bike + dog = ?
 

So.. I've not had a dog in adulthood because of not really having the appropriate living situation most times... anyway that is all over now.

So my question is does anyone have a solid method for leading your dog while riding? Any cool tricks etc?

my only memory of that goes something like: dog pulls hand on handlebars, almost fall over, dog runs in front of front wheel and stops, swerve to avoid dog and end up falling over anyway. it was the first and last time i did that. it's all about walking the dog on a skateboard.

Yeah, whenever I see that it always strikes me as a very bad idea.

haha to advice I have wear the protection cup to clean the fixed chain naked or you could be like me. The dog I would say go slowly

Get yourself a wicker basket.

they sell "tag-alongs" that attach to the rear of your bike to hook the leash onto.

I wonder if I can train him to ride in my bag.

I can see it now, an army of "will my dog fit in this bag?" threads.

i saw three dogs in bags during the 12 monkeys race.

Just get an energetic breed. When I was younger, my samoyed would pull my dad (185 lbs.) for the first 2k and then she would just pace us. Once she learned the route, we'd just take off the leash.

http://myspace-941.vo.llnwd.net/0032...23714941_l.jpg

my roomate and pepperjack.

I already adopted him.
It's a lil pit boy... they're making me get hills balls cut off before he can get released to me..... so I get to pick him up tomorrow.

that pic is ****ing rad.

When I was working at Neighborhood Bikeworks in Philly (youth bike program), one of the kids wanted a tag-along for riding with his dog. Rather than ordering him one, we attached a quill stem to his seatpost, and attached an old fork to that. In the fork, we put a QR hub.

The kid trained put the leash around the hub and put it in the fork, and trained his dog to run with it. Dunno if he still uses it, but it worked for a while.

Intrigued - did you fit the quill IN the seatpost, or weld/epoxy it to the side?

I used to go mountain biking with my dog. I just let him run free, he loved it. But one time he ran in front of me. We were both hurting, but not bad. I stopped doing that, and just walked him. BTW, I'm glad to hear that someone actually has waited until they were in a good enough living situation to care for a dog before getting one. I wish certain past room-mates had had the forsight you have.

It is all about good training. first you have to train to heel. Then train to never cross. (by the way both standard dog training stuff.) Then train to heel while off leash. and the final step is to get the dog to understand it all go's the same when you are on a bike.
I would just walk my dog though.

Yeah bro. I waited for a LOOOONNNNGGGG time so... it's weird now... like I'm still all stressed about everything but I know it's all good.

holy crap your dog looks a lot like my dog xochitl:
http://static.flickr.com/42/111794611_e6b113e809.jpg
she's an amazing trail dog. i didn't have to train xochitl at all. she just followed me instantly. herding dogs own. one trick my friend used to get his dog aclimated to riding with him was to first just take his dog running. once he was confident his dog would stay with him, he took him biking. often too i think the just the high paced activity keeps them from getting distracted. it can be tough on their paws at first, so just taking them running first can help their paws toughen up at a more gradual pace. sometimes too you have to buzz their arse with your front wheel to remind them where you are and to stay out of the way.

Is Xochitl a blue heeler?

yeah, she's blue heeler mix. i saw a breed book that had blue/red heelers/australian cattledogs, but also showed a breed called a queensland heeler, which has her specific markings... they were a little taller than your standard heeler like she is, but i think her height, high waist, and rib cage shape comes from whatever she's a mix of.

Your dog looks a little taller, yea... It's more my roomates dog than mine, so I don't know much about him other than blue heeler. Awesome dog though, full of energy and a really expresive personality. First dog I haven't been annoyed by in a long time, as I'm more of a cat person :D

heelers are really "human" dogs to me... they are so amazingly smart. as your roommate's dog is, xochitl is suuuper expressive. she "talks" a lot. cat people who don't like dogs seem to love her.

fantomas,
pits make great trail dogs... i'm not sure what type of riding you want to do with him, but i don't really ride around town with mine... i think it's too risky. sometimes i'll ride with her on a leash on bike paths, but i only feel safe doing so while riding a coaster brake bike. i really only take her mountain biking.

pits are such great dogs if raised properly.

Yes. I have a special place for the breed which is why that is what I have choosen to get.
I agree about trails vs city as well... if he got hit I would ****in die.

Here's the boy:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...178_7831_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7/178_7828.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7/178_7826.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7/178_7833.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...7/178_7838.jpg

F that...pitts are biters. I'd never own a pitt, rottwieler or doberman unless I wanted to get attacked.



I just wanted to be the first to say that.

I cant remember if it was a flip-front quill, and it fit it around the seatpost, or if it was a regular quill, and I slid it onto the seatpost. No epoxy, just allen bolts.

If you have a pit, you have to train the hell out of it--very firmly and from puppyhood--to be nice. I've known some very nice pit bulls, but when they were young, their owners had electric collars and were VERY firm with them.

The times I've taken "Mike" on a ride, I've tied the leash to my belt and lead him on the right side of my bike. He learned to stay a safe distance away from the bike after the first tangle.

Used to use a 'jogger' bolts to the bike and has a break away mechanism that keeps the dog from running into your wheels, etc. It can break away if to much pressure.

These are not good for all dogs, e.g. ones with high prey drives, etc. unless you use a leash on them too (defeats the purpose). dogs that pull excessively or take off after squirrels, etc. need to be controlled, and the best way for you to do that is have decent bike skills, decent strenght and to use a harness and 4' leash and be able to control your pooch with verbal commands and some body pressure on the leash.

Start out slow and 'train' fido and both of you will be much happer and safer.

If you dog is big and powerful (moreso than you) then work on heeling first.

rvabiker - clearly you have a pit aversion, but many dogs bite. I've been a dog person for years, worked with rescues and shelters, and have been bit by several breeds other than pits. (chihuahua - eyes teeth and testicles, tweaker spaniels, scary GSDs) They do need to be trained along with any dog, and always supervised/watched, but can be great pets and loyal beyond any other breeds. All bull breeds love their people. (for all the folks that are going to say what about the 3 pits that mauled xxx. 2 dogs is a pair, 3 are a pack. any dog can act like that in a pack setting. Humans screwed them up, so humans should be responsible for 'retraining' them.) No, I don't own a pit.

http://www.wwmovers-africa.com/haro/barley1.jpg

I dunno, I'm just a sucker for big, dumb, friendly dogs. And the biggest, dumbest and friendliest of them all is the majestic Labrador Retriever. Can you believe he weighed over 100 pounds at one point?? No way I could fit him in a bag. He is also kind of too slow to chase after a bike but I have never really had the urge to take him out biking anyways.

Here is a little art project I did that I just remembered about

all of the training and heeling in the world can't prevent your dog from getting her/his paw caught in a sewer grate. this happened to a dog i used to know named pinky the destroyer, and he broke his leg when the leash and bike he was attached to kept going.

so much can go wrong, i don't think it's worth it. i don't rock headphones on my bike, and i don't ride bike with my greyhound, but i look forward to walking to the park with greta and my ipod three times a day.