bike run

958 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by beauceron.akita, Jun 18, 2012

ben00x

Discussion Starter · Jun 17, 2012

does anyone else cruise on their bikes with their dogs jogging next to them?

I don't often jog. As a former hockey player, jogging was my least favorite part of the off-ice conditioning, though I had no problem with sprinting and weights/stair climbing. I play fetch with gunther a lot in addition to our walks (which are an average of one hour, depending on the temperature. If it's under 70 degrees F it's usually longer. Otherwise he gets too hot after about a mile, so I have to break his walks up and end up taking the longer walk at night). Occasionally I sprint a couple of blocks, but I need a cool down as much as he does after enough of it. My mom thought it was cruel that I ride my bike while he jogs along my side because she thought he was being forced to run, though I know that this is not the case because when I say, "Bike run?" he gets super excited and once I'm on the bike he takes off. I never ride so fast that I'm dragging him... I ride at his pace. I don't ever go for too long and not at all when it's too hot/humid.

Does anybody else ride and jog their dog, or is it bad that I do that?

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

Tofu_pup

· #2 · Jun 17, 2012

I've had a handful of passerby's make comments about it being mean or cruel in the years and years that I've been biking with my dogs. It's not.

Pay attention to your dog. If it seems like he's struggling, take a breather and give him some water. Slowly build up to longer distances(the same way that a human athlete would work on conditioning). Try to keep him on grass or dirt if possible as it's easier on the joints but a little pavement isn't the end of the world.

Until we moved, I had Kaki biking 16.2 miles round trip for work three days a week. Tuesday and Thursday we would walk that length to give her a break from the running. Yet she still had enough energy to wrestle and run with the other dogs at work all day. I bought a bike trailer for her to make the trip easier and faster for both of us but she hated it.

ben00x

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 17, 2012

Gunther is a little over 2 years, and he is a lab/gsd mix. He is a spazz. At most I take him on two 1/4 mile bike-runs when I do it. I live in the city, and I don't have a yard. So when I don't have time to take him to the park to run after a ball, I run him around the neighborhood on the bike. I do pay close attention to him, and I slow down when he needs to slow down. There have been people walking down the street that have said aloud, "I'm glad to see someone is exercising their big dog around here," which makes me feel better. At first though, my mom (who has never had a dog, btw) thought I was being cruel. Maybe she thought of that scene in National Lampoons Vacation when Clark Griswald forgets the dog is tied to the back bumper of the car... I don't know. I think that Gunther's jogging next to my bike is a great improvement from his puppy years barking at anything with wheels. Plus - good fast way to tire him out. =)

momtolabs

· #4 · Jun 17, 2012

I bike with Bentley. On the other forum I am on they dont encourage it but it is really no different than running with your dog!!! I go at a slow pace and watch my dog. Just make usre your dog is well trained, I learned that the hard way,lol. darn squirells are out to get me, I think! When i do bike with him I dont go for a long one(maybe 10-15 minutes) and at a slow pace.

ben00x

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 17, 2012

momtolabs said:
I bike with Bentley. On the other forum I am on they dont encourage it but it is really no different than running with your dog!!! I go at a slow pace and watch my dog. Just make usre your dog is well trained, I learned that the hard way,lol. darn squirells are out to get me, I think! When i do bike with him I dont go for a long one(maybe 10-15 minutes) and at a slow pace.

yeah i never go for too long. for one, when he wants to chase a stray cat, he brings me down with him (I've wiped out a few times because of these damn strays) - so I try to keep it to the point (usually he's good about it because he loves to jog). also, he gets his main running exercise in the park or over dirt and grass and I don't want to over do it over pavement or concrete due to the impact on his joints. While the exercise is good for him, i prefer to take him to the park to run on soft dirt versus jogging on the pavement. But still, I view it as no different than taking him for a jog, except I don't have to jog.. lol

Kayota

· #6 · Jun 17, 2012

I bike three miles at a time regularly with my Chihuahua mix and I will be going further when I get a bike basket for her to take breaks in. She too gets excited when I say "Roxie, go bike?" I tie her to the pole beneath the seat with just a leash and it works great.

winniec777

· #7 · Jun 17, 2012

I've always wanted to try dog scootering for the same reason vs. a bike, i.e. I'm not sure I could achieve the right pacing for the dog. But a scooter puts both of you to work as a team. You would need a special harness and the scooter, so its a bit of an investment. You could prob find a used one for a lot less, though.

http://dogscooter.com/

Q: since you're a hockey player, have you ever thought of roller blading with your dog? That would only mean getting some roller blades and a harness and teaching a few simple commands, like Stop!

I bet your dog would love it.

Also, some good tips here for biking safely with your dog: http://www.thedogoutdoors.com/dog-biking-tips.html

ben00x

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 17, 2012

winniec777 said:
Q: since you're a hockey player, have you ever thought of roller blading with your dog? That would only mean getting some roller blades and a harness and teaching a few simple commands, like Stop! I bet your dog would love it.

I thought about it, but he still likes to chase after the occasional squirrel and stray cat. The bike has brakes so I can stop, but if he decided to chase a cat down the street while I was in roller blades, I think I might die. lol
I have tried to shoot pucks and have him chase them down, but he's good on defense and doesn't give me a chance to shoot the puck.

Kayota

· #9 · Jun 17, 2012 (Edited)

That link says that the dog should be 20 lbs at minimum... Should I stop biking with my dog?? She loves it so much...

ETA: I also go farther than 2 miles... I didn't realize I was doing so much wrong

But she doesn't seem to mind that/have trouble with that either?

ben00x

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 17, 2012

i don't think of biking with your dog as much different than jogging with them. I mean, physically, they're just running along beside you. As long you're paying attention and stopping for water and rests every so often, I don't think that it's bad for her. They might be just saying that because a larger dog can take longer strides and could keep up with a bike easier, maybe?

