Podcast Blog: Episode 43
Before you share your top tips, can you tell us about you and your lovely dogs?
Oh, yeah, thank you. Elite is funny. I very much enjoy it and it’s definitely my lifestyle now, Canicross and my dogs. But I’ve always been a runner. So my story kind of starts from when I was a track runner in my teens. I then got into cross country and running into my early 20s.
And then I just kind of made running just fun and part of my fitness routine until we rehomed our first dog, which was Benson, who I came and did the taster day with you guys and found Canicross through you guys. So I’m always eternally grateful for that. Benson’s a collie cross and we rehomed him at three and a half.
Yeah, his recall was pants. And because I was always a runner, I just used to clip him on kind of a lead, then I found the right way of doing it and started Canicrossing, and started competing. My dog really enjoyed it, Benson really enjoyed competing and thrived in the atmosphere. So from there we started racing and getting into it that way. I then got my next dog, which was Queen Bee, who is a superstar.
She’s a Scandinavian hound. She’s now six this year. Can you believe it? She is a superstar, like I said, and got me to a European bronze medal in Belgium, which was insane. That was 2019 now, so quite a long time ago.
And then since then, I’ve been lucky enough to get my second hound, which is Bizzy, who is now 10 months old.
Is that Bizzy behind you?
She is. She’s got a little bit of something else in her, so she is still classed as a Purpose Bred, but she’s from the Norwegian lines, and she’s from Norway. Definitely different, like hugely different to Queen Bee. So, yeah, it’s super exciting.
I’m excited to see what happens. But she’s a bigger, dog. I’m having to learn, and I think it would change Canicross for me yet again, for what I’ve done with all my three dogs, which I’ve been lucky enough to have. Canicross has always been something different, and I think this is going to be a new story.
Yeah, excellent. It sounds like when you do your 7 tips, you should actually have 8, because you need to have good knees too, don’t you, for Canicross, by the sound of it? Haha. Well, with your dogs you do, that’s for sure.
It’s important to stay strong. I’ll discuss the tips when we come to them.
So that brings us nicely on to the tips, actually. So we’re going to talk about your tips for what we’re calling ‘Canicross success’. So it’s basically for anyone who’s getting into Canicross or if you’re already a keen Canicrosser…we can all benefit from getting some advice from somebody at an elite level and someone who’s experienced in that respect.
I think the tips that you’ve come up with, Georgie apply to anybody and everybody who’s doing Canicross, and we can all learn a lot from that. So without further ado, shall we tick them off one by one?
Yeah, brilliant.
TIP No. 1: Correctly fitted equipment
So my first one is correctly fitted equipment, and that’s for both the human and the dog, and that goes all the way from your belt to your bungee line, and then the dog’s harness must be correctly fitted…and also your clothing, which I wanted to talk about for the humans; for females, correctly fitted sports bras are important. Shorts are hugely important for Canicross because we have the belts on, and comfort and anti-chafing. But it’s all about being comfortable, and I think that’s for you and your dog.
So whatever that means for you as an individual, we need to make sure that we’re ticking that off because if you are comfortable, you’ll enjoy it. The happiness will go into your dog, and then you’re enjoying your experience.
So the harness for your dog, needs to be correctly fitted. Now, this changes. This is one thing that I think I’ve learned, especially since I’ve been with Non Stop, is that your dog changes throughout the seasons, just like we do. Sometimes, they’re a little bit heavier/bulkier; sometimes, they’re a little bit skinnier, and they will change. And also, you need to think about your belt and readjusting.
A lot of people just put on a harness and deal with that throughout the whole year, and revisiting your fitting throughout the year is a good top tip.
That’s a good tip. As you said, that harness for your dog, and you put it on, and you never think, is it moving around too much? Especially when they’re actually in full season, they’re going to be running quite a lot, aren’t they?
