Running with a dog

[Shalista]

I'm having trouble getting Bax to go at my pace. His loose leash walk is decent but I'm trying to add some running into our walks because I know he loves to run. (I like the concept but i'm super out of shape) The problem is that HIS 'run' is much faster then mine. As soon as I speed up to as fast as I can go he opens up full throttle and gives himself whiplash at the end of the leash. Then he takes it as permission to pull like a race horse for the rest of the time I'm running. I'm not ready for Cani-cross yet As soon as I go back to a walk he drops back into loose leash. Advice?

EDIT: doubly hard because i kind of fumbled my way through loose leash. I did alot of 'it's yer choice' training and he kind of loose leash trained himself so i'm a bit lost on how to train him for running.

[Nettle]

Walk as fast as you can, which ought to be about right for Bax to trot. Sadly, dogs are much faster than we are, and not everybody can jog at a pace that suits their dog. Go with the art of the possible and keep your goals realistic.

[JudyN]

Jasper gets overexcited if I run (it doesn't happen often ) but I think it's more the difference in my pace rather than the speed. So you could try 'running' at walking pace and if you can get Bax to keep alongside you then it should be easier to speed up.

Alternatively, go running without him to build up a bit of stamina, get a Cani cross harness for him, and let him pull. You wouldn't have to worry about getting him into the habit of pulling him on his normal lead then.

[Shalista]

I checked out the canicross harness, bax normally has a chest led harness, wouldn't the canicross encourage him to pull on his normal lead?

[Erica]

Especially with a different harness, the dog will quickly learn the difference between the walking harness and the running harness. Even a different leash, or you putting on your running belt before runs, will be enough of a cue to him that the walks versus jogs are different. While canicrossing, Opal would run out ahead and pull well when we ran, but would walk loose-leash when I slowed down (unless I cued her to pull at a walk). Pics of our canicross days, Opal walking on looseleash and pulling at a run

[elisa]

I think he is likely just very excited about getting to run with you. My advice is to run further. He will understand your pace once you've run a bit. He already has loads of experience with your walk.

I sometimes run with my pup though she doesn't really care for longer runs (ie. more than a few km). She would start out really fast in the beginning but after the initial sprint would settle well. I sort of slowed down if she started pulling. Pacing is difficult. I know it is annoying to me if someone runs slightly faster than my pace. I figure Ansa also just didn't like running at whatever pace I set especially for longer distances.

Recently I sort of trained her to pull canicross style, but luckily only in a certain situation. Our trip back from agility practice was on a nice footpath and as we walked there with her leash on my belt and I had trail running trainers for agility I thought we could run a bit on the way back. She totally loved running fast. So now every time I walk the same way or back from the agility place she totally wants to run and pull. But she doesn't do it elsewhere. It's pretty crazy running full speed with a dog pulling and my pup is only like 13 kg.

But yeah dogs are very situation specific so I wouldn't worry too much about him learning to pull in general.