Introducing Bike's

[SS Cressa]

So finally got my own set of wheels. Would love to bring the dogs along for the excerise and a nice way to get from point A to point B. Any suggestion on how to start the process?

 

I figure right now to always have them on the right hand side. Get them used to in tight spots to go behind the bike. Teach them to NEVER go in front of the bike. Also to teach them turning words and the bike brake noise. Break mean SLOW down. Also is it ok to let the RUN with the bike or should it be a trot or...

 

I would like to be able ot take both dogs biking riding. Say to "grandmas" house which is about 5 miles from where I live. They would be on leash right now till I can buy a proper set up if the bike can even use one of those.

 

Also for longer bike rides. Any idea how to prepare them for it?

 

I would eventually like to get a kid carrier for the dogs and just pull them or one and let teh other run along side.

 

1st time ever doing this so any suggestion would be awesome.

[rushdoggie]

I hear good things about the Springer bake attachment, keeps them from pulling you over.

 

link

[Cynthia P]

We've used the springer and it works great...except if they put on the brakes hard ( picture cattle dog pooping)...than you can have some torn pads.

 

If you dont use the springer...and even if you do, start by walking with them beside the bike and practicing 'steady' and 'stop', left and right, or gee and haw, what ever you want. We also used "go on" when we wanted them to run and pull.

 

thank go somewhere like a parking lot (abandoned) to practice. If you are riding and holding the leash do not put the leash on the handlebars or hold with your hand onthe handle bar, a pull to the side by the dog and you are road rash...been there done that. Practice the commands while riding slowly and in a place you can drop the leash if needed.

 

Start slowly, about a mile, and build up from there. We used to run our giant schnauzers (2), cattle dogs (2) and a border collie about 5 miles everymorning before we bought the farm. One Giant and a border collie loose taught to run at the side of the road and stay up with us, the other giant and a cattle dog with John and I had a cattle dog. We also fostered mini schnauzers and ran them beside the bike. Great for their terriorist attitudes. Taylor, who was all of 12 lbs soaking weight could pull my husband about a mile before he had to peddle!

 

I have pictures but they need to be scanned. Have fun, it is great exercise for them

[geonni banner]

A couple of things to think about. Extended trotting/ galloping on hard road surfaces is hard on the joints of older and young dogs. Too much wear and tear on the joints. Also be aware that blacktop can be very hot in summer, and long trips can abrade pads badly. Consider "husky boots" if you are seeing badly worn pads. Also, keep an eye out for broken glass on road verges. There are still morons out there who throw beer and soda bottles out of car windows.

 

I know, I'm a little ray of sunshine - but when I worked at vets I saw a lot of foot injuries - burns, cuts and bloody abraded pads on dogs exercised alongside bikes. Not to say you shouldn't do it, but be aware that the dogs are contacting the road, and watch out for their feet.

 

If your area has bike paths with softer going on the edges, so much the better. Dirt roads aren't bad either.

[Carlasl]

I have a springer and it is okay, but my foot hits it sometimes, and once the dog (48lbs) pulled me completely over (she was wearing a harness, buckle collar worked better for her).

 

I was thinking about getting this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...ELAID=525362035

 

It seems to have more clearance. I would never go biking with a dog on a regular leash. Either loose in the woods on trails or with a bike attachment.

 

But I prefer to go off road mt biking when I have the dogs that way they can run behind or in front or to the side on the trails, at their own pace. I worried about the repetitive trotting and running on the hard surface on paved bike trail, and the dogs wear out much easier than the humans of course. Where my husband and I can go 10-20 mi on a bike path with no problem at all, 5mi seems to be the max for a dog that is in even good shape and we had to keep it at a natural pace for the dog, not as fast as we normally like to go.

[Alchemist]

I have a springer and it is okay, but my foot hits it sometimes, and once the dog (48lbs) pulled me completely over (she was wearing a harness, buckle collar worked better for her).

 

I was thinking about getting this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...ELAID=525362035

 

It seems to have more clearance. I would never go biking with a dog on a regular leash. Either loose in the woods on trails or with a bike attachment.

 

But I prefer to go off road mt biking when I have the dogs that way they can run behind or in front or to the side on the trails, at their own pace. I worried about the repetitive trotting and running on the hard surface on paved bike trail, and the dogs wear out much easier than the humans of course. Where my husband and I can go 10-20 mi on a bike path with no problem at all, 5mi seems to be the max for a dog that is in even good shape and we had to keep it at a natural pace for the dog, not as fast as we normally like to go.

 

I have the "Walky Dog" bike leash that Carla mentioned. We've only used it a few times (DH's knee is still out, so he's up to off-leash walks but not up to biking). I do like the way it's designed. Duncan seemed OK with it after he got over his initial fear of the Evil Bike That Attacks Good Dogs for No Reason. (My bad: I'd left him attached to it in a "stay" for a moment while I closed up my car, and he broke the stay and the Evil Bike tried to fall on him). They recommend that you walk the bike for a while with the dog attached to get him used to it. I found this worked better if I walked between Duncan and the Evil Bike.

 

We're doing this with the ortho vet's blessing. Keeping it no faster than a fast walk for him, on an unpaved (and well-shaded) bike path, for a very limited duration (maybe 15 minutes total) until he builds up more stamina.

