Cani X - Harnesses

Jukes

Well-Known Member
I have recently become very intrested in doing some cross country with my dogs and after a quick google search it turns out the sport is called Cani X.

Anyway I would love to know if any of you participate in this sport or if any of you know of a good harness for the dog for this sport. I've had a quick look online and there seem to be quite a few, I'm just not sure how to choose. What am I looking for? Is a particular shape better than others - some have thick straps all over - other have much thinner straps - am I right in thinking that thicker is better?
 

Jukes

Well-Known Member
Yeah I think I do mean canicross - basically doing cross country with your dogs
Which harness did you buy? I'd like one that I could use for other sports too - possibly bikejoring or maybe even skijoring. The X-back harness seems very popular - is this the one you bought? Also did you buy a harness for yourself that you attatch the dogs to - which one did you get - at the moment I quite like the look of the hands free walking belt on that site but is there a better one. I've also had a look at Alpineoutfitters which seems to have a good range - any advice?

Do you do skijoring with your collie or just with your husky - I'm just wondering whether it would be a good idea for a collie - I know any dog can do canicross since they just have to run but can any dog do skijoring - just wondering...
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Jukes. Yes I got the X-Back harnesses for my dogs and I got a neckline to connect the two dogs together. My collie actually pulls harder than my husky. I also got the shorty harnesses and they work good too, they're a bit easier to install/remove and is adjustable, whereas the X-Back has to be custom-fitted for your dogs. ;)

I believe the skijoring belt and canicross belts are different. I only tried the skijoring one and I like it a lot. It definitely pulls at the right place on skis, I never feel off balance or anything. I think the canicross belt is a little better as you can put things in it.
 

fly30

Experienced Member
Lucky you, I'd love to practice skijoering but they don't accept dogs in local ski resorts. Anyway, I try to practice canicross but Fly doesn't want to pull at all. I had taught her not to pull on a leash so now she says "no way, I will never never pull !"

Juke, if you want to practice canicross, make sure the harness is made for that purpose and not for mushing.
 

Jukes

Well-Known Member
Oh - so it's like a general term, so a musher harness could be used for any of the pulling sports but not the running. So a musher harness wouldn't work for canicross since the dogs don't really have to pull - is this right?
 

fly30

Experienced Member
Yes musher harnesses have a clip close to the dog's tail as the running one has a clip just after the middle of the back. The pulling pressure is different when pulling something which is near the ground.
 

charmedwolf

Moderator
Staff member
A musher's harness is typically the X-back harness. It is made to give excellent freedom of motion and feature side straps which lie further to the back of the harness (making an 'X' on the back of the dog) , provids less pressure on the ribs and allows for greater lung expansion thus allowing the dogs to run faster. This style is popular for lean bodied racing dogs and dogs in good physical condition such as though in the Iditarod.

You'd want a "Yukon" Harness. It's also for mushing but it is better built for canicross and skijoring in my mind. It's actually what I use for when I canicross. It's also called an open back harness. It's really good for hard to fit and larger dogs. It stills has the clip near the end of the back but that is to prevent the dog from pulling from the shoulders instead of the chest like they should.
 

charmedwolf

Moderator
Staff member
The Yukon is more of a multipurpose harness. The one on the site you posted has one more strap than I'm used to which makes it more of a weight pulling harness. This is the Yukon harness that I use: http://www.blackicedogsledding.com/page4.html It's missing the one strap on the back which leaves it open.

The skijoring harness you posted would be good for canicross because of the padding around the chest. It reminds me of a tracking harness though that you can find at most pet stores just without the padding which I would definitely not use for canicross.

Also, another reason why I don't use X-backs for canicross. When you run down hill the harnesses tend to ride up the back of the dog, X-backs tend to allow the dogs to get "tangled" or almost pulled out of the harness.
 
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