Biking with my dog
- Thread starter BerryBye
- Start date
I bike with my dog almost every day.
First no idea how old your dog is. it is advised to do no heavy running under a year old.
You must teach your dog to stay at your side and some words. I use "move" to get him to get out of the way and look at me if we will be turning.
I tie his leash to my bike seat. I have no experience witht he springer poles. so cant help with them. I have a 6 foot leash, but wrap it aroun until his nose is just to my handle bars. You have to make sure your dog wont be trying to chase anything also. A major thing I had to teach with my dog, as motorcycles are one of his favourites. And as we have to travel a busy 4 lane road on one of the paths (to get to the dog park) it was a major thing to teach him.
First no idea how old your dog is. it is advised to do no heavy running under a year old.
You must teach your dog to stay at your side and some words. I use "move" to get him to get out of the way and look at me if we will be turning.
I tie his leash to my bike seat. I have no experience witht he springer poles. so cant help with them. I have a 6 foot leash, but wrap it aroun until his nose is just to my handle bars. You have to make sure your dog wont be trying to chase anything also. A major thing I had to teach with my dog, as motorcycles are one of his favourites. And as we have to travel a busy 4 lane road on one of the paths (to get to the dog park) it was a major thing to teach him.
I've been biking with my 2 year old mutt (Kaylee) for a couple months now and I love it.
Before I ever started considering biking with her she had a almost perfect loose leash heel off leash and on no matter the distraction level. I also made sure her leave it meant leave it no matter what. So when we did start biking she knew where she had to be and that pulling was not allowed no matter the circumstances and that if I didn't want her to go after/pay attention to something she wouldn't.
That made starting biking with her not only so much easier but a lot safer and personally I wouldn't have done it if her training wasn't at that point. I strongly recommend a very strong foundation in those commands
I don't use a Springer or Walkydog. I hold the leash under my hand between the handlebar and my palm, not wrapped around my wrist. I do that so that if I need to let go of Kaylee for whatever reason I can immediately let go whether it's because I'm gonna crash, or she runs on the other side of a post/tree or if there's a stray dog. But I hold it so that if I need to I can grab ahold of it and still hang on.
I don't use any of those biking contraptions because I want her placement in my control and not in the hands of something attached to a bike.
When I first started I made her run in the grass. May sound harsh but I would swerve my wheel slightly to the right near Kaylee and as soon as she moved over into the grass i said "Get in the grass!" and gave her a treat. Worked well and fast. Now she for the most part she will always run in the grass on her own volition and if she isn't and I need her to I will tell her to "get in the grass" and she does. It's better to have them run in the grass than on pavement for their pads and joints. I also try and go to bike paths where the ground is soft and not pavement.
I stayed really consistent in my commands. Faster, Slower, Stop, Turning, Hey etc. Doing that really quickly turned them into commands that she follows and pays attention to.
You need to be confident in your ability to keep your dog in control and I would start off slow with a some treats and walking the bike getting your dog used to it and being in the correct spot. Work up to being on the bike, going faster, slower, turning and stopping.
Kaylee and I have worked up to about 5 miles a day on soft ground. She loves it, I love it and it keeps her tired, though I might be increasing that soon because it's not leaving her that tired anymore.
I would recommend wearing at least a helmet whenever doing this. To many variables between the bike, the dog, you and other people.
Also I might advise getting some pepper spray. I've had countless dogs lung at me and one attack Kaylee. Even dogs that don't normally lunge might with a dog and bike going by fast.
Before I ever started considering biking with her she had a almost perfect loose leash heel off leash and on no matter the distraction level. I also made sure her leave it meant leave it no matter what. So when we did start biking she knew where she had to be and that pulling was not allowed no matter the circumstances and that if I didn't want her to go after/pay attention to something she wouldn't.
That made starting biking with her not only so much easier but a lot safer and personally I wouldn't have done it if her training wasn't at that point. I strongly recommend a very strong foundation in those commands
I don't use a Springer or Walkydog. I hold the leash under my hand between the handlebar and my palm, not wrapped around my wrist. I do that so that if I need to let go of Kaylee for whatever reason I can immediately let go whether it's because I'm gonna crash, or she runs on the other side of a post/tree or if there's a stray dog. But I hold it so that if I need to I can grab ahold of it and still hang on.
I don't use any of those biking contraptions because I want her placement in my control and not in the hands of something attached to a bike.
