Canicross – A Fun New Way to Exercise With Your Dog

Canicross is the popular European sport of cross-country (“cross”) running or walking with your dog (“canine” or “cani”) pulling you. The dog wears a special harness and you wear a waist belt attached to the harness with a bungee line or towline. Canicross is growing in popularity throughout the U.S. and Canada as a dryland sport to keep sledding dogs in shape during the off-season, but many people just want to enjoy working out with their dogs hands-free without a leash. By pulling on the line, your dog helps you run faster and farther without causing you to fall. With the positive reinforcement clicker training method, you can teach your dog the basic skills required for canicross.

Any medium to large breed of dog over one year of age weighing 30 pounds or more and without hip dysplasia can learn to canicross. Dogs can learn at any age, but the best time to start training is when they’re puppies learning basic obedience skills. This is where clicker training begins. To be successful in canicross, your dog must understand basic commands for starting, stopping, turning and continuing past distractions.

The following commands are used in canicross:

“Hike” – start running or run faster

“Gee” – turn right

“Haw” – turn left

“On By” – ignore the distraction

“Easy” – slow down

“Whoa” – stop

“Line Out” – run ahead and pull the tugline tight

With clicker training, you can teach all of these commands. After your dog has mastered the basic obedience commands such as sit, come, stay, and down, you can begin clicker training the skills needed for canicross. Train your dog to stay with you on a loose leash and to stay just ahead of you. Whenever the dog naturally runs ahead and pulls the tugline tight, then say the command "line out." Click and treat every time your dog lines out in front of you. With every skill, allow your dog plenty of time to learn to associate each new skill with a treat. Through clicker training, you will learn better dog communication and will become more attentive to your dog’s behavior, signs of tiredness or pain, weaknesses, and strengths. Take it one step at a time and create a good training foundation to keep the activity fun and safe.

Canicross is an excellent physical and mental workout for your dog, building his strength, endurance, and self-confidence. Clicker training and canicross build a strong bond of trust and respect between man and dog.

Learn more about Canicross at:

American Dryland Mushers Association

CaniX.UK

Ehow.com

Skijor

Clicker Training and the Reliable Recall

When my son was about 3 years old, I often took him to a park across the street from our house. It was a great park for kids and dogs – big trees bordering the park and lots of lush green grass to run and play in. As my son was scavenging the grass for hidden treasures one day, my eye caught sight of someone with their dog coming into the park at the other end. At that moment, I saw the dog, a medium-sized mixed breed, spot my son. The dog started running across the park at full speed toward him, and his focused look caused me to fear for my son. I didn’t want to create a fear of dogs in my son, so I watched for about 10 seconds as the dog picked up speed racing across the football field-sized park, his owner yelling for him to no avail. When the dog was within about 150 feet of us, I very calmly picked up my son and said, “Hey, Andrew. Look at the cute puppy”! The dog ran right up to us and jumped up on me. His speed would have knocked Andrew down hard. His owner called him again, and with my son firmly in my arms, the dog turned around and starting trotting back.

 

I remember thinking that if I ever have a dog, I’ll make sure he’s trained to stop immediately and come back to me when I call him. Not only to keep children safe, but to keep my dog safe from running out into traffic or some other unsafe area.

 

The next summer, we got Andrew a puppy. Remembering the incident at the park, I researched training methods and discovered clicker training and the reliable recall. I learned that the best time to start clicker training dogs is when they’re puppies. Just like little kids, puppies are curious, excited, and into everything. But puppies want to please you. So I used the clicker to train our puppy to sit, lie down, heel, and other behaviors.

 

After a few weeks of clicker training, we began spending about 10-15 minutes every day clicker training and practicing the reliable recall, “Come, Woody”! (Yes, he’s named after Toy Story’s fearless sheriff Woody, Andrew’s favorite Disney character.) The reliable recall is described by animal trainer Kathy Sdao as the ability to “call your dog once and she immediately begins running straight toward you as fast as she can, and then stops within touching distance. Sitting in front of you isn’t necessary, but it is important that your dog be close enough for you to hold her collar and attach a leash.”

 

As Woody became accustomed to the command, I used clicker training and the reliable recall regularly in different situations: with distractions, with noise, when he was playing with my son and when he was playing at the dog park with other dogs. There have been several situations when I needed to use the reliable recall, and almost every time he has come. I’ve since clicker trained him to play Frisbee and do a number of tricks, such as play dead and shake hands. I still use clicker training to keep reinforcing “Come, Woody”!

 

Woody loves to play with little kids, but I still remember that day in the park with Andrew. I would never want a parent to fear for their child that Woody would hurt them, and with clicker training and the reliable recall, I keep Woody a safe distance away.

 

Diane Andrews
Dog lover and clicker training fan