By Cani-Fit’s Amy McLaughlan.
If I had a quid for every time I’d heard that! It’s one of many myths that
circle around and seems to put people off trying out canicross for the first
time.
I’ve been going to Cani-Fit for just over two years now, I’m a trained class
leader so see new folk come along all the time. And I spend A LOT of my
spare time telling anyone who will listen about Cani-Fit and all the great
things it’s brought me. So I’ve seen and heard all the excuses “My dog’s
not good with other dogs”, “I’m too unfit”, “I can’t run the length of
myself”, “my dog wouldn’t run in a straight line”.
My favourite I think though is “my dog would pull me flat on my face”. Cue
mental images of folk getting comedy dragged round Eglinton Park by their
faithful friends, clouds of dust behind them, dugs barking, class leaders
yelling, chaos reigns!
Well, I hate to disappoint folks – it’s not really like that. When you come
along to any of our sessions for the first time, we’ll lend you a specialist
running belt for you to wear and a bungee line that hooks you up to your
dog. These two vital pieces of kit are the first key to keeping you on your
feet. The belt helps by distributing the pull of your dog straight into your
centre of gravity. It’s not like when you have your dog in a handheld lead –
when you’re walking your dog and he pulls it goes straight into your
shoulder and the top half of your body so any large pull or jerk tips you
forward. With a canicross belt on, the pull sits across your hips, pulling
them up and forward – not tipping you over.
The other little nugget I mentioned there was the bungee line, this is essentially a lead which has
strong elastic ‘bungee’ cord in it to act as pure shock absorption. You just
don’t get that same sharp jerk you do when you’re walking or running on
collar and lead.
The second key is: you! We’ll teach you about running position and how to
adjust your posture and centre of gravity to allow you to use your body as a
way of breaking against the dog’s pull when necessary.
Canicross is about you and your dog working together as a team, not one unwilling participant being
dragged round against their will, we wouldn’t do it otherwise!
See – there’s much more to it than you thought isn’t there? We have skills,
techniques and equipment to help you get out there and get yourself fit with
your dog. It’s much more than just a jog in the park.
Cani-Fit is way to learn a new sport, make new pals, gain yourself that extra bit of confidence
– why not get your brave pants on and come and see what it’s all about..
What’s stopping you?!
Check our belts, bungee lines and harnesses for your dog out on our
Equipment page http://cani-fit.com/shop/