hikeandbike

I feel a little silly asking this question, but does anyone ride with a dog? I got a new puppy a few months ago, an Italian Greyhound that kind folks here helped with a name. Gio is an incredible little guy but weighs about 14 pounds. As a b-day gift, my wife ordered me a dog carrier that fits over the handlebars. Turns out he's a little too big for this. I would like to ride to trails a few miles from my home and do some hiking with him.
Does anyone ride with their dog and how do you do it? Has anyone converted a front basket to a dog carrier?
Thanks.

nwbikeman

That would be a lot of added weight that would affect the steering of your bike. I have 1 customer that uses a baby seat on the back. I have seen bicycle trailers as well.

old

Yes, I regularly take my 20lb Dachsund/Beagle for bike rides. When he was younger he'd run alongside for a mile or so and then we'd take a break, have a drink of water, perhaps share a snack too, and then carry on. As he aged his speed and distance decreased and my wife and I had to come up with another option. Fortunately he has pretty stubby legs so we trained him to ride in a backpack.

He is now 13 years old and he still gets excited every time we get the bikes AND his purple backpack out for a ride. He still gets out of the pack on occasion and trots a bit or just sniffs around while we stop for water and snacks. Then, when we are ready to carry on (literally) we open the backpack for him and he backs right into it. We snug up the drawstring and tie it so that he can't fall out and he seems happy as a clam. While riding he'll wiggle around a little bit every so often to look over my shoulder and catch a bit more air.

One concern we have is that whoever is carrying him CANNOT crash. We are extra careful while carrying him so as to avoid any chance of injuring him. So far (6-7 years) we've never had any mishaps. He really enjoys getting to hang with the pack on our rides!!!

Didn't someone recently exclaim "Dog owners are idiots"???

BluesDawg

She's not my dog, but I enjoy riding with Alice.


DSCF0572 by BluesDawg, on Flickr

And there was this guy and his dog.

B. Carfree

I met a couple of brothers passing through town on a trans-Am ride a couple of years ago. One of them was bringing his dog (about 40 pounds, I think) in a trailer. He said that when he was going slowly up a hill the dog would take pity on him and get out and walk along beside him. I have also seen smaller dogs in front baskets, usually reinforced with a bit of wood.

Dan The Man

I bike with my dog most days. Just last weekend we did about 15 miles along the river.

I just throw his leash over the seat post and stick mostly to quieter streets or paths. As long as there is no traffic to my right I feel fine. He naturally wants to run on the right side to stay towards the side of the road. We never did any special training except for yelling at him when he tried to to run across in front of me. The other thing is figuring out which side of telephone poles and sign posts to go around. Keep it very slow until you have that one figured out.

He will pull on the leash when he sees other dogs, or wants to go to the bathroom or something. It's not a big deal because he is leashed to the frame, not the handlebars. I am comfortable enough on a bike that a 50 lb dog can't pull me over, but it might be a bad idea for someone who doesn't feel well balanced when they ride.

He can run for several hours (with a few water stops) at about 7 to 9 mph. When he wants to run though, he goes up to 20 mph, which is about the fastest I would ever want to ride while attached to an animal, and when he's lazy and wants to sniff every blade of grass it can be slower than walking.

Artkansas 

I used to ride with my dog on a leash. That was till the day that she heard a pack of dogs behind her. She looked back and ran straight under my bike.

Dan The Man

Mine has on more than one occasion run into a parked car while looking backwards at some other dog down the street.

donheff

I met a guy in Key West who rode all over with a dog in a trailer. For those of you who run their dogs along side have you discussed this with your vet? I have heard (but never confirmed) that long, continuous runs are bad for most breeds of dog.

cyanemi

I've heard this from my vet also.

trek330

I have 2 dogs and I ride with them daily together with my bike and have for years.The pace is slow and we go from 5 to 10 miles a ride.When I get to the park one dog is let off the leash but my little fox terrier stays leashed.We average about 4.5 miles an hour a trip At this speed there really is no danger of mishaps or falling and both dogs are on the left of the bike with the leash held in my left hand and the right hand steering and on the brake.As said earlier the main rule is no crossing over the front of the bike and no excessive pulling allowed.We ride on the sidewalks of NYC and no one seems to mind.I've been doing this for years and since I can cover much more ground than on foot my dogs can come home totallty fullfiled and tired after a walk and maintain optimum conditioning.I highly recommend it!Don't use any device that attaches the dog to the bike.That's nonsense and you can't see if the dog is struggling as he's behind you.Also be careful for cats!That's the one thing that will make both my dogs lunge but since the speed is so moderate they are still contollable.Any Vterinarian concerns are directed to those who really overexert there dogs on the bike.Kepp a moderate pace and all will be well.

Looigi

We used to pull our cocker along in a Bob Yak trailer. That was fun for awhile.

Dan The Man

I would disagree with the last comment. I have had no problems telling if my dog is trying to slow down behind me. Normally he is running beside my hip in my vision. If he is behind me, I can feel when he pulls on the bike frame very easily, just like you feel when a dog pulls on a leash in your hand. Maybe with a very small dog you might not feel it. If he lunges after a cat or dog or whatever, I have no problem controlling things because both my hands are on the handlebars, and I can easily control the bicycle even with a dog pulling it off to the side.

I have ridden him a few times with the leash in my hand and felt much less control. First of all, having the leash in your hand means only one hand steering, put both hands on those handlebars at extreme peril. The other thing is that it means that the dog is attached further above your centre of gravity than at the seatpost. Basically the dog has more leverage to pull you around. I don't doubt that it can work, but I don't believe that it gives you greater control.

TromboneAl

You could try this.

trek330

Wow! Smart dog!

hikeandbike

Thanks for all the suggestions, pictures and the video.

waldowales

The big problem here is I get more exercise than I want, while Molly gets none.

t4mv

Here's another pic from a BFN ride a few years back. The owners are 50+ members and may jump in to provide input of their own. I have to add that on this ride the doggies took a...uhm, slight detour, but thanks to the structural integrity of their ride, they merely commented with a canine and were none the worse for wear.

haneriali

I use a Springer with my Brittany; excellent, safe, easy to use.

making

Funny this came up. A week or so ago my wife sent me over to the little convience store about a mile from my house early Sunday morning. As I was pulling into hte parking lot I seen a bicycle coming from about a half mile away, he looked like he was on tour our something, his bicycle was completey loaded down. As he got closer it was obvious he was a homeless guy. The noteable thing was he had about a 50 lbs tan colored dog on the back rack, the had about a foot wide board on it with clothes and stuff the dog was laying on. The guy stopped in front of the store, held the bike up as the dog jumped down. The dog jsut stood there while the guy went in for something. A few minutes later the guy came back out, got on the bike, the dog jumped up on the back rack and off they went. Had to have been doing that since the dog was a pup.

alfredo

I bought a trailer and pulled the seat out. Sam the Pug seems to enjoy it.

The wife and I passed another couple on the bike trial. The man looked in the trailer then commented to my wife that our child was ugly. The wife fires off that he gets it from my side of the family...nice.

Al

hikeandbike

Again, thanks for all the suggestions. Glad to hear that so many folks ride with their four legged friends.