Canicross Is The New Exercise Trend That You Can Do With Your Dog & Yes, It's Great

Does the thought of running outside in gale force wind, pouring rain, and squelchy mud make you recoil? Does the British weather make you frown? Well turn that frown upside down because we are not far off all that New Year "new year, new me" BS. You will probably feel the pressure to exercise, outdoors, in the wrong half of the year. Oh god no. But don't worry y'all, there is a far better way to exercise outdoors, while also enjoying yourself. It's called canicross, and there are lots of places where you can do canicross in the UK.

OK so what the fudge is canicross because I definitely just threw a term at you, without explaining what the heck it is. Pull up a pew babe, it's about to be lit. So it is essentially cross country running—with dogs.

Stop the clocks. According to cani-fit.com canicross is not only for exercise and larks, but also great for your pooch's mind. The website states,

"...the sport of cross country running with dogs, it is dog powered, so they are harnessed, attached to the human and run in a team. The human is the driver, directing the dog from behind with voice commands. Canicross not only is a great method to get a human and a canine fit but works the dog’s mind and allows them to use their brain in a work mode."

Canicross events take place all the time, all over the UK, so check out here on their website where the next one near you is on. Or why not make a little trip of it and go somewhere new? Look we all know that dogs love a car journey.

Hello, sign me up RN. So the low key crappy thing is that you kind of need to own a dog. Sigh. There is no justice in the world. However, who says you can't borrow a dog? That's a win win for a lazy dog owner. I guess, apart from the post-run washing.

As well as an actual dog, you need a few other essential bits of kit. You need a jazzy waist belt for you to wear so you can be hands free and swinging those arms to get the momentum. You need a bungee running line, because let's be real you are probably not as fast as your four legged BFF. No offence. And finally you will need a harness (for the dog you pervert) because lord knows you absolutely do not want Fido to accidentally garrotte himself while eagerly trying to get those steps in. Luckily all of these things are available via the internet and will have you ready to run with all the other humans and dogs like a beautiful herd of BFFs.

We all know that the winter blues are an actual thing. I will be honest with you and say that I myself am fighting the fight myself. Endless studies are increasingly proving that exercise helps battle those damn blues, and you know what else does? Dogs.

So this winter, to get over your well deserved Yuletide excess, the blues, and get moving, get thee to canicross.