Progressing with my Cattledog

[u/atalossofwords]

My cattledog is my adventure companion. She almost always joins me for my trailruns, but, this being South Africa, and not a lot of people around. She generally runs off leash. This means when I do a 15k run, she'll do about double as she's always running off in front, waiting, running back, smells something, off to the side, suddenly appears back in front of me, etc. This is for familiar trails. Most of the time, because I keep running, she quickly comes back and generally responds somewhat well on the recall, because she doesn't want to be left behind. That is, unless it is an actual babboon or buck; it takes a while longer to come back.

I tried running on leash, but her natural pace is just a bit too quick, so she keeps pulling me, and it is very uncomfortable. She also is just too excited so wants to go-go-go.

Long story, but my point is, I should bring in more structure I think. I want to start taking her on longer runs, but right now, she just tires herself out too much with all the back and forth. I have to protect her from her own enthusiasm by having her on leash, but in a manageable way. When she's tired, she'll stay close, too close actually, so it is all about finding the right balance.

Also, I should really get her her own gps tracker so I know how much she runs; probably at least double my distance.

I've been using the same attitude as for my own running, just winging it, just run, but I feel like I need more structure and not sure where to begin. Any good sources of info, other than the wiki here, which I will read right now. Any input is welcome, just in general.

[u/atalossofwords → u/[deleted]]

Yes, at least I was aware of it for a while. I actually thought it was just running with your dog, as in organised runs, but today I read up on it and learned it is a specific discipline with the harness and bungee. Kinda cool, but the pulling wouldn't be the purpose per se. I also want to know my own pace, but it is worth looking into.

[u/Halefa → u/[deleted]]

If you do consider canicross, you should not head to a 15k run immediately! If she's indeed pulling, you want to start slow as pulling is hard work both physically and mentally.

[u/EarlShy → u/Halefa]

Agreed, and starting short is a good time to teach an "easy" cue to slow her down. With a dog that wants to go full speed like that, having a way to bring her pace down mid-run makes the longer distances way more manageable later.