Sounds really interesting and great fun. But Bailey would pull me over (he is not very good at controlling his excitement!) And Pascha would run alongside me so I don't think it is something we could participate in. Is there going to be a cani-cross event at crufts this year I am going on the Sunday and would love to see it.

CaniX will be at Crufts, but I think it's the friday

This sport sounds ideal for us and our two beagles! They are both very fit and do loads of activities. We were out in the open country with them at the weekend and they dragged us the whole way.



We discussed at the time that they'd absolutely love to be in harness dragging us across country. I'd been thinking along the lines of getting them involved in tracking but this is better.

The younger one is only 6 months but would definately enjoy cross-country walks in harness (better than learning to pull when on a collar and lead). The older one (16 months) is super-fit and raring to go. She's already done a couple of 5k road races.

So to my question - I've taken a look at the equipment recommended on the cani-x website. It's a bit pricey for the harness, leash and belt. Wouldn't mind paying that further down the line, but not right now. Can anyone recommend anything cheaper but good for starting out? Obviously the harness must be comfy for the dog. And the belt secure.

I thought the same for the cani x official stuff so i got Tuns kit from the snowpawstore (as advertised on here) it was £54 for the set for a single dog. I originally ordered the x back harness but it was too baggy for Tun so ended up with their cani x version. If you go on snuggle pets they do the same harness but it is padded all over (ordered one yesterday). The snowpaws one doesnt have padding on the 'girth' strap which wasnt so great for my sensitive boy.

I got the belt with the leg straps which i think is fab as it doesnt ride up. Tun loves it and we came 5th out of 19 in our section at the Fineshade event. Our first go!! We are going to do the 'wiggle run' 10k at Catton Park near tamworth on the 25th Apr. Its not an official canix but you mark your entry canix/running with dogs and get sent off after all the 'humans' have started and some of his black & tan buddies are going. Then we are going to do the last race of the season at Cheltenham. cant wait till next season when there will be races nearer to us!

Thanks for the info!

It's an ideal activity for us. My husband and I were both fitness freaks and did martial arts, powerlifting and running until a couple of years ago when family bereavements and injuries took their toll.

We now want a new sport but we've now got two young, impossible-to-tire beagles in tow! This will be perfect. The little one is only 7 months, but I'm pretty out of shape and still recovering from an injury so we can mostly walk and take things nice and easy. We'll get into racing shape together!

We're in Scotland so as far as I know there are no races here, but we're happy to just run about the countryside with our dogs for the time being.

Congratulations on doing so well in your first race! I imagine it's a bit scary at first running with a big Doberman! Then again, they're probably easier to control than our crazy beagles!

Any tips? Do you teach them commands - e.g. steady, stop, left, right.....faster?

Thanks! So far with tun a 'this way' in a cheery high pitch and a tap left or right on the line and he will turn. havent mastered slwoing down yet! It was ace racing with him and he really dug in when passing other dogs, turns out hes quite competitive, im just a passenger! If i was wearing skis i could have ski'ed through all the mud!

I spy that Akna isnt a million miles from me so may bend her ear for some training tips ;o)

Think the nearest run to you guys is Keilder in Northumberland? for official canix your dog has to be at least a year old so you have plenty of time to get fit with your youngster!

Tuns very chuffed that he gets to pull as much as he likes and not get told off!

We've just ordered from snowpawstore. Unfortunately they don't make harnesses small enough for our Beagles but we got a couple of fleece ones from snuggle-pets. Not sure if they're the right ones for canicross but they're cheap so they'll do to start with.

I'll let you know how we get on! Have you got any piccies of you running with Tuns?

Hi there i was too going to suggest you speak to snow paw store if you ring and speak to matt he is really helpful. Although iw ould not suggest you use an x back harness. The reason for this is because you wear a waist belt and you have a small dog the line goes down from your belt to the dogs harness, if using an x back the pull from the dog is not going to fluent as an x back is designed to evenly distribute the pull along the dogs body. This wont work as you will be pulling the dog up from underneath at the rear. A skijorring or long distance harness is what would be better as you attach from the top and it fits only on the shoulders. I run my dogs cani cross styley, bikejorr and race with a rig and only use the x back for the rig and ive not had any problems with back injuries of anything.

Thanks for the info! We've already ordered but fortunately we didn't order the x-back! Mainly because they don't make them small enough. But we had planned to get one of the more expensive ones from the cannix site at a later date. So it's good that you've pointed out this problem!

We've ordered cheap, basic harnesses for now:

http://www.snugglepets.co.uk/index.p...ex&cPath=19_20

We can afford to replace them as soon as we get a better idea of what we need.

I can't wait to get started!! All training tips welcome

Same one I ordered for Tun. Not as basic as you would think though as they are padded all over including the girth strap, which with short haired dogs I think is preferable. My friend who is a regular cani xer swears by them for her 3Dobes. The snowpawstore one is good but I worried that it may rub him. theres a pic on the offical photographers site of me and the boy but thats the only one. He looks in better shape than me let me tell yah! I got a screen grab of it whilst i was waiting for the print to arrive but cant post pictures (work security) darn it!

Did 6.4k last night so still a way off the 10k for the 25th April!!! Could still breathe and walk after it though so I live in hope!

I started off by simplying running the routes I normally walk. T is off lead running like a dog possesed and tracking wonderful smelling things for 99% of his 'walks' so I put his harness on and just ran the routes with him then measured how far they were and took it from there, timed ourselves and made a record to see if we improved the next time.

I dont have him on his harness for 100% of the distances for now, for example last night I did 6.4k of which Id say about 3k we were attached then I let him off to do his own thang. did 8k the other weekend and he was on harness for about 4.5k. Ill build it up over the next few weeks. Hes more than capable but I just like him to have his freedom when hes been indoors for most of the day.