Canicross and bikejoring: sports with your dog
Canicross, bikejoring, scooterjoring and mushing explained: the differences, the gear per sport, the commands, and the best way to get started.
Canicross, bikejoring and scooterjoring are a whole family of sports where your dog doesn’t just walk beside you, but actively pulls you forward, on a line, while you run, cycle or scoot. For dogs with plenty of energy and a strong urge to pull, this can be an outlet that an ordinary walk never provides. This article explains the differences, what you need, and how to get started safely.
This article builds on our guide to when cycling or running is allowed (age, heat, growth plates) and our guide to training commands and obstacle confidence. Read those first as a foundation, here we focus specifically on the sport itself.
The family of sports at a glance
All the sports below revolve around the same principle: your dog, attached via a pulling harness, provides traction while you move forward.
- Canicross, you run on foot, your dog pulls via a waist belt and elastic line. The most accessible entry sport: no vehicle needed, lowest speed, lowest risk.
- Bikejoring, your dog pulls a bike forward. Higher speeds (sometimes 30+ km/h), so higher risks and higher demands on gear and experience.
- Scooterjoring, your dog pulls a kick scooter. Similar to bikejoring, but more stable and easier to step off if needed, a popular stepping stone for anyone wanting to progress from canicross to a vehicle.
- Sled dogs (mushing), the traditional sport with a full sled dog team and a sled, usually on snow or with a wheeled cart. Bikejoring and scooterjoring are often used as dryland training outside the sledding season.
Where do you start?
For most owners, canicross is the logical starting point: all you need is a pulling harness, a waist belt and an elastic line, and the pace is close to ordinary running. Only once your dog has the basics down (pulling straight ahead, listening to pace and direction commands, running comfortably at a distance from you) is bikejoring or scooterjoring a logical next step. Don’t jump straight onto a bike with an inexperienced dog: the speed and weight of a bike don’t forgive unpredictable behavior.
Gear per sport
Canicross:
- A pulling harness (X-back or H-back), specifically designed to handle pulling force, never a regular walking harness.
- A waist belt (hands-free) so your arms stay free and the jolt doesn’t land directly on your hands.
- An elastic pulling line (bungee) of roughly 2 meters maximum, which absorbs shocks between dog and runner.
- Sturdy trail shoes, the pace and terrain are often more demanding than an ordinary jog.
Bikejoring:
- A dedicated bikejoring harness (heavier-duty than a canicross harness).
- A bar, antenna or fixed mount that keeps the line high above the front wheel, this prevents the line from tangling in the spokes on a turn or when the dog moves sideways. This is the single most important safety feature of the whole sport.
- A bike with good brakes; some bikejorers use a separate anti-lock brake for emergencies.
Scooterjoring:
- The same harness and line principles as bikejoring.
- An off-road kick scooter with sturdy tires, easier to step off than a bike, which makes it more approachable for anyone just moving on from canicross.
Commands: the shared language on the move
Just like with ordinary running (see our training guide), you work with a small, consistent command vocabulary, for pulling-dog sports this is internationally almost always in English, since it’s the standard mushing terminology used by practitioners worldwide:
| Command | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hike! / Let’s go! | Move forward, start pulling |
| Easy | Slow down |
| Whoa | Stop |
| Gee | Turn right |
| Haw | Turn left |
| On by | Keep moving past a distraction (another dog, a pedestrian) without pulling toward it |
Train these commands separately, on a walk, before combining them with pace and a vehicle, exactly as described in our training guide for ordinary running commands.
Safety: what’s added here
The general safety rules from our cycling/running guide (age, heat, surface, signs of overexertion) apply here in full, with a few sport-specific points to add:
- Age for bikejoring/scooterjoring: because of the higher speed and pulling force, a minimum of around 1 year is often used, even for breeds that would technically be ready a little earlier under the general guideline, discuss it with your vet.
- Line management: a line that comes loose or tangles in the wheel is the most common cause of falls in bikejoring. Check the mounting before every ride.
- Fall scenario: wear a helmet for bikejoring, and mentally rehearse (and physically practice, at low speed) what to do if your dog suddenly stops or changes direction.
- Experience first, speed later: build up in calm, low-traffic terrain, a spacious off-leash area or a wide forest trail is a safer practice spot than the public road, before you consider higher speeds or traffic.
Is my dog suited to this?
There’s no fixed breed profile, sled dogs like huskies and malamutes are bred for pulling work, but shepherds, retrievers and plenty of mixed breeds join in just as enthusiastically, as long as fitness, weight and health allow it. More important than breed is: a fully grown skeleton, a healthy heart and joints, and a dog that naturally likes to pull forward (or learns to, with positive training). Short-nosed breeds (bulldogs, pugs) are not recommended, due to their more limited breathing capacity during exercise.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between canicross, bikejoring and scooterjoring? Canicross is running with your dog on a line and harness. Bikejoring is the same principle but with a bike. Scooterjoring uses a (kick) scooter instead of a bike, more stable and easier to step off than bikejoring.
Which dogs can take part in canicross? In principle, any healthy, fully grown breed with enough fitness and willingness to pull, from huskies to shepherds and even smaller active breeds. What matters is a fully grown skeleton (see our age guide) and good general fitness.
From what age can my dog do canicross or bikejoring? The same rule as for running and cycling in general: only once the growth plates have closed. For bikejoring specifically, a minimum of about 1 year is often used, because the pulling force and speed are higher than in canicross. See our full age guide.
Do I need a special harness? Yes, a regular walking harness isn’t built to handle sustained pulling force. A pulling harness spreads the pressure across the chest and shoulders instead of the neck, and doesn’t restrict breathing.
Is bikejoring more dangerous than canicross? The risks are higher because of the speed (sometimes 30+ km/h) and the weight of the bike. A good line setup (mounted high, away from the front wheel) and a dog already used to canicross reduce that risk considerably.
Further reading
- Cycling or running with your dog: from what age?, age, heat and the basic safety rules that apply to all pulling-dog sports.
- Training your dog to run with you and take obstacles, the commands and confidence you already build on the walk before you ever start canicross.
- Agility with your dog, another active sport, more focused on steering and obstacles than on pulling power and pace.
Looking for a suitable dog training school or club nearby to get started? Check out the dog training schools in your area, or add a location if you know a good canicross club that isn’t on GoPuppy yet.