Yeah, and also, if they shed fur, so if you have a breed that has a double coat, if they shed fur, they will literally lose weight according to their harness. So you need to readjust for that as well. The next side, if you look at it from more of an embracing point of view, it also depends on your course that you’re using.
So if you’re on a course with very, very tight turn, some dogs, if they’re very lean, will benefit from changing harness, and this is something you need to visit in training and be very aware of. But it’s always good to have more than one harness so that if anything does go wrong with your harness, you can change it, or if the course calls for it, you can change your dog. Just like our footwear, if you like, that’s how I see it.
You should have a couple of different items ready for the course or the terrain. If the weather changes loads and the course now becomes a quagmire, then you need to change what you’re using. And the lines as well, the length of line, that’s another thing to think about, equipment, but correctly fitted equipment for wherever you are doing your Canicross or competing is key.
Yeah, and let’s be clear, people should be using Canicross equipment. I know it’s stating the obvious, but obviously some people may think it’s okay to run in a normal walking harness, but to your point, it’s got to be not just correctly fitting, but it’s got to be Canicross-specific kit for that very reason, for comfort and flexibility and just adjustment and just because of the pull into the harness. So that’s a whole other story. But yes, great tip. That’s your tip number one.
So shall we move on to your next top tip?
TIP No. 2: Correct footwear
Yeah, it kind of leads into, from the equipment, it moves into your footwear for you as a runner. So you need to be aware that your road shoes are for your road running without your dog, and then you’d have a trail shoe for maybe your Canicross. But, as we have spoken about previously, your trail shoe can change loads, so you can have maybe a few different options for trail shoes.
So my question to you guys is what are you currently wearing now on the trails?
The lugs are probably too big on mine, I’m sure, because obviously it’s drier now, isn’t it? So whilst you still need trail trainers, the lugs I guess need to be considered. I need to buy new trainers, obviously!
For anyone listening to this, we did do a whole episode with Georgie, which is episode 16, if you want to refer back to that, which goes into detail about the right shoes to wear for Canicrossing. But yeah, I mean, I guess as you’ve just said, when you go to an event, you probably make that assessment once you’re there. Yeah.
Yeah, that’s right, and just asking you the question about what shoes you’re wearing at the moment, it makes you realise, doesn’t it, that actually my lugs probably are a little bit too deep because we’re at a time where the trails are drying out. What month are we in? June. In June now, but, it’s good that you’re aware of that because you know that you’re not at your top comfort on the trail. And if you’re not running comfortably in Canicross, it will go down to the dog. I always say it goes down the line, so if you’re stressed, it will go down the line. If you’re too aroused, it will go down the line. So you need to be very aware of how you are and your comfort because the dog will sense this.
You know, if I’m not wearing grippy enough shoes and it’s really muddy and I’m slipping everywhere, I’ll be constantly resisting in that harness. And the dog will be like, what are you doing? Why are you not coming with me and, you know, running? It’s very important to have suitable footwear for the right terrain. And that could be the time of year or it could be your race course.
Brilliant. I could go on forever talking about footwear. I actually run in a pair of trail shoes that I bought from Alton Sports. I do need to get a bigger range. But I prefer personally to have a bit more grip than not enough when you’ve got strong, willing dogs.
So I think we’re on to number three now of your seven. So what’s your third top tip, Georgie?
TIP No. 3: Hydration
So, thirdly, I’ve got hydration. Now, hydration can mean a lot of things for different people, and every dog, as well as every human, is completely independent of this. So it’s about you finding out what’s best for your dog and for you personally as well. So obviously we all know that hydration is great for the human throughout the day, but even more importantly, if we’re going to do high intense activity. And the same comes for your dog. But this is where it becomes very personal.
Some dogs need hydration before they race or run. But others can’t take it and it could make them sick or it could make them stop and go for a wee, so you need to just know your dog inside out.
