Rolling with punches. · OutsidersNL Canicross

Rolling with punches.

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us!

Man.

It has been and continues to be a very stressful time in Newfoundland. We have multiple forest fires causing significant structure damage and mandatory evacuations at several municipalities throughout the island. Temperatures remain high, earth remains frighteningly dry.

Rolling with punches for a Canicross coach and harness sports trainer in this sense requires paying very close attention to:

• canine body language (indicates levels of comfort, energy and enjoyment - all very important)

• Canine anatomy & biology (dogs biological purpose, limitations and strengths)

• A truthful & honest understanding of a dogs capabilities (Some dogs excel with physical activity and there are a multitude of levels to choose from to ensure a successful regime for you dog and for you!). However, an honest assessment must be made of your canine friend most preferably by a veterinarian before engaging in these activities.

Rolling with the punches refers to the lifestyle we here are living in by watching the news by the minute for forest fire updates.

SAFETY FIRST. PERIOD.

This requires watching forecast temperatures, humidex, air quality index ratings etc. not all dogs are safe to run or even be active in such temperatures.

It could be breed related such as running a husky in 30 degree Celsius temperatures is not only irresponsible but dangerous. The other side of that coin is running a greyhound unprotected in minus thirty degree Celsius temperatures in winter. Rates of canine obesity throughout Canada and specifically in Newfoundland & Labrador make activity in such heat and humidity risky - so please no making bulldogs chase you on an ATV please.

Our recent watchlist includes the following items normally starting three days before sk I can pay attention to any trends to make my own determinations on my local areas:

• Personal and canine safety for activity

• Air quality ratings

• Temperatures (forecast & real-time)

• Humidex rating

For working canicross the first thing we do in the current situation is to determine our safety, check for upcoming potential evacuation preparedness orders or more importantly mandatory evacuation orders and new fires.

Once that is confirmed, we look at air quality - got to tell you this is a new one for me. After years of being an obsessed weather geek, working as a backpacking and sea kayaking guide….in all the areas I have lived and worked, I have never had need in my thirty plus years of professional and recreational outdoor activities to examine air quality index until this year due to smoke from the forest fires. Now it’s a serious consideration for both myself and the dogs in my care.

Once that is determined and our location has been deemed safe by reliable government authorities through apps and websites we take a second look at temperatures for the following day.

Due to very high temperatures for us here in Newfoundland I have had to adjust my schedule to do our first canicross run in the morning at 0630.

Humidex.

There’s alot of confusion and misunderstanding about what this is. Suffice to say, for one purposes it means what the air temperature actually feels like. For example, a temperature is forecast at 30 degrees Celsius with a humidex rating saying 36 - this means the air temperature will feel like 36. Meaning for planning and implementing high energy activities such as these listed harness sports the index listed temperature must be considered.

Stewart 0630 - 0730

Stewart actually came to me with crippling anxiety and trauma from surviving a house fire. Though we used canicross for his healing and his therapy, he was successful we were able to get him completely off his anxiety medication and living a trauma free life; the heavy lingering smoke can cause memories of trauma though he is coming very well and seems to have only been bothered once when the smell of smoke was quite prevalent.

Nyx 0740-0830

At 0740, I take Nyx who has quite a bit of fear mostly due to a lack of confidence and exposure as opposed to Stewart who had obstacles to overcome.

Nyx is new here to us and just had her second canicross session this morning. A little hesitant to pull but gently improving by the minute.

Jace 0900-1000

From 0900 pickup, Jace a young male setter who thrives in running. He has to be curbed a little bit due to his excitement as he hasn’t the self discipline yet to curb it down when running in such conditions.

By ten am (1000) temperatures have reached a level unsafe for most of my client dogs and most assuredly for mine (Labrador huskies) for the day. Which lets me do up some small changes before going ahead and approving my first post in the OutsidersNL Skool Classroom so please keep an eye out and check it out!

Stay tuned please ladies and gentlemen, your first little intro read for the base harness sports including canihiking, bikejoring & Canicross which is almost done will be coming along very soon!

I will be doing a fit guide immediately after posting my initial ‘Intro’ in the Classroom here on Skool using several different breeds of dogs and mixes including golden doodles, huskies, setters and husky/greyhound mixes to show how to properly size your harness before going to the fun part of colour options and custom look before ordering - we do not sell harnesses but partner with professionals in the industry such as the always wonderful crew at Nahak Sports!

James

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OutsidersNL - Skool

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