A.K.K.O. Sports - Smart Solutions for Dog-Powered Sports

What an evolution! Our forty years in sled dog sports has seen remarkable changes, touching every element of this complex activity.

Sleds: have evolved from traditional wooden sleds to high tech aluminium and plastic models, and along with them the runners went from plain steel to ultra dense plastics and QCR (quick change runners) systems.

Sledding activity: has spiralled out from North America -- with its long history of working and recreational dog sledding -- to every continent, even to areas near the equator! Organizations became established in North America and Europe to standardize rules and quality of events. This last decade has seen ever more countries enthusiastically embrace this sport.

The competitive sector has undergone its own expansion beyond the original ...open class sprint races - with as many dogs as you dared to run, to..
...limited class sprint races - running a fixed number of dogs, to..
...long distance races, in both North America and Europe. 

 
Skijoring & Land-based activities: These new exciting sectors evolved from ski-pulka, developed in the mid-nineteenth century in Scandinavia during its time of war. The original ski-pulka remains today, along with its popular adaptation, skijoring. Here the dog / human team ski without the pulk (enclosed sled).

The IFSS (International Federation of Sleddog Sports) has been influential in introducing dry land competitive activities, including carts, bicycles, scooters, and, yes, even competitors running on foot with their dogs – called “canicross”.  On the recreational side, here in our area some daring young people are even skateboarding and snowboarding with their dogs! If you have a dog and want to be active, there is a sport for you!

What an evolution!

Throughout all this expansion harnesses have undergone their own changes.  Forty years ago there were basically two styles of harnesses in use: the first, a standard open back harness; followed shortly after by the X-back harness,  developed to fit better and work more efficiently.

AKKO Sports has been committed to building harnesses that allow canine athletes to perform at their best. With that in mind, we redesigned and introduced the collar neck X-back, the FH model, and the JH model to fit the demand from the expanding range and breeds of dogs involved in our sport. We can supply harnesses for dogs from the very small, 10 to 15 pounds / 4.5 to 6.8 kilos;  to the very large weights of 200 pounds / 90 kilos.
 

Over these four decades, we have been privileged to travel and race across North America. From our home base in Québec, to Ontario, Manitoba, the New England States, the American mid-west, and all the way up to the Yukon and Alaska!  We have participated in three World Championships with our own team, and supplied a team for visiting competitors from South Africa.

Training and competing has given us a unique opportunity to observe harnesses in action in many diverse situations, and then to make appropriate modifications to our line. Our harnesses can be seen on teams in Canada, the US, Great Britain, Europe, Greenland, Iceland and even in South Africa.

 

We are proud to build and provide products which accomplish our primary goal – permitting the canine athlete to perform its function as efficiently, and as comfortably, as possible.  We hope you will enjoy your dog-powered sport as much as we have.
                                                                 From the AKKO Sports team: Judith, Bryan, Patricia, Pat, and Nicole