[Nubwagon]

Hey all, I'm looking for some advice on how to get my dog running. Yesterday, I took her out for her usual after work walk and decided to try running with her for a bit. As soon as I started going faster, she realized what was going on and started taking off. We wound up running for a few hundred feet before slowing back down to a walk.

See, I'm not a runner. Never have been, never will be. But it looks like she loves it. So naturally the question now is, how do I get her running while I'm on some type of wheels?

So from here, the options that I see are rollerblades/skates, a skateboard, or a bike. I actually bought a cheapie pair of skates yesterday and tried them without her around. Yeah...don't think that's gonna work as I didn't really have any balance on them. So that leaves either the skateboard or the bike.

Now I have heard that biking with a dog is not the best idea at all. Apparently there are too many things that can go wrong on a bike and result in some injuries. So that kinda narrows it down to the skateboard...unless someone else has any other suggestions. I figure a skateboard is relatively stable and if things go south, I can jump off it and control her.

Do you guys do something similar to what I'm trying to do? If so, what do you use and how does it work out? Is there another method to do this that is affordable (< $100)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kodiakgirl]

Bikes can be dangerous if your dog is not properly trained, and judging from your story and saying that she took off when you started running, I would say the bike wouldn't be a good idea. I use a treadmill for my boy, if you don't already have one, look for a used one in your price range and try that out. She might not be able to full-out run on it, but it's definitely a good exercise tool.

 

[ames]

I was going to say a treadmill too. Check out craigslist, they have some cheap one you could snatch up for under a hundred. Make sure her leash is tied enough so she will not fall of the back if she slows and it helps keep the momentum. Introduce it slowly to get her used to it, giving lots of treats and after 2 days mine was an old pro on it. (thank goodness all the ice this year he would have been so neglected on fast moving outside time, lol)

 

[MY MIKADO]

I just had to post on this thread. It is fairly easy to teach your dog to run along side a bike if you already have some obedience training down pat with them. First you need to teach your dog to focus on you and not its surrounding. Second you need to teach it to listen to you when you are moving faster than normal. I would take your dog out to an area that doesnt have a lot of trafic so you wont have a lot of distractions. Start out by walking your dog along side the bike as you push it this will give you an idea of how she will react to the bike. After you have gone a few yards get on and go slow. Tell her to heel do not let her start out running right off the bat you need to teach her that you are in control of the speed. I hope this helps.

 

[Wingman]

Get a bikejoring set up. It keeps her in place next to you on a bike.

 

[kodiakgirl]

I just had to post on this thread. It is fairly easy to teach your dog to run along side a bike if you already have some obedience training down pat with them. First you need to teach your dog to focus on you and not its surrounding. Second you need to teach it to listen to you when you are moving faster than normal. I would take your dog out to an area that doesnt have a lot of trafic so you wont have a lot of distractions. Start out by walking your dog along side the bike as you push it this will give you an idea of how she will react to the bike. After you have gone a few yards get on and go slow. Tell her to heel do not let her start out running right off the bat you need to teach her that you are in control of the speed. I hope this helps.

:goodpost: I was at work when I posted earlier, and couldn't think of a quick way to explain the training. I came back to this thread to elaborate, but I see you already took care of it! lol

Get a bikejoring set up. It keeps her in place next to you on a bike.

Getting a bikejoring setup would require even more training, as it requires the dog to pull while you are behind on the bike. Either way would be an excellent way to exercise your dog IMO, it just depends on exactly how much training you would want to do. Personally, my dog won't pull me on a bike, he always wants to see me and that just doesn't work well when he's turning around every few seconds to see where I am. lol. I've biked with my dog before while he's running next to me, and it works really well for him. If you decide to have your dog run next to you, my advice would be to follow My Mikado's training instructions. When I bike with my dog, I always have him on a leash (of course) and I drape the leash over the handle grip and put my hand on top of it. I never tie or secure the leash to the bike in any way, because if something were to happen it would be a huge tangled mess with dog, bike, and owner. That's my personal opinion though, I've seen a lot of dogs do just fine with those spring-like things that attach to bikes, but for safety (and because my dog can be clumsy) I just drape the leash over the handle and hold it there.

 

[Wingman]

:goodpost: I was at work when I posted earlier, and couldn't think of a quick way to explain the training. I came back to this thread to elaborate, but I see you already took care of it! lol

Getting a bikejoring setup would require even more training, as it requires the dog to pull while you are behind on the bike. Either way would be an excellent way to exercise your dog IMO, it just depends on exactly how much training you would want to do. Personally, my dog won't pull me on a bike, he always wants to see me and that just doesn't work well when he's turning around every few seconds to see where I am. lol. I've biked with my dog before while he's running next to me, and it works really well for him. If you decide to have your dog run next to you, my advice would be to follow My Mikado's training instructions. When I bike with my dog, I always have him on a leash (of course) and I drape the leash over the handle grip and put my hand on top of it. I never tie or secure the leash to the bike in any way, because if something were to happen it would be a huge tangled mess with dog, bike, and owner. That's my personal opinion though, I've seen a lot of dogs do just fine with those spring-like things that attach to bikes, but for safety (and because my dog can be clumsy) I just drape the leash over the handle and hold it there.

