Ask the Expert: How old should your dog be to start canicrossing? (Episode 12)

In this episode, we're joined by Dr Caroline Taylor, also known as the Slim Pet Vet, to chat about the best time to start canicrossing.

We chat first of all about whether lockdown has affected our dogs' health and wellbeing, and how canicross can be a tool to help pets lose excess weight safely. Caroline also tells us how to check our dogs' body condition to know if they're overweight or not.

We also talk about the best time to start a young dog canicrossing, and how over-exercising a puppy before its growth plates have fused can cause a myriad of problems later in life. Did you know, for example, that neutering a dog too early can stop the closure of the growth plates, so dogs grow a little bit bigger, and their bones consequently aren't as strong.

 

Lastly, we chat about the importance of warm ups and cooldowns for your canicrossing dog, and the injuries we need to be aware of that might affect our dogs.

 

You can join Caroline's Facebook group Slimline Canine here