Cani-cross — stepping up a gear

What equipment do I need? No special equipment is needed. Running with your dog on lead at your side is acceptable when starting out and taking part in races, but as you progress, there are easier and more comfortable ways of doing it.

Switching the lead from hand to hand disrupts your rhythm. Sore arms, neck and shoulder muscles are often the result when your dog pulls while you’re holding the lead.

Cani-cross does not have these problems. By freeing you from holding the lead and providing a bungee stretch cord in the line. Hands-free running with your dog permits better balance and control and allows natural back and forth arm motion. The bungee in the cani-cross line removes the jerks and shocks for you and your dog making the run much smoother. The vast amount of dog walking trails or quiet roads in most areas means you’ll have many routes to choose from to make it interesting for you both.

Specialised Cani-Cross gear is covered on the following page.

Training your dog to pull. Dogs love to chase. The key here is to give them something to chase. Ask a friend to run up front with some delicious treats and call enthusiastically to come. If you have a friend who also runs with their dog, train together and take turns to run up front so that your dog has someone to chase. When you feel your dog pull give them lots of positive encouragement.

If you have two or more dogs, try cani-cross first with one dog. Cani-cross with two or more dogs on downhill sections can be perilous.

• While in harness, never correct your dog for pulling.
• Dogs instinctively follow the path of least resistance to conserve energy. So use a well defined trail allowing your dog to follow their instinct.
• Choose a trail that is relatively flat for your first run out and narrow giving your dog the opportunity of only running in one direction (forward!).
• Keep the first few sessions short so your dog is still pulling hard at the end of the run and always give positive reinforcement or a treat when you finish. The whole experience should be very positive for your dog.
• Once your dog associates the harness with cani-cross you’ll be amazed at their reaction when you pull the harness out. This in itself will let your dog know that collar means walking to heel, harness means pulling yeee haaaa!

If your dog won’t pull. Don’t throw in the towel just yet. Think about pulling from your dog’s point of view. Since puppyhood you have trained your dog not to pull. Now at the drop of a hat you’ve changed your mind and want them to pull with reckless abandon! For a dog this can be very confusing. With patience, understanding and positive reinforcement your dog will soon learn the difference between the feel of collar and harness and learn that pulling in harness is acceptable.

Attitude, consistency, repetition = success Always be positive, never scream at your dog or lose your temper. If things aren’t going right – consider it your fault. Step back, think again and approach the problem from a new angle, with renewed enthusiasm. Never go out for a training run if you are in the wrong frame of mind.

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