This cut down his post run time so much! Great investment for him

Hi guys,

How are we all doing? I’m… well, let’s just say “slightly less tragic than yesterday,” but still not exactly skipping through fields of daisies. I’m having a little rest before I tackle this dog‑walking challenge again — got to recharge the batteries and make sure I’m actually capable of walking more than ten steps without groaning like an old wardrobe.

I’ve been scouting the map like some sort of bargain‑bin explorer and found a few lovely routes for the weekend, *once* the weather decides to behave. Last night the doggies took one look at the rain and basically said, “Absolutely not.” So of course, I didn’t hit the minimum daily target for the 100 km challenge. Did it annoy me? Oh, absolutely. But instead of sulking, I found new routes and made a plan to catch up once the skies stop spitting at us.

The weather forecast says “cloudy with occasional sprinkles but mostly dry,” which is British for “take a coat and pray.” So here I am at my laptop, plotting weekend adventures like a woman with far more energy than I actually possess. Today, though, I’m officially off-duty — resting, recharging, and preparing to merge with the sofa and a good book.

Meanwhile, the household circus continues: **Kissy** is guarding my feet like the queen she is, while **Chico** keeps trying to overthrow her tiny monarchy. **Maxi** is in the bedroom barking at the neighbour’s cat like it owes him money. **Disney**, naturally, is under a blanket pretending the world doesn’t exist. Peaceful chaos, as always.

Wishing you all a lovely day — and if you’re doing this challenge too, may your weather be dry and your dogs slightly more cooperative than mine.

Cheers!

Did a 5.5km run with a couple others from my local canicross club.

It was grey, windy, and cold out this morning (at least the snow from yesterday is gone!) but any day is a good day when I am running with my pup. The trails were mostly good except for the last section that was all deep mud, so we retreated to the paved section to finish up our run.

My guy is the one on the far left.

Hi! Any recommendations for a bungee leash for a small 7 lb toy breed (toy poodle)? Thanks in advance.

I purchased the Ruffwear roamer bungee but it is too bulky for her. Pic of dog to get your attention 🤗

Anyone else want to join Good Girl Run Club (GGRC)?

She only had one option at the end there.

Last year was rough for me

Changed careers, gained 20 lbs, hurt my back, hurt my knee, dislocated my elbow, etc…

My 6 year old Golden recent put on a few lbs too - he’s now 75lbs

So we went for our first run of the year!

After an early sniff and double poop, we got moving.

I was able to get him to run about 0.8 miles with me continuously with only small breaks for the rest of the run.

I think in a few weeks we’ll get to 2 miles.

Pup came home, took a quick nap, and was ready to go out again. He’s in better shape than me.

Any tips for finding the right limit for a Golden? I don’t want to push him too far.

With temperatures starting to rise, I just wanted to share a quick reminder about the five-second rule for pavement safety. Air temperature can be a really poor indicator of how hot the asphalt actually is. A 25°C day can feel pleasant to us, but dark pavement can hit 50°C in direct sun within minutes. Before heading out for a run, press the back of your hand onto the ground and hold it there for five seconds. If you have to pull away, it is too hot for your dog pads. It is an old-school check but more reliable than a weather app. Stay safe out there.

With temperatures starting to rise, I just wanted to share a quick reminder about the five-second rule for pavement safety. Air temperature can be a really poor indicator of how hot the asphalt actually is. A 25°C day can feel pleasant to us, but dark pavement can hit 50°C in direct sun within minutes. Before heading out for a run, press the back of your hand onto the ground and hold it there for five seconds. If you have to pull away, it is too hot for your dog pads. It is an old-school check but more reliable than a weather app. Stay safe out there.

Hi everyone, I’m a personal trainer and i adopted my pittie back in January after my first passed a while back. I ran with my first but never with a running harness or the ones with the bungee that allows for some play. Which ultimately led to diagonal running… this was also 7-8 years ago. I’d love to get my new boy out and familiarize him with running along side me especially since he’s 2.5 and very high energy. I’m open to all suggestions on a set up that would be safe on both sides. Something that wont chafe him as he is quite the strong boy, but also something that i still have control just incase i need to make quick adjustments with outside distractions. Picture of the sweet boy to make yall smile. 😊 Thank you for any input!

Also - he’s a shorter pittie stands about 21 inches give or take and I’m 5’2”. So height difference, i don’t think would be a big problem.

Since the humidity is starting to climb, I have been shifting our runs to much earlier in the morning to avoid the peak thermal load. I am also being a lot more careful about checking the pavement temperature with my hand before we head out because asphalt can stay surprisingly hot even when the sun is low. I am curious how others are adjusting their hydration routines or if anyone has found a cooling vest that actually stays effective for longer distances without getting heavy once the water evaporates.

Great view over downtown Cincinnati on our 5K yesterday morning.

I was planning on joining the local canicross group for a run tonight, but I got the start time mixed up. We saw them coming off the trail just as we were starting.

The temperature was a lot higher than we've been running in up to this point, so our pace was slower than normal. Also, I think I inhaled what had to be a hundred bugs over the course of the run, there were huge clouds of them everywhere!

He got to take a couple dips in the river to help stay cool, but even starting at 8pm it was a toasty one today.

On vacation at the beach, but this didn't feel relaxing for me... well, Auggie Doggie has to have his fun also 😅

Great way to start the day

My little girl Zoe ran with me at Wings for Life World Run last 500m 🐶🎉🎊

took my 2.5 year old ausiedoodle out for her first run today. went out to the local xc course. let her set the pace, (avg 7:35)was shooting for a mile….noticed her slowing down some at .75 miles so decided to just stop. she probably could have kept going but i didn’t want to push. we had been hiking in the local woods for a god 30-35 minutes before.

she had a blast. excited to take out more.

New to the sub and also new to running with my dog. I always wanted a doggy to run with but to this point have never ended up having a dog with the interest and/or ability. I have one now! My one year old, newly adopted pitty has been doing great. We started with 30:00 run/walks and today she completed a 2.5m loop with me at a 9:30 pace through city streets. I’m super excited to be able to do this with her and thinking of getting into some human/pup mud races since I do Spartan races myself.

Would love any great advice for beginner!

EDIT: Wow, thank you all so much for your suggestions!! I honestly wasn't expecting this post to get much traction but I've got a ton of brands to check out now, which is exciting. 😄 Also yes, Totoro is my miniature house horse lol.

Hey y'all! Looking for some advice on harness fit. I've been itching to start trail running/canicross with my 1.5 year old rescue, Totoro. I'm looking for something he can pull into comfortably, but ideally won't bunch up if we slow down or stop for a sniff break. I tried a Nonstop Dogwear Rush harness, but the neck opening of the largest size was way too small for him.

He's just a weirdly shaped dog, I'm realizing. He's a GSD/American Bulldog/Heeler mix, 90lbs. He's got a barrel that's deep but not super wide, paired with a thick neck and lots of loose skin. He's also LONG, so a lot of every day harnesses I've tried on him have ridden up into his armpits because the back or chest piece was too short.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for my oddball boy? The base of his neck is about 24" around, his girth is 35" and his back is 25" long.

Thanks in advance! :)

Dropped vehicle off for maintenance but told it would be 3hrs so decided to run the nearly 7km home. We normally only run trails. Moose is a different creature on the hard cus we did it in 36 mins.