Bicycling with Dogs
I don't think I've seen a thread on this before... but if this is a repeat thread, I apologize in advance.
Anyway, I've been bicycling more lately, and was thinking about the fact that this is probably something I'll try to do (in moderation, of course) with my (still pretty hypothetical) future Kai. I used to take my Lapphund with me on occasion (distances of only a mile or two), but, because I was about 12 years old when I started doing this, I didn't really think through how I was going to do it. So I would put her in a sledding harness (I bought one for her at one time to try skijoring...), clip a leash to it, hook the leash onto the handlebars of the bike, and encourage her to run ahead of me.
I'm pretty sure that was probably a pretty wretched way to do that, safety-wise. I also have no clue how I trained her to do any of it, because I was pretty much winging it the whole time. I'm really lucky that nothing bad ever came of it, with the chaotic way I was doing it with her. I think I practiced in the backyard first to get her used to the bike so it wouldn't spook her, and tried to teach her some directional commands on walks.
So. What would actually be the better way to teach a dog to go with a bicycle? Is it safe to do it at all (I would think it would be with the proper precautions, but...)? What kinds of equipment are actually a good idea to use? What kinds of guidelines are there for speed/distance when taking a dog along for a ride? How old would the average Kai have to be before it's a good idea to let him/her trot along with a bike in the first place?
And anything else I haven't thought of yet... I'm mostly just curious at this point, because I don't have a dog for it to be relevant to yet.
Anyway, I've been bicycling more lately, and was thinking about the fact that this is probably something I'll try to do (in moderation, of course) with my (still pretty hypothetical) future Kai. I used to take my Lapphund with me on occasion (distances of only a mile or two), but, because I was about 12 years old when I started doing this, I didn't really think through how I was going to do it. So I would put her in a sledding harness (I bought one for her at one time to try skijoring...), clip a leash to it, hook the leash onto the handlebars of the bike, and encourage her to run ahead of me.
I'm pretty sure that was probably a pretty wretched way to do that, safety-wise. I also have no clue how I trained her to do any of it, because I was pretty much winging it the whole time. I'm really lucky that nothing bad ever came of it, with the chaotic way I was doing it with her. I think I practiced in the backyard first to get her used to the bike so it wouldn't spook her, and tried to teach her some directional commands on walks.
So. What would actually be the better way to teach a dog to go with a bicycle? Is it safe to do it at all (I would think it would be with the proper precautions, but...)? What kinds of equipment are actually a good idea to use? What kinds of guidelines are there for speed/distance when taking a dog along for a ride? How old would the average Kai have to be before it's a good idea to let him/her trot along with a bike in the first place?
And anything else I haven't thought of yet... I'm mostly just curious at this point, because I don't have a dog for it to be relevant to yet.
Comments
http://youtu.be/7NMYDEGWIwA
My experience is limited to seeing my friends do urban mushing, but if you want the dog to run in front, you teach the harnessed dog to run/pull by having an assistant run in front with a leash in hand hooked up to the collar. You can teach the dog directions and commands this way too.
If you already have a savy dog, the new dog is hooked up with that dog.
If you have a lot of dogs in a team, you hook the new dog behind them and let the new dog "chase" the others. Or you follow another team and have your solo dog "chase" them.
I at least knew to not use a plain collar, thank God. The harness I had (still have, though whether it will ultimately fit my next dog--whenever that is--is an unknown, of course) is just an x-back style mushing harness. Red with silver reflective things on it because... that's what Cabela's sold at the time, and that's where it came from. My concern with that was always just that a) it comes off by pulling over the head, which meant that my Lapphund could back out if she tried hard enough (and I doubt an NK would be any different) despite the fact that the harness fit, and b) that it was really obviously designed (of course) for the dog to be up ahead, and I didn't like how it twisted when she would start to trot alongside instead.
@ayk
That's really interesting! I always just used a mountain bike because that's what I had, and that makes a lot of sense for how to teach a dog to run ahead. It would make sense that chasing/an already savvy dog would help a lot. If I eventually have a dog that seems like he/she will enjoy it, I might eventually look into if anyone in the area does urban mushing and would be willing to show me how to do it/help with training.
@WhiteGC8
That's a neat video! I would be worried about the breakaway causing a runaway dog, too... especially when the dog isn't that experienced. I used to keep a longer leash on the Lapphund's collar (in addition to the leash I used to hook her to the bike via the harness) for that reason--she was a runner when she was young, and didn't have the best recall for a long time. Plus there's a lot of traffic around here, so I tried to be extra careful about that. I've heard mixed reviews of the Springer--I used to see them advertised a lot, but I don't think I've ever actually witnessed someone using one in real life...
