Bike Riding

[TheCheekyMonster]

Can anyone point me to some good training material to train a dog to run along side a bike. I want to teach Gus but have no clue where to start and youtube is hit and miss

[Tassie]

Assuming Gus is OK when he sees bikes in general. I've started by walking the bike with the dog alongside .. good if you can do this safely with the dog off lead. (I was lucky to have a friend with a 5 acre block.). Then I ride the bike with the dog free alongside ... good if you can do this somewhere it won't hurt too much if you come off .. the challenge is to have the dog understand he needs to stay clear of the wheels. Once you get that done, then try with the dog on lead.

I've done it with 3 dogs now, and they seem to get it pretty quickly, and really enjoy it. Some people use a bike attachment, but I haven't done that .. mainly because I was training for ET, and you have to have the lead in your hand.

Oh, and check the legalities .. in some states you're not allowed to bike with a dog on a public road.

[TheCheekyMonster]

He doesn't react to much, he had a close call with a car recently he was a little too close and it spooked him so of late he panics a bit when he sees an on coming car but bikes don't phase him. there is a big quiet park near me and I have a long line so maybe I can start with that see how I go. Thanks

[Esky the husky]

I like the walkydog attachment, as the dog physically cannot get under the wheels. It's a metal tube about a foot long that attaches just below the seat, or you can get an attachment so that it attaches to the nut on the back wheel.

I started by walking the dog along side the bike, then pretty much just went with the walky dog. With the puppy we've just done a little bit of him off leash while I bike. He seems to just get to stay away.. Which is good as he'll be pulling a bike around for racing.

As for legalities I've ridden past police men on the footpath with Esky and they've not batted an eyelid. I think you'd be very unlucky to actually get in trouble.. That said not encouraging anyone to break the law. When we lived urban I usually stuck to bike paths, rode close to the side as possible to force the dog to run on the grass ;)

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

in some states you're not allowed to bike with a dog on a public road

it's an Australian road rule - you're not allowed to ride / drive with an animal tethered to or held from your vehicle (includes bicycles. And not on any road related areas either - which includes footpaths.

For some reason - most police don't actually know this rule - maybe because they are never asked to enforce it. Unless there is a major accident because of it - in which case you might have hard time getting insurance to pay out - if they ask.

A lot of the endurance clubs use bikes with dogs to build endurance.

And I've seen a few people who ride with their dog - attached or not - past police and they do nothing so I figure it's not high on their priority list. They're not likely to ping parents for riding their bikes on the footpaths with their children either.

I think the internet term for it is bikejoring or something similar.

[Esky the husky]

Nah, bikejoring is a discipline of dryland mushing where the dog is infront of the bike on a bungee line pulling

Bikejoring ;)

Slightly off topic

Anyway this is the walkydog *the company's promo pic *

Or there is also a thing called the 'springer'

I don't like them, as if you crash it has a has an auto release. Not the best if you have a dog without super recall..

[TheCheekyMonster]

thanks guys, I have a torn ACL so cross fingers no crashing for me lol

[GeorgieB]

OT

I love your bikejoring pic Esky! :)

Edited because my ipad can't format text for some reason...

Edited May 22, 2014 by GeorgieB

[skip]

I've been looking at getting one of these attachments.

I was heading towards the Springer one but its useless to me if it releases automatically? I see it has a bolt to pull to release it but does it release elsewhere as well?

I have been biking my kelpie for 2 years and normally she is great. But she is fearful of some dogs and could dart under a tyre if spooked suddenly. She did so recently at something unexpected and it wasn't pretty. BUt I need her to stay attached to the bike as in a panic she might run off. We are on miles of bike track round a lake so cars aren't much of an issue.

I was even considering maybe a 3 wheeler bike with a basket in the rear for my old small dog? Or a bike trailer with the kelpie tied to the trailer?

Any advice appreciated.

[Aidan3]

The safety release is a good feature, but it's just that plastic thing with the holes in it that the leash is tied to. A not-very-skilled person might figure out a way to <cough>simply untie it and tie the leash to the spring instead<cough>.

[skip]

Thanks for that advice