Age To Start Bike Training

[best4koda]

Hi, at what age is okay to start training your GSD to run along with the push bike for exercise. Mine is about 13months old now. I've started to get her used to it in our street and was wondering if it's ok now to go longer without hurting her joints etc.

thanks.

[Tassie]

You might be better off asking in the GSD breed sub forum - but personally, I'd be waiting a bit longer - growth plates need to have closed IMO - but then I'm probably an over-cautious worry wort. I like the dog's body to have matured quite a bit, and muscled up a bit before I start bike training. It's so easy for the humans, we tend to overdo it for the dog. JMHO

[murve]

Hi, at what age is okay to start training your GSD to run along with the push bike for exercise. Mine is about 13months old now. I've started to get her used to it in our street and was wondering if it's ok now to go longer without hurting her joints etc.

thanks.

Hi best4koda, a good question as bone & body development is different in all breeds, the best person to ask maybe is Abbistar you find him in the Endurance thread a fair bit :D

He does a lot of training with dogs & bike

[freundhund]

Hi

As a GSD person who shows, does obedience, agility and is currently preparing a GSD for the ET, what was recommended to me by a reputable vet who does a lot of GSD work is to wait until a minimum of 12 months of age.

BUT you should hip and elbow X-ray and have the results scored for the dog to make sure you are not exacerbating any problems that might be in the hips and elbows. Also to increase the distance slowly ie 500 metres for a week,ie Mon, Wed, Fri. following week you can take it up to a kilometre, but up increments slowly, also not to fast ie no cantering or galloping, stay at a trot. Don't do a lot of down hills as like coming off agility equipment it can be a strain on the shoulders and elbows.

Hope this helps you.

Edited August 1, 2011 by freundhund

[best4koda]

Thanks freundhund, She's 14 months this month and I just wanted to make sure I was going to soon. She's a high drive dog with a chewing problem so I'm just looking at introducing her to it to help tire her out a bit more then a walk. I will take it slow as suggested. It's all flat here so that is good. I've just started getting her used to it in our street as I needed to learn to handle the bike and her as well. I have ordered one of the walkydog bike gadgets to help with that. Hopefully a little bike riding will compliment all the walking, fetch and other activities we have her doing to occupy her mind so less destructive behaviour.

Thanks.

[Tassie]

Sounds good - a couple more things to consider - one applies whether you're biking or running - try to mix up the surdaces the dog is working on - i.e. some grass, some bitumen/concrete, some dirt - to minimise impact, and pad wear.

The other specifically applies to biking - it would be worth checking the law in your state - in many states, maybe all now, it is illegal to ride with a dog on a public road. In training for ET, many of us have been limited to using bike paths (and not all of these allow dogs ) or ovals or tracks through parks. All of which is not bad - just means youmight have to invest in a bike carrier for the car as well - and don't forget your bike helmet :D .

[best4koda]

Yeah had thougth of the change in surfaces. Thanks.

Quite a few ride with dogs here. I think yes it' illegal to do it on the road but alot seem to do it in the quiet streets here as there are so many walkers you end up forced off. We have a bike/walking path locally as well which will be fine for it too. There would be less issues with dogs in communities if they made it a little easier to exercise them in our neighbourhoods I'm sure. But with some doing the wrong thing its a battle for the rest of us.