Beginner's Guide
Canicross is a fun way to run with your dog in a social setting. But there’s one or two things you might not be familiar with or have questions about.
So ‘Rogue Dog’ kindly starred in a video guide on how to canicross – watch it below.
Your first priority when starting canicross is ensuring your dog is old enough and in good health.
As a general rule, we don’t run puppies under one year old (eighteen months for bigger breeds). The wait is worth it! Your dog will have adult bones and joints capable of withstanding the strains of running.
To avoid injury to your dog, start with a warm up and increase your training gradually. Remember to ensure your dog is fully hydrated and not at risk of overheating.
If you are in any doubt whether or not to run with your dog, please consult a vet.
The art of dog obedience training is consistency, persistency and practice. Canicross is much the same: your dog learns the commands by associating them with an action and gaining positive reinforcement. Figure out what commands you want to use and stick with them. Different people use different commands, but the important thing is to use whatever works for you and your dog. Below is just an example and is by no means exhaustive.
|
Action Required |
Possible Commands |
Relevance of the command |
|
Pull Forward motion |
Pull Ready Go Hike on |
Gives the dog the message that he is free to move forwards |
|
Slow down |
Steady Woaaaaaa |
For safety reasons it is essential to have control of your dog’s speed e.g: steep down hill terrain or farm animals |
|
Wait |
Wait |
Your dog learns to stand still before starting off or in the middle of a run if for instance you need to re-tie a lace. |
|
Go faster or put in more effort |
Hup Hup Yala (Running Jaspers own term) |
There may be times you need to encourage your dog more, e.g: hills, passing other dogs |
|
Go past an interesting object/dog |
On by |
Dogs are easily distracted. They need to learn to ignore distractions when they are working in harness. This is also used to overtake other dogs during a run |
|
Turn Right |
Right Gee |
Self explanatory, the dog is upfront and is leading the way, but you are his guide and must give directions! |
|
Turn Left |
Left Haw |
Self explanatory, the dog is upfront and is leading the way, but you are his guide and must give directions! |
As with most animals a fast, enthusiastic and relatively high-pitched tone indicates an increase in energy requirement and a steady, deep and flat tone indicates a decrease in energy requirement.
Get your dog used to these commands when you are out walking, e.g. if you take a right turn, say “right”. Whilst he is on the canicross harness and up ahead of you, you may initially want to put your hand on the line and slightly pull it to guide him to the side you want him to go. Each time he gives you the correct behaviour remember the praise.
When you are behind other runners at a canicross group run your dog should follow the dogs up ahead. In that case, still give the directional command each time you go round a corner, to allow your dog to associate the command with the change of direction. You will be amazed at how quickly they pick it up!
Most dogs naturally love to pull, do not worry that all your good ‘heel’ work will go out the window when you encourage them to pull. They very quickly learn the difference between a collar and a harness. The harness means running and being allowed to pull!! To ensure you don’t confuse them try not to use their harness for walking them.
To get your dog to pull into the harness try running with a more experienced dog, if this is not an option have a friend or partner ahead of you by about 100 meters and if necessary ask them to call your dog. With your dog in his harness and attached to you, give him the command for forward motion with a lot of verbal praise and encouragement when he responds as required. Once you reach your friend given him a lot of praise, treats and cuddles. Repeat this a number of times over a few weeks and as he picks it up have him run beyond your helper until you give the command to stop or steady.
Be aware of your equipment, if the line is slack, scoop the slack part up with your hand to avoid tripping over it and do not allow your dog to run around the ankles of the runners up ahead.
This will all seem more straightforward once you’ve come along and tried it out a few times!