When I first started I made her run in the grass. May sound harsh but I would swerve my wheel slightly to the right near Kaylee and as soon as she moved over into the grass i said "Get in the grass!" and gave her a treat. Worked well and fast. Now she for the most part she will always run in the grass on her own volition and if she isn't and I need her to I will tell her to "get in the grass" and she does. It's better to have them run in the grass than on pavement for their pads and joints. I also try and go to bike paths where the ground is soft and not pavement.
I stayed really consistent in my commands. Faster, Slower, Stop, Turning, Hey etc. Doing that really quickly turned them into commands that she follows and pays attention to.
You need to be confident in your ability to keep your dog in control and I would start off slow with a some treats and walking the bike getting your dog used to it and being in the correct spot. Work up to being on the bike, going faster, slower, turning and stopping.
Kaylee and I have worked up to about 5 miles a day on soft ground. She loves it, I love it and it keeps her tired, though I might be increasing that soon because it's not leaving her that tired anymore.
I would recommend wearing at least a helmet whenever doing this. To many variables between the bike, the dog, you and other people.
Also I might advise getting some pepper spray. I've had countless dogs lung at me and one attack Kaylee. Even dogs that don't normally lunge might with a dog and bike going by fast.
I have a good friend who uses the Springer and she loves it. She says that it keeps the dog out away from her bike so she won't get run over or caught up in it or anything. And the spring on it works so well that even a large dog can start darting away and not pull the bike down. Personally, I'd be too scared to bike with a large dog without having a Springer.
Thats what I did with Blaze. I dont want him to run on pavement if I can avoid. itmaybe 1/4th of our rides include pavment, rest is grass.I like to keep him on grass for many reasons.
-so he doesnt rip up his paw pads
-less likley to step in glass.
-He is on the furthest side possible to other people/bikes/skateboards anything that he can run in to or vice versa.
-Also dogs. dogson flexis are the worst. darting out. so now he is as far as possible away from dogs.
You wouldnt believe how many "I want to kill you and eat you"types of dog attitude we have on our walks 95% are on flexis. its disturbing. one day i will (not on purpose) run on over. missed a toy poodle the other day lol
-so he doesnt rip up his paw pads
-less likley to step in glass.
-He is on the furthest side possible to other people/bikes/skateboards anything that he can run in to or vice versa.
-Also dogs. dogson flexis are the worst. darting out. so now he is as far as possible away from dogs.
You wouldnt believe how many "I want to kill you and eat you"types of dog attitude we have on our walks 95% are on flexis. its disturbing. one day i will (not on purpose) run on over. missed a toy poodle the other day lol
Ugh, I know! Drives me up the wall. That's why I keep pepper spray on me, I am so sick of dogs that are out of control and a danger to Kaylee and myself on those retractable leashes. Then to top it off the owners always seem to forget that whole retractable part and I have to swerve off the path to avoid their dog.
We were riding on our normal path and these people where walking this huge golden ( I swear, looked like a over weight Mastiff size Golden) on a flexi. Kaylee and I are coming up facing them and I get to the side.
They don't reel him in, the guy can't hold on to the leash and the dog lunges snarling and growling at me. Thank god Kaylee was on the other side of me. So she spooks and jumps away, I swerve so I don't get bitten and Kaylee ends up running around a tree and I've got to let go of the leash.
Luckily the dog didn't get free and Kaylee knows to stay with me. We kept going for another good 50 yards her running dragging the leash till I was far enough away to stop and get us regrouped. I was so mad.
I hate those leashes and I hate the fact that dogs that are going to bite someone always seem to be owned by someone who loves them.
I don't know what it is about those dog biking aids that freak me out but I really don't like them and never see me using one. When I was first planning on biking with Kaylee last summer I wanted one really bad. This was before I started biking but was just entertaining the idea. I actually started skating with Kaylee first and got used to the flexibility of being able to move her where I want her on either side. But then I hurt my ankle and skating got put on the back burner and biking took it's place and the whole idea of not having the leash in my hand with the ability to have Kaylee move farther in front, to the side, closer to the bike, back farther made me way to nervous. Then I had times when I needed to be able to let go of her immediately and other times where if I had one the safety release would have let off and I was near a busy street.
