Dog Sports and suitable equipment
How to begin?
The basis is to purchase fitting equipment either for dog or for human. Realize that what we like in appearance may not always suit to you or to your dog.
The best option how to choose the harness or other equipment is to visit market, skilled seller or exhibition or joint some competition where you can try it on by skilled person. We also offer professional consulting. Do not hesitate to mail us at dog@manmat.cz, where we can advice you. To choose proper equipment you need to know the measurements of your dog and also the weight of your dog and of you if you are using some equipment for trainning with dog.
Dog and sports
It is important to choose proper type and size of the harness. Use our size chart and description by each harness on our website.
During the training your dog can get bigger thanks to the change of the musculature so it may cause that you will need to change the harness. Some time we cannot avoid the necessity to have more harnesses for one dog.
Another necessity is bungee line (rubber shock absorber). Each sport activity has its own needed length of the line.
Canicross needs the shorter line than bikejoring and scootering. The longest types are used mainly for skijoring.
Definitely don´t forget about the booties which protect the surfase of your dog´s paws against unpleasant rubbing on an unsuitable surface (asphalt, stones,…).
During the Winter it has also function of the protection against freezing snow between the toes of the paws which can cause difficulties in running. It is important also to protect your dog while has some small injuries (as: claw ticking). Booties are important and appropriate. You won´t regret 😊
How to teach your dog to pull?
Be patient. Positive attitude and enthusiasm are the most important keys how to succeed.
Your dog should be happy while harnessing and should look forward for running itself. We harness the dog firstly for shorter route sections for example only for 100 m.
We recommend!
If you have dog breed which doesn´t have the prerequisites for running, it is better to find yourself partner who has experiencies and his or her dog can motivate your dog.
Your dog will enjoy the running. Afterwards your dog will find out what is required, you can start to train independently.
Training
The most important is individual approach! Train your according to dog´s capabilities and adjust the intensity of the training. You can extend training and the difficulty of the route with improvement slowly.
During the training is important to put breaks to let your dog exhale and gain strength. It is important to ensure that your dog´s body doesn´t overheat. Don´t underestimate it, it can happen even in freezing weather. You can avoid this problem by proper preparation before training.
A short muscle stretching before and after training is suitable. And the most important is drinking routine. We should let our dog properly drink 1 – 2 hours before training (value is given as 15ml/kg of the dog weight).
In case that your dog doesn´t want to drink you can flavour the water with meat, dog can or buscuits.
We can also wet the dog before training as pleasant refreshment. It is not recommended during cold moths.
If we need to get rid of excess moisture in the dog´s fur you can use our unique quick drying coat. It will drains excess water and moisture during few minutes.
Training frekvency is recommended 3 – 5 times a week but it depends mainly on your own decision and ambitions.
Human and dog sports
The key to convenient and efficient sport with your dog is properly chosen belt. There are various belts according to each sport activity and also based on user suitability. The belt should not restrict your movement in the hip and thighs area. Unpleasant cutting or rubbing is an undesirable factor. A properly fitting belt effectively distributes the dog´s pulling force around your waist.
There are many various types of belts on the market. Some of them are more universal and suitable for more sport activities others are more specified for specific movement.