Inka, my blind anxious dog, competed in her first cani-cross race since lockdown. Now this might not seem such a big deal for you but it really is, let me tell you why it is.

So prior to lockdown Inka had been getting comfortable with racing at the wonderful CaniX events and we had literally done so well and she was doing the short course and her last race was in Pembury in January 2020.  I thought it was brilliant and that  we were ready to go into the 5k events. 

Then lockdown hits and the whole thing fell apart because any walk we went on we would be set on with off lead-friendly dogs and local walks were difficult too due to noise but that's a whole other story which you can read about in this blog  https://www.thehealthfuldoctor.com/news/2022/7/8/helping-my-blind-dog-walk-in-the-noisy-park/

So having got comfortable walking again and used to being events I wanted to see if I could get Inka back to racing.  Now you may think well why?  Well Inka is a dog who loves to run and she can't run because she's blind unless she's attached to me or we're in a really wide open space, she really loves to join in the fun and she loves to chase other dogs and canicross is so much fun.  So I really wanted to see if I could get Inka back competing.  As with any behaviour modification I  had to break down the components to help her move forward.  It has taken me more than a year because she'd got so anxious, sadly she'd actually gone backwards in certain things compared to how she was pre-lock down for example a lot of the people that she knew at canicross events she wouldn't approach anymore, so it's been a bit of an uphill struggle.

There were a number of things I did 

First of all I got her comfortable around the regulars at canicross again using scent - both her favourite essential oil - at this point it was all about cardamom and my fake hand.  People always laugh but I would literally to go out with a fake hand and ask our friends to put their scent on it and then I would give her treats in it.   This started to get Inka used to it.

Lucy one of our friends who has been so helpful in building Inka's confidence from www.letmejogyourdog.co.uk

I then would take up wandering around the event after racing so she could sniff the people that she was familiar with and get their scent again.

Another aspect was to start taking her up to the finish after we finished racing so she could get used to the sounds and the smells of all the dogs and the ladies on the start and finish line,  again this took time because initially she was too scared to approach because of the barking but over the period of the months we've been competing since lockdown ended she's become more confident in doing this.

At the same time I also obviously worked on her canicross skills as this had also come to a standstill as I had to concentrate on her confidence walking again.  I started building on running around with one of my other dogs and not out with all the gang - this was hard for her as she like to be with her whole family or the disabled boys in their stroller.  Slowly I would take her out with Rowan and whilst he ran around we would literally just spend 10 minutes with her sat having cuddles then we would go home and then a few days later repeat and so on - slowly slowly Inka started to enjoy the game and wanted to chase after Rowan.

 I was very blessed as well as a couple of my good friends whose dogs she absolutely loves also took part in this and they would come with their dogs and we would go and take our time working around the short course after racing at various canicross events.   All of this contributing to build her confidence.

Inka in the middle of her buddies Inca and Lewis from www.letmejogyourdog.co.uk

 I decided that the beach race would be the ideal one for her because a first of all it's a race on a beach which she loves and at a venue that she's really familiar with and we have friends around us.   On the day in question we started off by walking to the beach (the set off was much earlier than I originally thought as the race had to beat the tide) so I left my van at 6 o'clock in the morning armed with treats and my other dog and we walked down our familiar route to the beach so that she was building up her confidence in something that she was familiar with.  Overnight we had been diffusing her favorite essential oil that is relaxing and calming and then she had a blend applied to her on the morning to help ground her and give her some familiarity.  As we approached the beach another runner ran passed us with their husky which was amazing because she was like oh I'm going to chase this dog so that was really good fun ( albeit hot for me as I had my winter coat on lol) 

Unfortunately as we approached the 100 of owners and 100 plus dogs the noise was so bad,  one of my friends had kindly of recorded the noise of the racing on the saturday for me but even so it was just so overwhelming for her, so we just did a lot of standing and moving forward and sitting and moving forward and sitting and having a few treats.  I wasn't even sure we would be able to get to the start line.   I managed to get my number on and get out of my coat and get my race gear on along with my high viz Caution Blind Dog Needs Space.  I was anxiously looking around for my friend Suzy and her daughter Livvy and Inka's best friend forever Seren, I saw them waving frantically to me and we raced up to them and we were able to line up behind Seren so that Inka had a familiar friend next to her.  The race was 3, 2, 1, GO and all the other dogs ran off except us!  Rowan was chomping at the bit but Inka just sat down, she was just too overwhelmed and there was no way she was going which was fine.  So we sat and I gave her some treats which she ate which was really reassuring because when she's too anxious she won't even eat a treat.   We just sat there and we cuddled and I chatted to her and as the sound of the dogs disappeared down the beach Inka started to trot and we got off the start line.

We started racing down the beach, it was amazing, it was so much fun.   In the other direction dogs started coming back having done their outward leg (because it's an out and back) and we were able to wave to our friends Lucy and Amy and their dogs and Suzy et al.  We had a bit of difficulty at the rock, which is the halfway plan - this was nothing to do with Inka it was due to my boy Rowan deciding to sniff loads of rock pools which is not ideal when you've got a blind dog and trying to keep her from headbutting the rocks!  Fear not I did succeed!

I swapped lines,  I wasn't sure what was going to be the best option for line so I took a separate bungee line for her because I thought she'd be more comfortable in it because Rowan wanted to go in a different direction!  Not so much a Guide Dog more a companion at times lol!

As we approahed the finish line Inka started to get a little bit subdued again as the sound of the barking intensified but she was still trotting so doing all right and then literally ahead of us we saw Suzy and the Seren race back to us having completed their race to help us in.  Inka immediately started to get more confident as we approached the finish line again  and we finished!  We got through it and we are amongst a lot of people and dogs on the beach at which point suddenly Lucy appeared with their dog Miya and any anxiety Inka was feeling was stopped as she was surrounded by her buddies in what could have been a really overwhelming environment but it actually wasn't and went so well.  So that is how we did it and so the start of something I wanted to do and thought can we do this became a belief that yes we can and we did!  Thanks must also go to CaniX for their help and support - letting us compete and encouragement.

It's just been absolutely amazing getting her to this point and you know it is difficult having an anxious dog but it just shows that with consistency and small little steps you can really make huge progress Inka had such a good time, I had such a good time and we are looking forward to more.

If you would like to learn more about helping your anxious dog why not come to one of my classes,  check out my Natural Solutions To Support Your Anxious Dog or my free download or drop me a message and find out how I can help you.