You can get a rig that places the dog next to you, so that the dog isn't pulling you, more just running beside you.

 

[Nubwagon]

Thanks for the advice. I suppose I should point out that I currently do not own a bicycle (I have a motorcycle, but I don't think that'll work very well). When I take her for walks and there is a bike passing by, I can see that she's pretty nervous/fearful of it. So I'm not so sure the bike would be the best option unless I do plently of training to get her used to it.

About a year ago at an event, I met a guy selling dog scooters. We tried hooking her up to it and running along side of her to get it moving. She ran for about 40 feet and suddenly stopped which caused the scooter to hit her as the brakes couldn't be applied in time (no damage done). We continued with the scooter after this for a minute and she actually did pretty well with it as long as someone was running next to her. I would love to try her again on the scooter, but they're pretty pricey ($300-$600 from what I've seen).

So that leaves me with the treadmill or the skateboard idea. I would be interested to see how she would do on a treadmill after getting her used to it. Since the weather is nice here right now, I would prefer getting her outside and running. Does anyone think the skateboard would work? The way I see it, if I'm on a skateboard and she runs off track, I can simply jump off and control her immediately. IMO, that is a better option than rollerblades/bike.

Any other thoughts? Thanks again!

 

[cEElint]

i use my beach cruiser .. Dre does fine.. i just shorten up the leash and keep him beside me.. noises from the bike scare Daisy and she wont run beside it .. she likes it out front, but she runs back and forth across the front of the bike.. made me wipe out before.. lol.. still have a scar on my knee.. so she doesnt get to do it anymore.. just Dre

you could try one of the Razor things

 

[JayHawk]

I bike with Preacher as well, I use a skijoring harness on him (with a 6" bungee to help absorb any shock since he gets to cruising speed faster than I can) and a heavy duty retractable lead to eliminate any slack since he runs in front and sets the pace, our paths are dirt farm roads and range from 4 to 10 miles all bike runs start and end with 20/30min warmup/cool down walks

I would strongly suggest to work on your recall and leave it commands before starting to bike with your dog and know the condition level and limits of your dog, but if done properly and in the right area it can be great exercise and fun for both

 

[Elvisfink]

I've biked with all of my dogs with no issues and they've all love it. As long as your dog has some basic OB you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[kodiakgirl]

Thanks for the advice. I suppose I should point out that I currently do not own a bicycle (I have a motorcycle, but I don't think that'll work very well). When I take her for walks and there is a bike passing by, I can see that she's pretty nervous/fearful of it. So I'm not so sure the bike would be the best option unless I do plently of training to get her used to it.

About a year ago at an event, I met a guy selling dog scooters. We tried hooking her up to it and running along side of her to get it moving. She ran for about 40 feet and suddenly stopped which caused the scooter to hit her as the brakes couldn't be applied in time (no damage done). We continued with the scooter after this for a minute and she actually did pretty well with it as long as someone was running next to her. I would love to try her again on the scooter, but they're pretty pricey ($300-$600 from what I've seen).

So that leaves me with the treadmill or the skateboard idea. I would be interested to see how she would do on a treadmill after getting her used to it. Since the weather is nice here right now, I would prefer getting her outside and running. Does anyone think the skateboard would work? The way I see it, if I'm on a skateboard and she runs off track, I can simply jump off and control her immediately. IMO, that is a better option than rollerblades/bike.

Any other thoughts? Thanks again!

The way you explained how you got her used to the scooter is just the way you can go about getting her used to a bike. If you prefer a skateboard, that would be good too. With any fast-moving exercises, there are going to be risks no matter what you do, so I guess you can just decide what you want to do and go from there. Sounds like you have a good foundation to training basics. Whatever you decide to go with, you can post about any training questions in the training section and I'm sure you will get some excellent responses about how to train your dog in the activity.

 

[YAHHOO]

Bike is the best option! It really is easy for most dogs to get the hang of running by the bike. Mine only took 2 crashes before he got it lol, first he ran in front if me and got ran over lol, second he tried to go after a cat and wiped out. Gave him some road rash lol but he learned to watch me and the bike all in about 20 minutes! I don't let him pull me though if your wanting your dog to do that it might be more difficult to train them to turn and such.

 

[Pacifico23]

Found rollerblading to be the best. You can keep them at a good pace without really running them hard, as well as you being on a good pace and comfortable. Takes up less space, and dont have to worry about traffic and bike lanes. I was raised on a skateboard. So I feel like a total chump on those rollerblades. But my one pup loves them. So its an easy sacrifice, plus nowadays you can get a good pair for 50 bucks. Also be careful, if your dog is not used to running, its really easy to tear up their pads. Have to work them incremental to build up those pads..

 

[stonerreakinhavok]

roller blades maybe?

 

[angelbaby]

roller blades maybe?

LMAO my uncle took his Great Dane roller blading ONCE , and his dog was very well behaved normally lol i said ONCE cause I think he had permagrass stains and road rash for like a year lololololol. I like wheels you can get off of if needed when taking a dog along