For the most part, the actual training has to be done on the trail. If the dog goes down the wrong trail, the "correction" is stopping and turning back. If the dog goes down the right path, you can stop and reward or just keep running as running (for huskies at least) can be its own reward.
Something that I've found that helps teaching commands is doing the training canicross style. The dog is hooked to your waist, giving you greater control on redirecting the dog to the directions you want him to go to.
Something you may also want to consider is the size of the dog, the minimum weight for urban mushing is 30lbs and around 19 inches at the shoulder, your kai might not reach that size. Good thing about bikejoring is that you can peddle to alleviate some of the weight the dog is pulling.
Here's a few interesting sites to check out:
http://www.bikejor.com/
http://www.nordkyn.com/
http://site.thedogoutdoors.com/dogblog/2009/03/16/bikejoring-equipment-bikejor-walkydog/
http://www.alpineoutfitters.net
http://www.nooksackracing.com/bikejoring.html
Thanks for the links and for the input, everyone! If my eventual dog doesn't enjoy it, of course I won't force the matter--it's just something I figured I would look into if there was a better way to go about doing it in case it's something I end up doing with him/her someday.
I've taken them bikejoring style (and scootering - I have a scooter) and with the WalkyDog. I could never make honest pullers out of my dogs. That is, they keep the line tight, but the minute I stop scooting or peddling, they stop and turn around like, "Hey, what gives?" I'm sure I could train them out of that, though. Oh, and Rakka's "on-by" is terrible. If a small animal crosses our path, then we basically have to stop or she'll take us off the path. Sosuke's pretty good about that, though. With more practice, Rakka would probably improve.
Actually, I would really like to get more into the mushing, but you need a certain type of trail to do that unless your dog is really well-trained. You also take up more space set up with the dogs in front. You're longer, so maneuvering turns, crossing streets, or passing people can be trickier. It's definitely preferable to be somewhere with uninterrupted, low-traffic (or really wide) trails. Of course, your options become broader when the dogs are more well-trained. You're more likely to get tangled, and if the dogs go the wrong way, you have to stop, back up, and straighten everyone out.
On the other hand, the WalkyDog style of biking is really no different than regular biking. You can do it on sidewalks in your neighbourhood, so just pop out the door and come back 20 minutes later with tired dogs. You take up more space than just regular biking, so that's something to keep in mind, but you can also bike on the sidewalk while your dog runs on the grass beside and that allows you to pass people without any trouble (usually - sometimes there's a post or sign to watch out for). You can bike on the road, but I don't ride with the dogs on the traffic side, as in, the dog is between you and the sidewalk.
Before I had the WalkyDog, I just attached a leash to the bike seat. It had to be short enough that the dog couldn't go in front of the bike. If you use a standard 5 or 6' leash, then the dog can cut in front and make your bike flip forward, causing you to land on your face, break your glasses, and get a concussion. Ask me how I know. However, if they can't get in front of the bike, then there's not much they can do. The leash is too short to get tangled in anything; the only thing that could theoretically happen is the dog could throw itself into the bike. My dogs didn't like getting too close to the bike, so that was never a concern. Once in a while, the dogs would even go around the back of the bike, but that didn't cause any harm.
Oh, and since I have two dogs and only one WalkyDog, I have two ways of setting them up together. One is to use the WalkyDog on one side and the regular short-leash method on the other side. The other is to attach one dog to the WalkyDog and the second dog to the first dog. Of course, making sure there's not enough leash for the second dog to get in front of the bike. Only a short connector is needed, so that's not hard. I thought about getting another WalkyDog, but there's not actually enough room on the bike seat pole for another one unless I put my seat way up, then it would be too tall for me. Oh yeah, and the WalkyDog leash doesn't reach down far enough for my dogs so I have to add a little length of leash so it doesn't hang them.
Here's another thing, though (Link), it has one on either side and it looks longer. I didn't see this one when I bought my WalkyDog, or I probably would have bought this instead.
Dragoon [ kishu ] is a PIA tho. Her prey-drive is over the top, so whenever she hears the slightest sound or sees something [ usually, it's nothing ] she puts on the immediate breaks and shreds her paws.
Prey-drive ADD LOL ~