Canicross – fun for you and your dog – I think not…

I get regular dog information updates emailed to me.  The most recent, prompted me to write, again, about attaching dogs to humans and then running with them.

Canicross is a ‘sport’ where dogs, of any breed, are harnessed to idiot humans, who then run in competition with them.

This ignores what is good for your dog and panders to humans desire to force their activities upon them.  Dogs, should not be strapped to humans bodies, bikes, or anything else.

If you wish to run, competitively or otherwise, leave your dog at home!

Dogs need proper exercise and socialisation. Attaching them, to whatever, is a bad idea, in my humble opinion.

Exponents of this type of rubbish, always point at that their dogs love being strapped into a harness and forcibly run, often in hot conditions. Trust me – they do not like it. They accept it, because they have no choice. This is, actually, a pretty good example of ‘learned helplessness’ – the poor dog knows it can’t get away from this ‘forced’ activity, it, therefore has to ‘accept’ it. This is not to be confused with the human thinking that the dog ‘enjoys it.’ It does it because it has no choice.

Try doing this activity with the dog ‘not attached’ and see what happens. Most dogs will be stopping to sniff, socialise and be ‘dogs.’

Dogs are sentient beings and their human carers should, really, think carefully about what they do with them.