bike riding w/ dog

has anyone done this before?

is it safe?

hard to train?

any tips?

tools that are commonly used for it?

i'm not sure if it's allymack or luckypenny, but one of them does ride their bike with the dogs, when i find out which one i'll send them to this thread.

it's luckypenny who rides her bike, she mentions it in the post about the dog with excessive chewing.

nice.

thanks.

Omg, I can write a book about this :o .

I thoroughly enjoy cycling with our dogs. It takes up a lot less time than having to walk four of them separately :o .

There are some things to remember before starting out.

- feed your dog his meal at least 1 hour after his run. Never before heading out, and never immediately after coming back in.
- make sure your dog has had a chance to pee and poop before starting.
- start with short distances ie 5 minutes for one week, 10 minutes the second week and so on. It will slowly condition his body for longer distances. It will also help prevent any injuries (even if your dog wants to continue, don't allow it).
- always go at a slower pace, especially if you have yourself a puller. The last thing you want is for your dog to pull you into traffic.
- take frequent breaks. We have designated spots where we stop to let the dogs sniff around and I can offer them small amounts of water.
- do not head out in the middle of the afternoon when it's hottest out. Actually, in any hot and humid weather, we don't go out at all.
- I know your dog is not a young pup, but I have to add this here in case anyone else is considering cycling with their dogs...DO NOT CYCLE WITH YOUNG PUPPIES for more than a few minutes maximum per day. It's a great idea to accustom a pup to cycling, but it's always a very bad idea for his young joints and muscles to be doing it for any period of time longer than a couple of minutes.

Most important, it's crucial your dog understands "stop" or "whoa", especially when you reach intersections (we taught ours to automatically sit at corners during our walks so it's easier to apply it to cycling as well. He must also understand the "leave it" command for obvious reasons.

You need a good sturdy bike, I wouldn't recommend anything light. A helmet is always a good idea. I use the Springer to attach the dogs to my bike (I like both of my hands on the handles of my bike). http://www.springerusa.com/pics.html

What's really important however, is that you have good control of your dog. If he's lunging after other ppl, dogs, squirrels, etc., you can imagine how this can become a hazard. It has helped me with Penny though as she doesn't have time to get nasty with dogs passing by because she has to concentrate on keeping up with me :laughing: .

Another extremely important thing to consider is what type of collar/harness you will use. Never, ever put a choke or prong collar on your dog while cycling. I don't even recommend a regular flat collar until your dog has learned to not pull (that is, if he's a puller). Every dog is different. I use both a flat collar to attach Penny to my bike (she doesn't pull) and I hold a shorter leash, attached to her Newtrix, firmly in my left hand. This prevents her from focusing on other dogs we may pass by. With Ava, we just use the flat collar cuz she responds to any vocal reminders. Lucky, my crazy pulling dog, is a whole other story. I still haven't found anything that works 100% with him. For now, I use the Gentle Leader Harness attached to a short leash held in my hand. A regular flat collar is what I use to attach him to the bike (I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself). But, just as when teaching a dog not to pull on leash by changing directions while walking, we do the same while cycling. Sometimes we just go around in circles in front of the house for 10 minutes or so until he's figured that if he pulls, we're not going anywhere.

I also have to add (I promise I'll stop soon :D), that if you want to train your dog to walk nicely on leash, after a bike ride when he's had a chance to cool down, is the absolute best time to do it.

Did I answer all your questions :D ?

Another extremely important thing to consider is what type of collar/harness you will use. Never, ever put a choke or prong collar on your dog while cycling. I don't even recommend a regular flat collar until your dog has learned to not pull (that is, if he's a puller). Every dog is different. I use both a flat collar to attach Penny to my bike (she doesn't pull) and I hold a shorter leash, attached to her Newtrix, firmly in my left hand. This prevents her from focusing on other dogs we may pass by. With Ava, we just use the flat collar cuz she responds to any vocal reminders. Lucky, my crazy pulling dog, is a whole other story. I still haven't found anything that works 100% with him. For now, I use the Gentle Leader Harness attached to a short leash held in my hand. A regular flat collar is what I use to attach him to the bike (I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself). But, just as when teaching a dog not to pull on leash by changing directions while walking, we do the same while cycling. Sometimes we just go around in circles in front of the house for 10 minutes or so until he's figured that if he pulls, we're not going anywhere.

