Wags n Wet Noses is a very special charity to me, its the rescue that we got one of my Canicross dogs from, Raven, who is a GSD mix. I also foster dogs from their rescue to help them find forever homes. I‘ll be running a Canicross half marathon (13 miles/21km) with Endurance Life in Dunwich, Suffolk, on Saturday 12th October 2024, with one of my Canicross dogs. I am hoping it will be Raven who is a Wags rescue, but she is currently on rest from an injury. Finch, our most recent rescue, who is a young Brittany, has taken her spot in training for now and will be my back up option for the race if Raven isn‘t ready in time.

Wags do amazing work rescuing dogs in Balkan countries, they take strays from the streets and kill shelters to bring into other kennels to be assessed and get them back to full health again. They find wonderful homes in the UK for these dogs to go to so they can live the life they deserve. All the team members in the UK do this work for free, dedicating so much of their time to save these dogs. They purely rely on donations to cover the costs of vet bills, kennel places, food and equipment, and any other costs that arise. This is why its so important to me to support them in any ways that I can.

Over the years I have been on and off with running, but last year when we adopted Raven, it started my love for Canicross. Since we started training together for a 5k last summer, we have kept going and our love for it just keeps growing. Raven absolutely thrives from it and certainly sees it as her “job”. She is the best running partner I could ask for. We joined a local Canicross group, ‘East Suffolk Canicross’, and we will also be representing them on the day. Finch has only just started out on his running journey, he is about 6 weeks into training. He has endless energy due to his breed and age and is getting on very well with training. Due to him being my back up dog for the race, we are making sure he knows his directional commands and has good manners around other dogs and people ahead of the race.

My aim is to raise a minimum of £500 for the rescue, but the requirement for the race is to reach a minumum £400 target! If you can donate even £1, it all counts for something and I would be so grateful for any donation you can give. I will be sharing updates on this page of our training, we are already 6 weeks into our training plan. The race takes place on 12th October 2024.

https://www.endurancelife.com/suffolk

Thank you for reading,

Amber Rout, Raven & Finch