Nervous Maggie conquers her fear and loves Canicross!!

My name is Maggie and I’m a one year old Border Terrier…..and I get really nervous about everything!!! I can’t control my anxiety and show it by barking a lot!!! Woof Woof

I live with my humans and two big brothers Moss and Inness who have been doing Canicross for a while. It was my 1st Birthday in August so my human took me to Canicross at Dalkeith so I could have a go and I loved it…..so after a few practices we entered a race!

On the day of the race my human’s friend picked us up and I got to ride in a van with Meeko the Husky!! I didn’t know what to make of him so I barked at him a few times…Woof Woof!! We went to a place called Coalsnaughton where there were loads of other dogs and people….the most I have ever seen! Woof Woof

My human got me ready and put my special purple harness on.  Once Inness was ready my human took us to the start line. This was hard for me as there were so many other dogs and people and I made a lot of noise!

Then it was our turn to run and I was ready. Inness knows how to do Canicross so I followed him…..up to the start line…..3…2…1….GO! Woof Woof Woof! We were off running as fast as our paws could take us….we could go faster but we have to pull our human who only has two paws and is a bit slow!

Up the hill….down the hill….past the photographer….Woof Woof. I loved it!!! I just concentrated on running. Then another dog stopped for a drink in front of us, but it was ok cause my human told me to keep running so I did and it was easy! Before I knew it we were sprinting for the finish line…..hike hike hike!!

My human gave me a drink and told us we were amazing puppies and I felt really good, I managed the whole race without getting nervous and barking at other dogs and people.

After the race I got to meet some other dogs and even got a bit of bacon….Yum Yum. I did so well that my human brought me back the next day and I got to do it all again!! This time we went even faster!!!  We even won a rosette and a bag of treats as part of the winning female team for Cani-Sports Edinburgh!!

At the end of the weekend once a lot of people had gone home I went for a wee walk with my new Collie friends Jura, Tiree, Finn, Buddy and Bex!! I was so brave and by the end was running around playing chase with them all. Buddy kept me in line and brought me back to my human when I got too far away! Woof Woof! I can’t wait for the next race and I’ve told my human that she needs to keep practicing so we can go even faster!!

Serious Bit….

Maggie was rehomed after the family she was with could no longer look after her. She has developed an anxiety problem and is wary of all other dogs and a lot of people. She often hides behind her two older brothers and vocalises her fear by barking. She is relatively new to Canicross but it has helped her immensely over the last couple of weeks and hopefully this will continue.

The world of Canicross is full of tolerant understanding people who accommodate other dogs even with issues and offer assistance and advice so if you were thinking of coming along to a run or race and have a dog that has any problems please do come….it can make a world of difference!