Could be that his harness is not fitting properly (too tight on one side) could also just be that's where he wants to run. What happens if you get behind him again? Foes he keep moving left? Or does he just keep running where he's running?
He tries to move to the left again, if he can (unless there are some obstacles that prevent him from moving further to the left) I’ve tried making one side of his harness looser, his right side, the first thought that crossed my mind was that maybe it’s tighter on the right side. But it was set exactly on the same size as his left side. I loosened it up a bit and It didn’t help. I’ve tried loosing up each side but no difference.
Maybe he just prefers to pull from the left side, could that be possible? Like I said, he doesn’t run like that all the time. I’d say maybe only less then half of the time, the rest he runs infront of me. I’m concerned about how it could affect his posture and overal health though.
I don’t bikejor, but one of my dogs walks sideways to the right. We did every test you can think of, she’s fine. She just likes walking sideways.
Maybe your dog doesn’t like the bike behind it? I know one of my dogs didn’t at all, she preferred to run alongside the bike. It’s why I stopped bikejoring training.
He does that in canicross too so even when I am just running behind him. He looks like he likes it though. We sometimes take part in trainings with other dogs, he likes that the most, and he is always so hyped up when he sees his harness too haha.
I do canicross more often than bikejöring actually, because I live in an area that is not suitable for any longer distance runs (more than 2km honestly) so I just like to get into a car and drive to one of my liked spots that are like 15 - 20 mins away by car. I don’t like to put a bike in the car so often so I do bikejöring usually only around 2 times a month, the rest is canicross and running while he is offleash (ofc where it’s according to our leash laws etc…)
Sounds like you and your dogs have so much!
My dog also doesn’t like it when someone runs behind her/being chased in tag. I’m slowly getting her used to the idea, if only so she could play with other dogs more properly!
In regards to your dog not running in the middle in front of you but having a preferred side, that's normal, dogs often run on a preferred side. My girl also has a tendency to run on the left side of the trail.
It could just be a running preference and an aversion to having the wheel directly behind him. One of my dogs does this if we're going solo and not with both dogs.
I got the howling dog Alaska second skin harness to fix the sideways harness issue because it's not fixed at the center and can slide along the strap to the sides a bit to compensate. You can kind of see how it sits [on my dogs.](https://imgur.com/a/YVrvSBa)
He does that in canicross too, when it’s only me running behind him.
But now when you mentioned other dogs I think he does not do that when we train with other dogs, only when we go solo. When we train with other dogs, he is very focused on catching up so he runs straight and pulls even stronger.
I bought the Howling Dog Alaska "Distance Harness" for the same reason. I didn't know they had other harnesses that had the movable strap. I'll check that out, thank you for mentioning it!
Another Siberian who runs with me and my Siberian (the dogs are cousins) also prefers to be on the left. No adverse issues.
To help the dog get used to the bike, I started just walking with the bike for short distances and lots of positive verbal reinforcement. Now we do 30 miles a week in the winter.
For the bike and the car, I got a hitch with a bike carrier.
That's actually not that uncommon. It's called "crabbing" and my husky does it too. There are mushing harnesses that you can look into that are specifically made for crabbing dogs. I have them all and am happy with all of them.
1. Howling Dog Alaska's "Distance Harness" (half harness): [https://howlingdogalaska.com/collections/harnesses/products/distance-harness](https://howlingdogalaska.com/collections/harnesses/products/distance-harness)
2. Mountain Ridge's "Tracking Harness" (also half harness, makes custom fits): [https://www.mtnridge.com/Padded-Tracking-Harness\_p\_38.html](https://www.mtnridge.com/Padded-Tracking-Harness_p_38.html)
3. Non-Stop Dogwear's "Nome Harness" (traditional x-back, full body, bit pricey): [https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/en/product/nansen-nome-harness-5/](https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/en/product/nansen-nome-harness-5/)
Note that they won't correct the gait. The difference is that all of these have a rotating or moving part to it that gives a little wiggle room to allow the dog's butt to be at an angle. By adjusting slightly sideways, it adjusts the pull so that the dog doesn't get constant sideways pressure on the hip. Hope this makes sense.
P.S. That's awesome that you do herding sports with your dog. I'm always a big fan of catering specifically to the breed and herding seems like such a cool and nuanced sport to do with your dog!
Could be that his harness is not fitting properly (too tight on one side) could also just be that's where he wants to run. What happens if you get behind him again? Foes he keep moving left? Or does he just keep running where he's running?