But I think it’s hugely important to play around with hydration in training for your dog. It’s also massively key for recovery. So the better hydrated your dog is before, you know, the week leading up to before the race and after the race, the quicker they can recover.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that obviously in some of the races that you’re doing, it’s a very intense kind of shorter length race. I mean, anyone listening to this that maybe is doing longer sessions on the trails, especially as the weather’s getting warmer now, is making sure that they maybe have water with them if they’re not going near water while they’re out for their run. And when you do your training runs, Georgie, if you’re doing a sort of longer one, do you take water for the dogs? is it with a bowl? Have you got a hydration vest and then you put it into a bowl for the dog?
Yeah, it’s a bit of both. So if I do longer stuff with my dogs, they’ll be free, so you’re right, I only do high-intensity shorter stuff really with my dog for race purposes. I was doing longer stuff with Benson as he was getting older. I had a racing dog and then I had my longer distance dog, and I would, you know, hydrate throughout with him if he asked for it. He was very clever, though. They’re very good, aren’t they, dogs? Animals are very intelligent. They will either take water or they won’t. But it’s good to offer.
Yes, so when I’m free running, I hide, I stash water, and I will be doing loops in a wood. And I will just get it out and hydrate. But offer because not all the time. Bee is a nightmare. She will not drink if she is doing something. She will not hydrate on the go.
There have been some races where it’s been quite warm and the organisers have a little doggy pool out or something. I could offer it, but she will never take it.
Do you add water to their food before if you’re feeding them so many hours before a race, do you do that as well?
So I will hydrate dogs before they race with something to get it into their system. But I think, generally, all mine have been quite similar. I don’t know yet with Bizzy. She might be different. But with Bee, I will hydrate her highly the night before, and then so at least I know.
And I can, you know, I watch their wees in the morning and make sure they get nicely hydrated. And I know how much she needs to go for before we race and, yeah. So it is knowing the dog with this, but I just think it’s really important for us as owners to visit this and just have it in our minds. Hydration is key.
So tip number four then, what’s your fourth tip?
TIP No. 4: Be prepared
Be prepared. So be prepared for anything that might occur in racing, in training. But it’s not like I’ve seen much of it at all. But for me it’s always a bit of a nightmare if I was unprepared for my dogs, I would hate for that to happen. So I would always advise knowing where you’re going. This could be for training or for racing. But knowing the area-ish, via a map or external knowledge.
So it’s everything from that. So setting your dogs up to always succeed, whatever you might do. So it could be location. It could be your food don’t feed too close to them training. It’s just about being prepared for your dog.
And it could mean lots of things. But for me, it’s about just making sure your dog’s always set up to succeed, no matter what that is, whatever you’re doing with them.
And if you’re doing an event, familiarising yourself with the course, where you’re going to be running with the course, I guess that’s what you do the night before when you’re doing an event, isn’t it?
So if I was at an event, it would be like that. I mean, if I had a dog that maybe, these have been good at walking to a start line. Yeah, the start line was like a good, you know, a K away or something. Then how do I drive closer and get dropped off? Who can I ask for help to get me there? How do I make this okay for my dog? If we’re going to talk about racing situations, it would be I need to walk over there with my own water and my water bowl.
I’m a bit; my dogs would always have their own water bowl. So I would make sure that I walk it to the start. How can I do that? Do I need a carrier bag? But, you know, I’m sure everyone’s the same. The dogs always come first, but it’s quite hard to remember that sometimes when we’re out racing. And it’s key to be prepared for these things. So give yourself enough time even the day before to get ready for it.
Yeah, it’s a really good point. And I think like you say it’s whether it’s preparing for a normal social run or an event. I mean, with events, we normally say, if in doubt, you know, contact the race organiser, but also don’t rely on there being water necessarily, even if they say there will be, you know, if it’s laid out because, you know, you’re responsible for your dog, as you said.
And we do have an actual blog on being prepared for events, which we can link to this up later. But yeah, there’s loads to consider. But I think being prepared applies to both you really good point that one, actually.
So what’s your top tip number five for Canicross success?