Kayota

· #11 · Jun 17, 2012

Yeah she does end up running a lot, but I noticed that it's out of her own free will and she'll trot if she gets tired/would rather be trotting. I can't bike very fast because I have short weak fat legs lol! So she and I are kind of in the same boat fitness wise, except she's more fit than I in terms of weight and diet.

winniec777

· #12 · Jun 18, 2012

ben00x said:
I thought about it, but he still likes to chase after the occasional squirrel and stray cat. The bike has brakes so I can stop, but if he decided to chase a cat down the street while I was in roller blades, I think I might die. lol
I have tried to shoot pucks and have him chase them down, but he's good on defense and doesn't give me a chance to shoot the puck.

LOL - that sounds like my Poca. She is an awesome ice chunk blocker (she defends while I kick chunks of road ice her way - a favorite winter game for her). Also good with tennis balls. I had to train her to back up, though, so that I had a chance to get things by her - she would crowd me and practically stand on top of my foot. So I get her to back up and it gives me more of an edge.

Cracker

· #13 · Jun 18, 2012

I see people biking BADLY with their dogs often..bad breed choices (like great danes), in too hot weather, or too small a dog or whatever. I think biking with a dog is a great thing as long as:

The dog does not have conformation issues that would affect his joints long term (like hip issues or with my dog, one front leg is shorter than the other)
The dog is not under 1 and a 1/2 years of age or older than 9ish (depends on breed)
The handler is frequently checking that the dog is not lagging or distressed..a dog WILL keep running to exhaustion because they have no other choice.
Frequent breaks and water are given.
Other exercise is part of the dogs life, like free runs with other dogs etc...dogs are not meant to be going in one long run in one direction for all their lives.

If your dog is young, healthy and put together well and you are aware of these things that is great. If you are one of those that tries to run your dog to exhaustion because some TV trainer says it is important...then no. LOL

Why not do some cross training, being that you are an athlete? Are there any agility clubs around your area? Good exercise for You and for your dog, both mental and physical.

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melgrj7

· #14 · Jun 18, 2012

I used to bike with my dogs all the time. Ever since I wiped out and broke my head last summer I haven't been back on a bike though (the dogs were not with me, it was all me lol, had some bad brain trauma). They would go 14 miles round trip easily (we of course conditioned up to that) and they carried our water. We stopped regularly for 5 minute or so breaks. They loved it! Once I get the nerve to get back on a bike we will start again . . . if I ever get the nerve to do so lol. They LOVED running with the bike. I can't really run, it hurts my knees way to much, so biking with them is the best way I have to go "running" with them lol.

ben00x

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 18, 2012

Cracker said:
I see people biking BADLY with their dogs often..bad breed choices (like great danes), in too hot weather, or too small a dog or whatever. I think biking with a dog is a great thing as long as:

The dog does not have conformation issues that would affect his joints long term (like hip issues or with my dog, one front leg is shorter than the other)
The dog is not under 1 and a 1/2 years of age or older than 9ish (depends on breed)
The handler is frequently checking that the dog is not lagging or distressed..a dog WILL keep running to exhaustion because they have no other choice.
Frequent breaks and water are given.
Other exercise is part of the dogs life, like free runs with other dogs etc...dogs are not meant to be going in one long run in one direction for all their lives.

If your dog is young, healthy and put together well and you are aware of these things that is great. If you are one of those that tries to run your dog to exhaustion because some TV trainer says it is important...then no. LOL

Why not do some cross training, being that you are an athlete? Are there any agility clubs around your area? Good exercise for You and for your dog, both mental and physical.

I pay close attention to my dog while we are biking/running. When he runs, he runs and I have to really pedal to get up to speed! When he slows down, I do too. Sometimes he trots, sometimes he walks and I just roll slowly along. I adjust my speed to him. He doesn't adjust his speed to me.
He's a lab/gsd mix, is a little over two years old and is in good physical shape. I just got a bike earlier this spring, so this is something we've started to do recently.
The trips we take are just around the neighborhood, and it's not the only exercise he gets. I walk him daily - when it's hot, we go on several shorter walks and a longer one at night, when it's cooler we can walk hours. I also take him to the park to play ball at least a few days a week, and we love to go hiking in wooded areas. The bike run is just a fun thing we both enjoy, and it's good to help him burn some energy (he has a lot of it). Each day we go for walks mixed with different activities and play (hiking, fetch, bike-jogs, tug, etc).
I've thought about taking him to do agility, because I think he would love it (and he can really jump lol. The other day he jumped cleanly over this fallen tree in the woods that must have been at least three feet over the ground). My cousin and her dog do agility and dock diving, and it looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, at this time I can't afford to get involved in it, but it is something I'd like to do in the future.

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beauceron.akita

· #16 · Jun 18, 2012

I have a 5 year old Beauceron that I take biking several times a week. We do a 1 1/2 mile loop through the neighborhood, and i generally keep her at a steady trot, and try not to run her too much. We also do agility on off days from the bike. I do slow down if she starts to slow down (very rarely, only because its starting to get very hot lately, even waiting til 7:30 or 8 at night to go). i have a small back yard, and I couldnt imagine living in a small house with a cooped up active breed like a Beauceron with no strenuous exercise! Of course, I agree with what all has been posted before, the dog should be healthy and of course worked up in distance and stamina, which she of course has been. She really does seem to enjoy it, and it doesnt even seem to make her "tired" as much as it just takes the edge off! She is a dog that constantly wants to go!

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