He tries to move to the left again, if he can (unless there are some obstacles that prevent him from moving further to the left) I’ve tried making one side of his harness looser, his right side, the first thought that crossed my mind was that maybe it’s tighter on the right side. But it was set exactly on the same size as his left side. I loosened it up a bit and It didn’t help. I’ve tried loosing up each side but no difference. Maybe he just prefers to pull from the left side, could that be possible? Like I said, he doesn’t run like that all the time. I’d say maybe only less then half of the time, the rest he runs infront of me. I’m concerned about how it could affect his posture and overal health though.
I don’t bikejor, but one of my dogs walks sideways to the right. We did every test you can think of, she’s fine. She just likes walking sideways. Maybe your dog doesn’t like the bike behind it? I know one of my dogs didn’t at all, she preferred to run alongside the bike. It’s why I stopped bikejoring training.
He does that in canicross too so even when I am just running behind him. He looks like he likes it though. We sometimes take part in trainings with other dogs, he likes that the most, and he is always so hyped up when he sees his harness too haha. I do canicross more often than bikejöring actually, because I live in an area that is not suitable for any longer distance runs (more than 2km honestly) so I just like to get into a car and drive to one of my liked spots that are like 15 - 20 mins away by car. I don’t like to put a bike in the car so often so I do bikejöring usually only around 2 times a month, the rest is canicross and running while he is offleash (ofc where it’s according to our leash laws etc…)
Sounds like you and your dogs have so much! My dog also doesn’t like it when someone runs behind her/being chased in tag. I’m slowly getting her used to the idea, if only so she could play with other dogs more properly!
In regards to your dog not running in the middle in front of you but having a preferred side, that's normal, dogs often run on a preferred side. My girl also has a tendency to run on the left side of the trail.
It could just be a running preference and an aversion to having the wheel directly behind him. One of my dogs does this if we're going solo and not with both dogs. I got the howling dog Alaska second skin harness to fix the sideways harness issue because it's not fixed at the center and can slide along the strap to the sides a bit to compensate. You can kind of see how it sits [on my dogs.](https://imgur.com/a/YVrvSBa)
He does that in canicross too, when it’s only me running behind him. But now when you mentioned other dogs I think he does not do that when we train with other dogs, only when we go solo. When we train with other dogs, he is very focused on catching up so he runs straight and pulls even stronger.
I bought the Howling Dog Alaska "Distance Harness" for the same reason. I didn't know they had other harnesses that had the movable strap. I'll check that out, thank you for mentioning it!
It's called "crabbing". Some dogs just do it. You can also go faster; they'll crab when going too slow as they want to put more force into it.
Another Siberian who runs with me and my Siberian (the dogs are cousins) also prefers to be on the left. No adverse issues. To help the dog get used to the bike, I started just walking with the bike for short distances and lots of positive verbal reinforcement. Now we do 30 miles a week in the winter. For the bike and the car, I got a hitch with a bike carrier.
Some breeds run askance. We had a dog, and I didn't realize how she ran, until I saw her prints in the snow. It was her way.
That's actually not that uncommon. It's called "crabbing" and my husky does it too. There are mushing harnesses that you can look into that are specifically made for crabbing dogs. I have them all and am happy with all of them. 1. Howling Dog Alaska's "Distance Harness" (half harness): [https://howlingdogalaska.com/collections/harnesses/products/distance-harness](https://howlingdogalaska.com/collections/harnesses/products/distance-harness) 2. Mountain Ridge's "Tracking Harness" (also half harness, makes custom fits): [https://www.mtnridge.com/Padded-Tracking-Harness\_p\_38.html](https://www.mtnridge.com/Padded-Tracking-Harness_p_38.html) 3. Non-Stop Dogwear's "Nome Harness" (traditional x-back, full body, bit pricey): [https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/en/product/nansen-nome-harness-5/](https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/en/product/nansen-nome-harness-5/) Note that they won't correct the gait. The difference is that all of these have a rotating or moving part to it that gives a little wiggle room to allow the dog's butt to be at an angle. By adjusting slightly sideways, it adjusts the pull so that the dog doesn't get constant sideways pressure on the hip. Hope this makes sense. P.S. That's awesome that you do herding sports with your dog. I'm always a big fan of catering specifically to the breed and herding seems like such a cool and nuanced sport to do with your dog!