Taming the Active Dog: the Saga of Nixolas

I've recently learned the truth in the saying "be careful what you wish for." I dreamed of having an active dog, a true running partner who would push me to new distances, and never turn me down when asked to run on a snowy day. What I didn't anticipate was Nix.


Look at my cute bandanna! How could I ever cause any trouble?



I fell in love with Nix after seeing a playful little video of him on the Humane Society of Boulder Valley website. For such a young dog Nix came with a big history including three previous owners, a desire to chase animals straight up trees, poor leash skills, and an anvil scar branded into his side

Nix turned out to be a screaming Hell demon with as much drive as a sled dog three times his size. He needed an outlet and a game a fetch after a 30 minute walk wasn't going to cut it



Give me dog treats or I'll steal your soul.



My first goal was to teach him to heel. Bribery, distraction, "no pull" harnesses, head halters, and finally even a prong collars did little to stop his endless pulling. He would strain until his tongue turned blue and had to sprawl out in the grass until he could catch his breath and regain his color. The harness and halter were resisted until fur and skin were rubbed off.



Failures



I decided if he wanted to pull so bad then we might as well learn to do it right.

Some internet searching led me to the "dryland mushing" sports of canicross and bikejoring. In canicross you attach yourself to your dog with a bungee and harness and allow your dog to pull you along as you run helping you maintain greater speeds than you could on your own. Nix caught on immediately and kept an excellent line ahead of me mile after mile. To keep us both from getting hit by cars, horses, or whatever else turns up in small town Colorado, I taught Nix some basic commands including let's go, over (left), out (right), slow and stop. After a month of practice we ran a very fun race called the Phantom 4 Miler and Nix triumphantly crossed the finish as the 1st place dog! His success made all the screaming everyone endured before hand almost bearable.



I wish that could be my outfit for every race.



Even with all our running, Nix still had an excess of energy that was hard to deal with. I decided it was time to take things up a notch and try bikjoring. Bikejoring is similar to canicross except the dog in attached to your bicycle. Since Nix would be moving on a long lead in front of a fast moving bike, it was crucial that I had spent time training Nix through canicross first.

I learned this the hard way months before when I tried taking Nix for a short bike while holding a shorter leash in my hand. Nix got startled by the bike, stopped inches in front of my tire and caused me to flip into the air and over my handlebars to avoid hitting him. On the bright side Nix waited politely for me to pull myself off the ground instead of running away. Please learn from my stupidity.



Note the leash attached below the handlebars so Nix can't spin me into a semitruck or bird filled bush.



Bikejoring was amazing. After getting used to the bike Nix took the opportunity to run 6 miles at around a 5 minute mile pace. Since I am not an Olympic level athlete, I would never be able to run that pace with him. Afterwards I was left with a calm, happy, cuddly dog I didn't know I had. Bikejoring was like doggie pot. Nix loves bikejoring and the cooperation required to make it all work has increased the bond between us. I'm so glad I found this fun activity for us to do together. I hope someone reads this and decides instead of punishing or getting rid of their dog, maybe they should find ways to exercise their pet first. Dogs were not meant to sit around the house all day and neither were you.