I've actually started training her to go behind the bike and switch sides on command while riding, something that would never be possible with one of those. I've also gone down small paths where people are coming both ways and Kaylee and I need to take up the smallest foot print we can, and having a contraption on the bike limits how small you can get and on those paths it would not only be a hindrance it could be potentially very dangerous. I guess I just like that everything is in my control. I'm currently using just a 4 foot leather leash but will be getting a bungie leash soon.
My opinion, if you have a dog that there is a strong possibility of them lunging. Don't take them biking and start training. There might always be a possibility of something happening but you can lesson that chance considerably.
Out of all those bike add on though, I would say I like the Walkydog the best. I like how fast it can be removed if need be.
We were riding on our normal path and these people where walking this huge golden ( I swear, looked like a over weight Mastiff size Golden) on a flexi. Kaylee and I are coming up facing them and I get to the side.
They don't reel him in, the guy can't hold on to the leash and the dog lunges snarling and growling at me. Thank god Kaylee was on the other side of me. So she spooks and jumps away, I swerve so I don't get bitten and Kaylee ends up running around a tree and I've got to let go of the leash.
Luckily the dog didn't get free and Kaylee knows to stay with me. We kept going for another good 50 yards her running dragging the leash till I was far enough away to stop and get us regrouped. I was so mad.
I hate those leashes and I hate the fact that dogs that are going to bite someone always seem to be owned by someone who loves them.
I don't know what it is about those dog biking aids that freak me out but I really don't like them and never see me using one. When I was first planning on biking with Kaylee last summer I wanted one really bad. This was before I started biking but was just entertaining the idea. I actually started skating with Kaylee first and got used to the flexibility of being able to move her where I want her on either side. But then I hurt my ankle and skating got put on the back burner and biking took it's place and the whole idea of not having the leash in my hand with the ability to have Kaylee move farther in front, to the side, closer to the bike, back farther made me way to nervous. Then I had times when I needed to be able to let go of her immediately and other times where if I had one the safety release would have let off and I was near a busy street.
I've actually started training her to go behind the bike and switch sides on command while riding, something that would never be possible with one of those. I've also gone down small paths where people are coming both ways and Kaylee and I need to take up the smallest foot print we can, and having a contraption on the bike limits how small you can get and on those paths it would not only be a hindrance it could be potentially very dangerous. I guess I just like that everything is in my control. I'm currently using just a 4 foot leather leash but will be getting a bungie leash soon.
My opinion, if you have a dog that there is a strong possibility of them lunging. Don't take them biking and start training. There might always be a possibility of something happening but you can lesson that chance considerably.
Out of all those bike add on though, I would say I like the Walkydog the best. I like how fast it can be removed if need be.
Bikejoring and scootering
DogScooter.com || HOME is an excellent place to go for information about scootering and bikeing with your dog. There is also a yahoo group, dogs love to run, that's a good source. I have done both with my crew and love scootering. I run my 3 bcs together with their urban trail harnesses and we FLY! Too much fun and they love it. There are lots of setups out there and DIY ideas but the emphasis should always be on safety.
DogScooter.com || HOME is an excellent place to go for information about scootering and bikeing with your dog. There is also a yahoo group, dogs love to run, that's a good source. I have done both with my crew and love scootering. I run my 3 bcs together with their urban trail harnesses and we FLY! Too much fun and they love it. There are lots of setups out there and DIY ideas but the emphasis should always be on safety.
Tankstar, I think he's saying he puts the dog in something like this
And the dog rides in that while he bikes? Maybe? I had to look up what a rickshaw was and that's the kind of contraption that came up so I'm assuming the bulldog isn't running and is instead just riding.
At least that was the impression I got.
And the dog rides in that while he bikes? Maybe? I had to look up what a rickshaw was and that's the kind of contraption that came up so I'm assuming the bulldog isn't running and is instead just riding.
At least that was the impression I got.
Tankstar, I think he's saying he puts the dog in something like this
And the dog rides in that while he bikes? Maybe? I had to look up what a rickshaw was and that's the kind of contraption that came up so I'm assuming the bulldog isn't running and is instead just riding.
At least that was the impression I got.
And the dog rides in that while he bikes? Maybe? I had to look up what a rickshaw was and that's the kind of contraption that came up so I'm assuming the bulldog isn't running and is instead just riding.
At least that was the impression I got.
I just figured, since this was a thread about biking with the dog, while the dog is running. that that is what they did lol
