Fitness for You AND Your Dog!

What do you do when there aren’t enough hours in the day and not enough days in the week to do everything that needs to get done?
 
Why, you pick up another passion… a new dog sport! Of course!
 
Trying to find time for your job, exercise (for yourself and your dogs), and sport specific training can seem impossible! What if you could “kill two birds with one stone” and accomplish more in less time?
 
That’s exactly what I plan to do. I need more exercise. My dog Knoxx needs to build more endurance. I struggle to find time to fit both of our needs into the same day. Now what if I could combine my dog’s exercise with my own? I’m a very slow runner with herniated discs in my lower back, and so jogging with my dogs isn’t the best answer.
 
What if I could find a sport that would improve Knoxx’s conditioning and endurance while also giving me more time to exercise?
 
The answer is… Bikejoring! Bikejoring is where you ride your bike with your dog (or dogs) pulling you. Instead of running beside you, they wear a harness like sled dogs wear and run ahead of you. Bikejoring is a dog mushing activity related to skijoring, canicross, and dog scootering. You don’t have to live in a cold, snowy climate to enjoy dryland mushing! Dryland mushing is popular in parts of Europe, but much of the United States seems unaware of these amazing, dog- powered sports.  

Bikejoring… The best of both worlds! Exercise for my dog and me while spending time outdoors!
 
I’ve already begun to teach Knoxx “Gee” (right) and “Haw” (left). I still need to order his harness, but we are doing this! I plan to blog about our progress and will also keep you updated. In the meantime, check out the video below to see some of these amazing, dog-powered “joring” sports in action!

Erica C. Boling, PhD
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Bikejoring Sam photo by Harold Meerveld