TIP No. 5: Work on yourself
You’ve got work on yourself. We are always the weakling, no matter what we might think. Even when I’d say I was competing with Benson. Benson was amazing, but he was, you know, three and a half years old. He was a crossbreed, he wasn’t bred to do Canicross. I’m lucky enough to have my other two dogs bred for it, purpose-bred. So you need to make sure you’re always working on yourself and what you need to give your dog.
So for Benson, for example, it was I had to be super fast off the go, and I had to be ready for that three-kilometre mark, where he would then jog by my side until he was ready after a little recovery to then pull off again. But he would always do this, like a kilometre maybe, where I had to know I had to work so hard. It doesn’t matter how much fatigue I had. I had to just keep going because I knew that he would pick back up. So I prepared myself for that solo training. So I think you need to, as Canicrossers, we need to be aware that it depends what level you want to do it at, if you want to race or not, because you don’t have to.
We can all enjoy it at different levels. But if you were wanting to race, working on yourself is very important because we were always the weak, weak party in our relationship with the dog.
Another example is with Bee, she’s slightly smaller than some of the other dogs on the scene, where she’s obviously not as strong up a hill, for example. There’s less weight pulling me uphill. So I need to make sure I’m working very, very hard. Because if I’m not, and I’m being a dead weight for her, she works 110% all the way through a race. And yeah, she’s amazing. Actually, it comes at a point later where it’s not so good. But yeah, she’ll work too hard almost. Because I’m not doing my part in the partnership. I need to work very, very hard up a hill so she’s not putting the whole eight stone up a hill.
What do you do then to address that? To be able to be strong enough to run up that hill and so forth?
Yeah, lots of conditioning. Yes, lots of conditioning. I do more conditioning now than I ever have done. And I think that’s to get me prepared for my bigger dog that’s coming. But also so I’m strong enough for Bee in certain environments. But I have actually been doing Pilates and been really enjoying that conditioning side of things, where I’ve never done it before. I’m obviously getting old now. And I need to start protecting myself from injury.
Because what we do is quite abnormal. It’s not like you’re just a runner with an extreme factor to it. So, yeah, I’m really enjoying it.
But also getting treatments is very important, such as back treatments and massages. It’s all key to working for yourself so you can be a better runner for your dogs.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that the strength and conditioning, and as you’re getting older, I know I do a lot within kind of my fitness schedule. I mean, we did a podcast recently with Cat Batson that was around the strength and conditioning exercises. And there’s a video that goes along with that, which was in our last podcast. But, yeah, it is a really important point.
So what’s your point number six then in your top tips?
TIP No. 6: Remember why we do this!
Yeah, so remember why we do this. We’ve got to always remember why we took up Canicross, why we have put the energy into competing or going out on a run.
Because we always will come across those factors that maybe we’re not having a good day or maybe we didn’t do very well that race or that race season. And I think it’s really key to always remember why we do it. And we do it because our dogs love it. And we’ve got to hold on to that feeling because there’s a lot of factors that can go wrong.
Imagine if we’re all runners. You guys are triathletes. So you’ve got three disciplines.So you already know that there’s a lot of time and a lot of things that can go wrong. And it’s about remembering why. Yeah, there’s a lot of factors that can go wrong. And we’ve got a runner and we’ve got a dog.
So if you get those two things married up and have a good day together, it’s quite hard. It’s quite hard to get ready. But your dog doesn’t know that.
Your dog will always win. It’s gone out. It’s had a nice time, hopefully.
Always set out to succeed. And even if you came last or if you came first, the dog just wins every time.
So it’s good to remember that because mentally it can be quite draining.
Especially I know as a lot of girls in the scene, we’ve got a hugely competitive female GB sport at the moment, which is awesome. But I know that sometimes it can be, I’ve seen some people get very demoralised by having a bad season or a bad race. And I think it’s not fair on the human, but it’s also not fair for dog because it will go down to the dog.They will sense this. Because we all put a lot of time and effort into it because we love what we do. But it’s all about which and why we do it. If you can look through the disappointment. And just, yeah, setting yourself up to crack on with whatever’s next.
