitting for my first pair.

Yes my muddy feet, great tip thanks!

I have trusty Salomon pro gtx trail shoes which I love, and had fitted properly. They are now knackered so time for a new pair!

 

[Ranyhyn]

You're smarter than me then, I did some reading up and off i went, i almost cried coming home after my run in them and didnt run again for the next day i was so put off lol

 

[druid]

Join Canicross Trailrunners on facebook and look at the map for your local clubs/pages.

Training wise - narrow trails are your friends, they get the dog focusing on you and pulling well. Running with another person (covid permitting) can help, or even chasing a partner on a bike? Use directional commands even when the turn is obvious, it's all reinforcement!

Kit wise - we use Non-stop Canix belts or Neewa ones (these are on sale at Zooplus for less than 20 quid currently). Lines are a mix of Non-stop, Neewa and Musher, I actually like the Musher best even though it's the cheapest! Harnesses are a very dog dependant thing - all my dogs pull and pull hard so we use long/full harnesses. Variously they have Non-Stop Free Motions, Inlandsis Polar Quest X-back, Dragrattan Multisport, Rowerland Slim X-Back, Zero DC Faster/long, SASS Custom H-back and Alpine Outfitters Custom X-back (last two are for a hard to fit 7kg pulls like a demon Manchester Terrier!).

Apart from the terrier my dogs are all Springers - the Canicross "team" includes two Field Trial Winners and a Field Trial Champion - they differentiate very well and don't pull on lead at all!

 

[BBP]

The harness thing looks like a total minefield, how do you know what to choose?! He isn’t a hard puller generally. He currently had a Perfect Fit Y front harness but doesn’t seem to like it much.

 

[druid]

Contact Emily at K9 Trailtime, she does virtual fittings and is excellent. A dragrattan multisport is a good intro harness, a sort of hybrid from the half harnesses but will still work if he doesn't pull consistently.

 

[vallin]

Another vote for Emily and K9 trail time, she fitted my dog and her harness is perfect. Also another vote for joining the canicross trailrunners group - they're a wealth of knowledge and have answered every question I've ever had! I'd definitely go canicross over bikejor/scooting unless you 100% trust your dogs commands - my dog does canicross but runs loose if I'm on the bike as no way I'd trust her not to pull us over after a pheasant ?? if you're both new to rubbing couch to 5k is a great way to start and you can do pulling interval to encourage running= no sniffing

 

[GT_02]

I run with my collie and started out by booking an intro session with a local dog walker who runs a canicross club. She brought kit for us to try (harnesses, lines, belts) which took the guess work out of deciding which stuff to buy as its not cheap. Dog Fit were great though when I shelled out for my own stuff.
My other investment has been having a hot water tap fitted outside to wash my dog off... we frequently come home from the absolutely filthy so it's worth preparing for that!
Canicross has been a game changer for me with running, I was getting so bored of running alone I was in the verge of giving up but love going out with my boy now.

 

[druid]

We went for the Sealey hot power washer that runs off the cars 12v supply to deal with the mud!

It's worth joining the Canicross and Bikejor gear for sale and Mushers exchange groups on facebook too. We sourced a lot of the harnesses that way cheaply - best find recently was a brand new non stop freemotion for £25