What is Canicross?
Canicross is a fantastic sport, open to all abilities, you don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy spending time running with your best friend and reaping the benefits both physical and mental.
Canicross is off-road running with your dog. Your dog wears a harness specifically designed to allow them to pull, you wear a belt/harness which allows hands-free running and you are attached to your dog with a bungee line.
As canicross is now becoming ever more popular, numerous canicross clubs are forming throughout the UK so there is always the option to run with like-minded people. If racing is your thing then there are dedicated canicross events during the racing season of September to April and an increasing amount of “human” race events are now welcoming canicross entrants.
For more information visit Canicross UK Running with Dogs Fitness
Nicola shares her story of Canicross with a Hovawart
As a keen runner, when I was considering dog breeds, one of my criteria was the ability to run with me. I can now confirm that a Hovawart could run all day – I’m definitely the weak link in our partnership.
Canicross is the sport of cross country running with dogs, originating in Europe as off-season training for the mushing (sledding) community. The Canicross season in the UK runs through the cooler months, with the heat and humidity both being monitored to ensure the dog remains comfortable. As a rule of thumb if the temperature (degrees C) multiplied by the humidity (percent) is more than 1000, we don’t canicross.
The dog wears a harness specifically designed for freedom of movement for running, and comfortable, safe pulling – correct fit is essential. The human wears a wide belt, worn around the hips, usually with leg straps to avoid the belt rising up. The two are connected via a strong bungee lead and the dog assists the runner by pulling them along.
It is important to wait for the dog to complete growing prior to them running in harness, for Hovawarts, this is by about 18 months old. Smaller breeds can start closer to 12 months. Personally, I had Jäger hip and elbow scored at about 16 months to check that she would be good to start a couple of months later. We also attended a (dog) physio-run conditioning class to learn how to build Jäger’s core strength to help avoid injury. As with training a human runner, we built mileage up gradually over time to allow Jäger’s muscles to adjust to the new stresses.
Although they can’t start running until older, there are plenty of commands that can be trained in advance, while on walks.
We use:
“Left left” and “Right right” to make turns off the main trail.
“Steady” and “Behind me” to help survive the down-hill sections.
“Run by” to encourage the dog to ignore distractions, such as other dogs.
Once in harness, the “Line out” command is taught to encourage the dog to pull into the harness.
The feeling of working as a team with your dog is amazing, you can run faster and use less energy! My fastest sprint ever recorded was when Jäger saw the deer before I did! It’s great for the dog – building muscle, increasing fitness, and offering mental stimulation… it certainly helps tire them out.
There are many canicross groups around the UK, running with others encourages the dogs to pull. It’s surprisingly popular for people with less-than-social dogs, as all dogs are on lead and under control throughout, plus running as a pack often helps the dog relax and forget it’s anxiety.
Hovawarts are very well suited to the sport, being athletic, intelligent, and having a great sense of humour, which often manifests itself when running tricky downhill terrain by torchlight, which is about the time Jäger decides it’s hilarious to forget the “Steady” command !