 

I absolutely agree with Carla: I would NEVER take a dog on a bike ride while leashed with a conventional leash. I have a good friend who used to do so as she felt her dog had been very well trained to run alongside the bike. One day a squirrel dashed right in front of them and the dog took off after it. She was lucky to only lose her front teeth.

 

This summer, when I'll be staying at a place where I can bike without getting slapped with a $1,000 fine for having a dog off-leash and where there are logging roads through the woods where I won't encounter cars, bikes, or pedestrians, I'll consider starting him on off-leash mountain bike rides. But I'll probably still keep it slow for him. As Carla mentioned, dogs wear out a lot faster than humans will. Biking is a very efficient means of moving humans; dogs expend a lot more energy to cover the same terrain at the same pace.

[Pippin's person]

I ran our terrier mix on a Springer for part of a summer. I second what others have said about watching out for the surface (he started to get abraided pads after about 15 mintutes on asphalt, so we could only do short trips on the bike if we were on the road). I also hit the Springer with my pedal/foot frequently.

 

On top of that , he almost pulled me over once when he saw a squirrel across the street. If he'd been one of the Border Colllies, who are double his weight, he probably would have succeeded. I finally stopped using it after getting chased by a neighbor dog (whose owner *swore* he'd never left the yard before). Not only did I fall off the bike, but Renzo cut in front of it by pulling to get away from the dog and ended up with a lacerated foot from where the front tire ran over him as I fell off and the bike tumbled. I was lucky he didn't try to continue running with the bike.

 

I think it's a great potential source of exercise if you have access to dirt trails and you're able to watch the pace etc. But you have to be pretty careful for yourself and the dogs.

[border_collie_crazy]

I bike with my dogs leash on the handle when I want them beside me, and I loop the leash around the center handle bar when I want them in front..I harness certain dogs up in pairs and trained them to pull my bike..they LOVE it, I did have to teach them turn commands though as when they do that I need them turning before me lol(I train turn commands in harness on foot). I alternate paces between trots and flat out runs when they are beside me, I often take them off leash and race them, if they are good off leash and once they respect the bike its no problem. when it comes to simpley trotting beside I have never done much training, I just introduce the bike and go.

 

I have been biking my dogs for 10 years now with the leash on my handle and never once had an accident, I have biked this way with 5 dogs at once before, and had strange dogs run up and try to cause problems before..still never had an accident, I just keep a look out and stop and ut all the dogs in a down til the problem has passed or I slide off my seat and walk them past the danger and continue on my way.

[pansmom]

I'll admit I've always used a regular leash too. Not because I think it's better, but because the leash attachment was expensive, and I never got around to buying it. Plus I have safety gear I bought to do roller skating with Pan as a puppy (the bike was a lot safer! never had an accident with it! Though I only tumbled once on skates--glad I had that gear). For the bike, I teach stop, wait, left, right, etc. just through repetition as we do it. My experience has been that border collies pick up on directional command repetition VERY quickly. Vala knows to stop at all the stop signs in our neighborhood now and does, on walks, without my saying anything.

 

As Carla mentioned, dogs wear out a lot faster than humans will. Biking is a very efficient means of moving humans; dogs expend a lot more energy to cover the same terrain at the same pace.

 

This is very true for Vala. She gets tired after a mile or two. But with Pan -- the bike wasn't even an equalizer. We would go 6-7 miles every day. And at the end of it, I was tired from biking, and she STILL wanted to keep going! Same thing with roller skating. We used to do that too. For some dogs, you need wheels just to keep up with them!

 

It's great fun though! Writing this, I'm sad that I can't do this right now -- these are dangerous sports for a pregnant lady! plus Vala is indoor-quarantined for heartworm treatment anyway -- and I probably won't bike with Vala anymore since she doesn't need it. But I must say I am looking forward to daily jogs to the park and field with a stroller!

[SS Cressa]

What have been your experience with riding with two dogs? Do you keep them on the same side? next to each other? one in front of the other?

 

Think the 1st thing I will buy is a harness for each. Not sure if I should just get a regual harness or a a bike harness. Can bike harness be use like a normal harness for walking purpose?

 

thanks for the info.

 

After rindign around my neighbor they both seem pretty engerize from it. I think Cressa enjoyed being able to go so fast/faster then normal. And Troy was amazed Mom was moving so fast so stuck close by.

 

1/2 of the trip to grandmas house would be on concrete sidewalks. Then will be on a bike trail that has grass to the side. Will have to see if its nice looking.

[silhouettestable]

If you're going to run two, why not get them proper pulling harnesses (either x-back or the "shorty" skijor harness), teach them to line out in front and join them with a neckline (so they run close beside each other)? Lots of skijorers and sledders bikejor or scooter with their dogs in the spring and fall. I haven't ridden a bike in so long I'm not nervey enough to hook my dogs up to one, but I do have a 3-wheeled training rig I use that's made from BMX bike frames and I run up to 4 dogs on that. For bikejoring you can hook up your line to the front of the bike below the handlebar and a bungee section will reduce any jerking on both yourself and your dog(s). You can find lots of info about biking and scootering with dogs in the dryland forums at Sled Dog Central forum or at Skidogs.ca

 

Here are 3 of my guys on a training run a couple of years ago. I don't think I have any more recent pictures of them dryland training