Yeah, and I know with Coco, absolutely, that’s the reason why you do it. And you know that the dog is having an amazing time. And as you pointed out, if it didn’t go as well as you wanted it, the dog at the end of the day has had an amazing time because it’s been out with its owner and done what it knows and loves. So, yeah.
Yeah, and I think they’re doing it because they want to get fit with their dog. And to your point, that’s why you then decide you might want to race and compete. I think that’s really good advice, not to take it too seriously and just enjoy that time and that bond that you get with your dog.
Yeah. It is hugely key. And it’s funny because I can obviously, you know, I’ve travelled all the way to Spain and competed with Bee last year now, the season is just gone. So it’s like early November it was. And we had awesome runs, like everything was fine. But the course was just so hard. And I was having a bit of a… Actually, that was a factor. My diet was bad.
So I’ve now revisited that. And I was very fatigued leading up to that, living out of a van for a longer period of time than usual. I was a vegetarian. So this is things that I had to revisit. It’s quite hard to eat that much protein when you’re living in a van, blah, blah, blah. So there’s just so many things that can go wrong and it can be hugely demoralising, you know, money and time put into things. But it doesn’t matter because she completely won. Like she didn’t know and we had a great time together. And for the week after it, I wasn’t feeling like this.
I promise everyone that you can get through it, just revisiting things and making sure what you can improve for you and your dog is the way to do it.
Yeah. So I can’t believe we’re working to the last tip, we’ve done quite a bit. So magic number seven.
So what’s your last tip for Canicross?
TIP No. 7: Be in tune with your dog and continuously learn
So my last tip to be a key success for Canicross is to be in tune with your dog and to continuously learn with your dog or your dogs. So things are, for me, I feel like I’m quite involved in the industry, you know, from the human side, the footwear and clothing and everything evolving in that side, but also in the nonstop side with the equipment side for the dog. But also I’m quite involved with, you know, I hear all the time about diet and nutrition and what’s best. So always learning is hugely key.
I think everyone needs to be very open-minded. Not everyone is, and that’s fine. But, you know, it’s good to be open-minded with new things that come on the market. Not everything is correct for you or your dog, so it’s good just to know what’s out there. And being in tune with your dog. So it’s a top tip only for me because everyone’s individual, but I like doing different stuff with my dogs as well, and I feel like that keeps me in tune with them.
So we learn agility. I’m not saying that I do agility at all because I do fun agility, and we learn that together and we do it over the summer months, and it’s just something that we can do together that I feel like really keeps us in tune with each other. I did scent work with Benson as he got older as well, and I really enjoy that.
Again, I don’t know what on earth I’m doing, but it’s just saying, you know, you get a great instructor and they can help you. It’s just like you can do with your dogs that teaches you, and also they learn about you and how you are as a handler through different communication. And I think being in tune with your dog will help us into Canicross, you know, because they just want to succeed for you. They want to work for you. But yeah, staying in tune and always learning.
Absolutely,and when you’re out running with the dogs and you know, I mean, especially like Coco now, she’s older, she’s 11, but she’s first at the door if I’ve got my trainers on. And the day that she’s maybe not, maybe the day that I’m calling her to come out is a day when we really need to kind of slow things down. But, you know, at this moment in time, it’s understanding.And when, you know, sometimes it’s not the right day. Your dog’s not pulling as hard as it might do, and maybe your dog is telling you something and no one knows about your dog better than than the owner. So it’s really missing that intuition isn’t it
I mean, yeah, it’s one of the things I love about Canicross just off the bat is that I can use the equipment that I have for running and for hands-free walking, you know, Canitrekking and just enjoy using it just so it’s more comfortable and the dog gets a break. I’m not running my dogs everyday and I’m just enjoying nice walks and you can still work on the commands, can’t you, when you’re using the equipment for walking. And that’s quite nice. That’s still a nice way to sort of mix it up and still work with your dog.