I personally would never have my dog on a head harness when biking. IMO, if you don't have a solid "on by" command, you shouldn't risk biking with your dog.
While I understand that you don't attach them to the bike by a head collar, it is still a potential health and safety issue. Issuing a correction with a head collar (even if its just a bit of pressure as you bike by a distraction) at that speed isn't a good idea.

Its a good idea to find somewhere to bike that is on softer ground... If you are biking on concrete on a daily or weekly basis, the pounding can really take its toll on your dog - no matter how much conditioning you've done. If your only option is to bike on concrete than you should restrict how much biking you do (2-3times a week).

I do a mixture of bikjoring (where my dog runs/pulls in front) and simple biking with Dodger at my side - it depends on where we are. For bikjoring he has a skijoring harness. For biking at my side, he wears a ruffwear harness and a flat collar. I do not use a bike attachment - I have 1 leash across my handle bars and another on my wrist or around my waist but in a quick release knot so that in an emergency, he isn't dragged along.

IMO, biking with your dog takes a lot of training and you shouldn't require training tools.

I use what works for me and my individual dogs. I feel confident enough that, while my dogs are not perfectly trained, I have enough control over them while cycling. More so than walking in some cases. And we always go at a slower pace, a trot really, so I'm not worried about using a Newtrix on Penny at all. The Ruffwear Harness sounds interesting. I'll definitely be looking into that for Lucky.

We're always working on training...in the meantime, they still need different forms of exercise, and this is what we've found most enjoyable and works well for us.

I'm glad you and Dodger are more advanced :thumbs up . Hopefully we'll get to a point one day where I could just throw a leash across the handle bars too.

luckypenny thank you, i will certainly look into this NEXT summer when i have had almost a full year to work on the walking part.

i broke my left arm tumbling off a bike when i was younger, so i dont need a repeat of that episode right now.

plus i am going into surgery in september so i wont have adequate time to introduce him to the whole setup properly.

and if you do write a book....ill PM you my address and setup a paypal to buy it.

i acnt run outdoors because i have allergic rhinitis which makes me almost asmatic outside when i run so cash never gets to truly run. and this would solve that problem.

i also really like your idea of the two collars.

i wonder if i could rig up something to attach to the illusion so that the slip collar was in my hand and then another collar attached to the springer...

then i could give corrections but not have to ride one handed...


interesting.

Omg, I can write a book about this :o .

Ditto!

Most important, it's crucial your dog understands "stop" or "whoa", especially when you reach intersections (we taught ours to automatically sit at corners during our walks so it's easier to apply it to cycling as well. He must also understand the "leave it" command for obvious reasons.

Very very important!!


What's really important however, is that you have good control of your dog. If he's lunging after other ppl, dogs, squirrels, etc., you can imagine how this can become a hazard. It has helped me with Penny though as she doesn't have time to get nasty with dogs passing by because she has to concentrate on keeping up with me :laughing: .

I have to becarful with Enzo as when he sees another dog, he wont freak but he gets very distracted by them, so i have a command "focus" to get him back to paying attention to the bike ride (otherwise he goes sideways in to my bike :eek:)


I also have to add (I promise I'll stop soon :D), that if you want to train your dog to walk nicely on leash, after a bike ride when he's had a chance to cool down, is the absolute best time to do it.

Thats for sure, Enzo is a dream to walk after biking:cloud9:



LP you summed it up great!!

I use to leash, one attached to his halti, incase i ever need emergency control ( i;m never really going fast enough to hurt him) and one attached to his flat buckle collar, to give a correction to get him to focus. I havent used the attachment that LP uses, i dont feel Enzo needs, although it does seem like a good idea if you have a puller.

Another thing is to get your dog used to the bike before you try biking with it, of course. Let him sniff it, walk him by it for a few minutes and then start out so he is walking( while your riding and then a jog and so on)

Always warm up and stretch him and yourself before you start biking. Everyride start out slow with a walking lap of your street ( he walks while you bike) then a jogging lap ( he jogs while oyu bike) i find that warms Enzo up enough to go for a while.

Hope this helps, good luck!:thumbs up

Have you ever considered rollerblading with him? My boyfriend started doing that with Chase a couple months ago. You have to be pretty darn good on rollerblades I think though....

