.png)
Juniper member Kelsey Mitchell, an avid canicross runner on Instagram as @BoundingHusky, shares some advice to enjoy jogging with your dog. Read on for tips that will help beginners and seasoned athletes alike! Thank you so much, Kelsey.
I love running with my doggos! I run canicross mostly, but here are my tips that go for anyone running with their dogs.
What to know before you get started running with your dog
- Build up mileage slowly. Similar to how you would for a human.
- Especially early training, stop when they’re still excited about it. Like you think they could keep going. You want this to be exciting, and just like people if you’re too tired and sore every single time you’re (generally) less likely to want to do it again. Once you come to love something, some dogs and people are okay pushing themselves. But especially at the beginning, don’t push too hard.
- Hard surfaces like sidewalks and streets are harder on the joints than softer trails. Just like humans again. You can still run them, but try to switch it up and build those up slowly as well.
- Dogs sweat through their paws. So if you need booties, keep a close eye on your dog and take lots of breaks.
- Highly recommend a passing command. What you’ll use when you are going by people or dogs or stuff. Mine is “on by” (mushing term lol). But I know some folks use leave it, as they say they’ll remember to say that more readily.
- Know that commands taught at home sound different when you’re running. So you may feel like you are re-training some things; and you kind of are. An at home “wait” and an out of breath “wait” are very different. Especially for dogs who don’t automatically speak our human language.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
Go-to gear for running with your dog
Top recommendation: Ruffwear brand
I love Ruffwear's gear and the durability!
And their harnesses are closer to that Y shape that mushers look for, so if your dog does put some pressure on it while you’re out it’s not going to injure them. (Versus running in a collar or a harness that goes straight across their front legs — both of those have a higher chance of causing injury or long term issues.)
Gear and advice for canicross specifically
I could write a novel for this, but to keep it short: The right gear varies!
Since canicross is a higher impact sport with more pressure, the harnesses fit changes based on dog and handler preference. When I was initially writing something out I ended up just listing all the brands I’ve used... because there were reasons for each fit with the different dogs. Ha!
I’d recommend chatting with other mushers or finding a local group and meetup. See what they recommend style wise for your dog, and then start there. Some will even have extra gear so you can try it out in person! And some clubs have discount codes too. (It can be an expensive sport, so I’m all for going with the discounts so you can still get the quality gear.)
North American Canicross is a great starting place. They’ve got a Facebook group and have been growing the ambassador program (I’m a little biased, you’ll see my face there). If anyone is interested I'm happy to see if we can find a local canicross or mushing group near you (like for those in the SF Bay Area we have the Bay Area Urban Mushers. Feel free to connect on the Juniper community Slack!