Canicross Conversations

In this episode, Louise and Michelle are thrilled to celebrate Canicross Conversations' first birthday by discussing their Top 5 episodes so far.   If you're new to Canicross Conversations, have a listen as we signpost you to some of our favourite episodes, and if you're been listening from the start, we would love to know your favourite episode, so please do get in touch.  

In this episode, Louise and Michelle chat to Paul Jones, who, together with his partner Lucy, rescued Astor in 2019. Astor had been found in quite a bad way in Mauritius, and arrived in the UK a very anxious, scared, dog. Over the last few years, he has learned to trust humans again, and discovered a joy for canicross. Paul talks candidly about the realities of adopting an anxious, reactive dog, and shares what he has been working on to build Astor's confidence.   You can follow Astor's adventures on Instagram @astor_pup 

As canicrossers, we all have a million photos of our dogs' rear ends on our camera phones, right? In this episode of Canicross Conversations, Louise and Michelle chat to professional dog photographer Kerry Jordan from Fur and Fables. Kerry describes her work as "creating FOMO inducing images" and she shares some brilliant tips with us about getting the most out of our camera phones, how to get our dogs' attention on us, and editing advice. You won't want to miss this one.   Louise and Michelle have been practising their newly learned photography skills, and would love to see you photos too, so make sure you tag them on social media @paws_4running @mileswithmichelle and @fur_and_fables   For more information about Fur and Fables see www.furanfables.com

Louise and Michelle interview Sarette, the owner of Wilson for our regular Canicross Stories feature. Sarette chats about her running, competitiveness, and what the dream team will be getting up to for the rest of the year.   You can follow @woofswithwilson on Instagram here 

Louise and Michelle have a chat about how they can improve their running through discussing all the elements a training plan might contain, including strength training, hills, intervals, fartlek runs, tempo runs, long runs.  Here is the link to Louise's Pilates course mentioned in the podcast. Here is the link to Michelle's website if anybody needs run coaching advice

This week, Louise takes us on a live tour of Goodwoof, as she teaches Pilates with dogs, and chats to various cani-sports exhibitors, including canicross (of course!), bikejor, and scooterjor.  

Louise and Michelle chat to Jason Pascoe from Non Stop Dogwear about harnesses. Find out: the difference between long and short harnesses how to fit a harness for your dog which harnesses offer the best adjustment what to look for in a well-fitted harness the signs of an ill-fitted harness how the dog's posture is affected by the harness, and how this differs for strong pulling dogs what should beginners look for in a harness how long should a harness last? harness care and cleaning should we use a different harness for cani-trekking? It's a fact-filled episode with absolutely loads of useful information, so grab yourself a cuppa, or pop in your headphones and head out for a walk with your dog, and listen in. If you enjoy this episode, please leave us a review. You can find @nonstopdogwear on Instagram

How do you get into canicross after having spent your childhood fearful of dogs? In this episode, Louise and Michelle chat to Inein Victor Garrick who found running later in life, and decided to get a dog after meeting a few canicross runners in his running club. They are now a member of Cardiff Canicross group, and are enjoying being part of the racing scene. We challenge those perceptions of whether running with a dog is easy, or challenging! What do you think? You can follow @vikto_garik_runs on Instagram.  

In this episode. Louise and Michelle chat with Barkrun founder Claire Martin.  When parkrun decided to no longer permit the use of waist belts for running with dogs in April 2022, many people in the canicross community understandably felt excluded. Barkrun was already in existence prior to this, a play on words for those who loved to participate in the free weekly timed 5k with their dogs, with regular runners sharing photos and running news, but when news of the parkrun rule change broke, Claire, a long time canicrosser, set up a Facebook group, encouraging runners to arrange to meet up to canicross their dogs at 8am before parkrun at venues where it is safe and allowed to do so (public land). The group encourages barkrunners to have a little impact on parkrun as possible, while also supporting (i.e. participating and volunteering at parkrun) where they can.    The group now has in excess of 3000 barkrunners, and new barkruns are popping up all over the country. We chat to Claire about the last couple of months, and what the future might hold for Barkrun.   You can join the Barkrun Facebook group here Like the Barkrun Facebook page here

In this episode, Michelle interviews Louise about Pilates, and why every runner could benefit from it. Find out how to get started if you're brand new to it, and how to plan it into your week, around your running and canicrossing. Find out more about Pilates here Join Louise's Facebook group for runners and canicrossers here