Either way, if you decide to start biking with him I would recommend starting on a bike path in a park or something like that - away from traffic! I've never biked with Chase, but even just seeing him go rollerblading with his Dad, I can't stress that enough! :D

i cant rollerblade whatsoever

I use what works for me and my individual dogs. I feel confident enough that, while my dogs are not perfectly trained, I have enough control over them while cycling. More so than walking in some cases. And we always go at a slower pace, a trot really, so I'm not worried about using a Newtrix on Penny at all. The Ruffwear Harness sounds interesting. I'll definitely be looking into that for Lucky.

We're always working on training...in the meantime, they still need different forms of exercise, and this is what we've found most enjoyable and works well for us.

I'm glad you and Dodger are more advanced :thumbs up . Hopefully we'll get to a point one day where I could just throw a leash across the handle bars too.

I wouldn't consider Dodger advanced at all:laughing: and most people don't like "throwing" a leash over the handle bars - like you I am just doing what works for me...

I love the ruffwear harness - although I bought that Palisades pack so I can use it as a pack or harness. The harness that they sell on its own (no pack) is actually 100x better - that is on the wishlist:p

Is this the harness you're speaking of Lissa? I can't seem to find any others listed on their site :shrug: . http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131

:eek: Rollerblading?? I wish :o .

Is this the harness you're speaking of Lissa? I can't seem to find any others listed on their site :shrug: . http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131

:eek: Rollerblading?? I wish :o .

I just got that harness for Basil yesterday, and Streets has an older model.
They're great harnesses, the only complaint I have it that because the materials they use are a bit stiff, it takes a bit to sort of break in and sit properly on the dog (or maybe my two are just funny shaped?). They last a long time though.

I just went and verified our inventory of collars and harnesses :D and we do have something very similar to that. We used it when we brought Lucky home from the shelter as he gagged and choked when we attached a leash to his regular flat collar (no, not from corrections, we don't use physical corrections with him...he was just highly fearful/anxious and always in an 'escape' mode).

I do remember that he was extremely relaxed with it but seemed to associate it with, "wow, I can pull my new Mom straight across town in a few minutes flat with this thing" :laughing: .

It has been almost two years however and perhaps he's forgotten his dreams of becoming the world's strongest/fastest puller. I think I'll give it another try :D .

I blade with Cider at the water front. Away from traffic, but dog people can be an issue. Endless dogs offleash, or on 25 ft of flexi across the path wrapped around the stroller etc.

We've gotten good at passing walkers, joggers, bikes, strollers, people with controlled dogs.. Only time I've wiped out was a lady with a dog on a flexi. wrapped around my ankles and she didn't bother to apologize.

I'd start biking or blading in a lower distraction environment so you can get used to how you two work together before adding in chaos.

Is this the harness you're speaking of Lissa? I can't seem to find any others listed on their site :shrug: . http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131

:eek: Rollerblading?? I wish :o .

Yup that is the one... The one I am using right now is the one that comes with the palisades pack by ruffwear as well.... While the basic design is the same, it doesn't cover as much of the body (mine is also the original model too so they do last!!)... I don't have any pics on this computer but basically the red material is not on my harness!

I do remember that he was extremely relaxed with it but seemed to associate it with, "wow, I can pull my new Mom straight across town in a few minutes flat with this thing" :laughing:.

:laughing: That sounds like it could be an adventure!

I like this "how to" page (and the dog is just gorgeous!):D:
http://www.pitbullforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=37081

Haven't tried biking with the dogs, it's been too long since I've done any amount of biking and I don't trust myself to stay balanced while hanging on to dogs. This, however it tons of fun and great exercise for the dogs :thumbs up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/silhouettestable/Newer%20dog%20pics/2008_0528dogs0038.jpg

I've hooked up 3 on it and plan to try 4 when the weather cools down enough to run them again.

For sure if you plan to bike with your dog, the dog should learn whoa, and on by or leave it (both can be useful). Depending on whether you use a springer or run the dog out in front of you, knowing gee and haw could be helpful too, as well as "line out" if the dog will be running in front. You don't want a slack line/leash tangling with your front wheel.

i 've run my dog for more than 20 miles in a day

all the dog needs to know is basic education and stay focus on the owner.

regards