But without that pressure of having to run a certain pace.
Yeah, you’re adventuring, aren’t you, and seeing new places together.
And it’s all about that. I think you learn so much from your dog from doing different stuff. You know, there are dog owners out there that do just, I don’t think they’re really Canicross people, but they would just do the same walk twice a day.
And the dog, and that’s great. And that’s fine. That dog, I’m sure it’s very happy. But are you actually learning new stuff about your dog? Are you learning how to be more in tune? Is your dog learning how to be more tuned? Probably not. So I think opening up your comfort zone as well is key for that. I’ve got one thing that I wanted to give us a good example for the always learning.
It’s something that I learned last weekend. I was up at a Caniax race in Scotland at Grounds Castle, which was beautiful. And we raced the Saturday, Sunday, which is a 5k, two races, the 5k Saturday. It was a really extreme course, amazing, so much fun. Bee is my only, currently my only racing dog out of three. And she ran, she always runs, like I’ve just discussed, 110%.
And she was amazing. And we did, she, we ran really well. Everything was great.
And on the Monday, there’s a 10k. Now, now that, maybe I shouldn’t have done that with Bee because she had worked so hard over the weekend. And maybe a hour 10k on top of it. She’s more than capable of doing 10k in harness. I free run her for an hour, hour and a half. She can do it, I guess. I know she can. But doing it on top of the two 5k’s where she was quite fatigued, and it’s a dog that will not give me anything less than 110%. It was maybe a bit too much. And, yeah, she got a bit too tired. And I’m very, I’m very gutted in myself for putting her in that situation. She’s completely fine. And everything’s fine. But she definitely got too fatigued near the end. I’m always learning. And, and it’s about being open to those learning curbs. It’ll be alright next year, because I’ve got Bizzy.
That’s very honest of you. I think it’s important to share this because a lot of people don’t realise, I think, because dogs don’t, like you say, often want to please their owner. And you have to be sensible. And even for yourself as well. Give yourself an easier day, because it might sound on paper, okay, 5k isn’t a long way necessarily for some people like yourself. But, for others it is, but it’s the pace you’re running, because you’re pushing it super hard, because you’re in a race. And like you say, it was mixed terrain, quite hard terrain. So yeah, it’s, it’s a very good example. And it’s good of you to be open about that.
Because I think we all need to sort of, we all learn from, especially from our first dogs. And we’re so into Canicross and excited and loving it. You just want to go out with the time, don’t you? And I think as you get older and you go through, you know, subsequent dogs, you start to learn better ways of managing that. And this is partly why we’re here today, because you can impart some wisdom. And hopefully other people will start to think on that and reflect. So yeah.
Yeah, that’s right. It was good. She was fine.
I did stop, but she, but people were then passing us and then that just fired her up. And she was like, yeah, I’ve got to keep going. And I’m like, let’s stop and have a drink. And of course, she will not drink on the run. So it was just by those moments. And then the only way back was to go back.
I mean, she still did very well. But yes, I learned from that. And I think it’s key to share these things because everyone is different. On the start line, she was eager. She was completely fine and warm up. Everything was fine. It was just, but now I look back, I think actually, you know, the two 5Ks where she did very, very well. And maybe I should have benched her. But yeah, so learning and always being in tune with your dogs.
And that, yeah, that’s my last top tip.
And, we know Georgie, the welfare of your dogs is like, just right high up there. And there’s nothing that you would do to, you know, not have their wellbeing at the forefront. So, we all know our own individual dogs and they are completely different. So it’s managing and doing what’s right for them.
Some great tips. Not, not just for if you want to be an elite Canicrosser, but obviously for any level, even if you’re just going out a few times a week and just having fun with your dog, which is obviously the key point. So thank you for sharing those all with us.
