Question about biking with dogs

So I need to get Joey into coursing shape and work on building up his speed and endurance more. I tried running with him the other day and my running his a fast jog for him and I was out of breath before he even got a chance to warm up.

So... I think I might take up biking with him to condition him.

What kind of bikes would you recommend for comfort and easy biking with a dog? I know some bikes have straight handles and others the hand curves under? I know how to ride a bicycle, but I don't really know much about them and what to look for. I also can't afford a new one right now so I'm browsing craigslist for used ones. How do you know what's the right size bike for you? I keep seeing... 14 inch, 17 inch, yada yada. Do you measure somewhere on your body to see what bike you would fit or is it best just to get on the bike and see if it works for you?

Do you leash your dog to the bike or just hold the leash in your hand? I'm planning to start off slow to get him used to even being around me when I'm biking because I'm worried about him cutting in front of the bike.

I'm planning to bike on as many dirt trails as I can find, but we may have to at least do some jogging on pavement at times. I was thinking about getting Joey some booties for when we have to be on pavement... any advice on booties and brands? He has hare type feet with long toes so I'd have to find something that fits his feet properly.

Any other advice for someone starting out on biking with their dog? The main goal of this is first and foremost exercise, but also to work on building up his endurance. When he is practicing lure coursing he starts off fast, but slows down and tires out pretty quickly right now.

I have a full suspension mountain bike and I *LOVE* that stupid thing. It's an older Trek model, but worth every penny I spent on it.

Other than saying full suspension is much more comfortable, my advice would be google reviews on bikes you are interested in. That will give you an idea of the bike even being worth it.

Also, don't tie him to the handlebars. If you want him tied to the bike, buy a walkydog. Otherwise, I'd hold it loose so you can let go if you need to.

I have a pretty standard cheap mountain bike, here we need the rugged tires, and I just went to the store and found one that fit me, s. have no idea what size it is, sorry I'm of no help there.

BUT! Lol, for the other part I use a Walky Dog, I love this thing, it comes with the attachment for around the bike seat for big dogs. http://www.amazon.ca/Petego-Walky-Hands-Free-Bicycle-Leash/dp/B003OYIAW4

There is also a low rider attachment for small dogs as well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walky-Dog-L...936?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec6038498

And you just disconnect the arm and move it to the other attachment if you have different size dogs. If you have more then one bike you can also buy extra seat attachments so you can move it from bike to bike easily!

another vote for mtn bike, here. i have a specialized myka and i loooove it. granted, once i get to the desert i usually let rage off her leash, but she's adapted to running with it really well and she hasn't pulled me off yet (that would end our biking partnership, i am terrified of falling.)

I have a fancy rocky mountain bike, it was worth the money we spent on it, love that stupid bike. I would suggest a mountain bike. Any amount of suspension will make a word of difference. I just started riding with Teagan and I hold her leash in my hand. One of the first things I did with Teagan was Teach her how to stay on one side. I make her stay on the outside from the road. I even took her to some back country roads Off leash and she ran nice beside the bike, but I taught her how to stay on the one side, even off leash. Thankfully she listens very well to directions. And picked it up really fast.

We ride on both pavement and dirt roads, her feet seem to be doing fine. I am doubtful I will even buy boots for her.

with regarding to sizing what we did was go into a bike shop, pretend we are looking to buy a bike from them. Try out lots of sizes and see what fits. Ride them around a little bit, see what you like and don't like. My bike is a small frame, and where I like my seat my feet are just touching the ground a little bit. I don't like changing my seat height all the time for if we are going up or down hills so I keep it always at the higher level. I plan an eventually getting one of those fancy automatic seat lifters.

Oh and for the feet, you can use musher's secret. Ruffwear boots get good reviews, but I don't know about fit on joey's feet.

Mountain bike all the way!I always kept the dogs to the side because I made the mistake of tying them to my bike... ugh I went head over heels right off a cliff when they decided to run after something. No amount of hollering g ot my bad boys to stop. Bandit naturally picked up on staying out of the way of the tire.

I have no idea honestly! I've biked with Bodhi a few times and she just took to it naturally. However, there is NO way I'd entertain biking somewhere she would need to be on a lead. No matter what training a dog has I'd be paranoid they would pull me over, or go into the bike.

I bike on forest tracks, or paths for walking. Bodhi generally paces by me, and stops to sniff now and then, and catches up. I didn't train her to pace with the bike though, sorry lol.

When Fred is older, I'm going to try him, but I think that might be a different story lol

Bandit has always understood the general rules of offleash. Be it on foot or bike. It came engrained in him thank goodness.

I think the only bike that would suffice for biking with a dog on dirt trails would be a mountain bike. As far as measuring...I'd go to a bike store, try out a few in heights to see what you're comfortable with (most adjust slightly, I think), and then look for the size range you want on craigslist.

DON'T DO NOT DO NOT tie him to the bike (unless you've got a specialized attachment for a dog leash with quick release or whatever, but I think even those are sketchy). Hold the leash in your hand - the weird spiraley leashes that sort of extend and spring back work well for biking if you have any idea what I'm talking about.

The seat on mountain bikes should adjust quite a bit, but don't focus on just the seat height. There are tons of different frame sizes. My frame size is small, I am quite petit and the woman who owned it before found it too small and not sturdy enough for her. She is about the same height. 5'5, but weighed a lot more than I did, just to give you an idea.

It's been a long time since i've bought a bike, but frame size is what's important. When you're standing flat footed, you crotch should be around 2 inches or so above the top bar on the frame, seats are very adjustable. Those should be to a point where you're knee has about 30 degrees left of extension.

If you go more than that with your stroke, ie:your leg is completely straight, i can promise you a nice case of IT band pain eventually

I use my old mountain bike, made before full suspension I've beaten the crap out of that thing and still it hums along. These days I stick to roads and fairly easy trails, but it does me and my dogs fine.

Can't help you with bike sizing or any of that (Mine are always garbage picked bikes) but I'll echoe everyone else and say a mountain bike makes the world of difference.

Also going to say ditto to everyone that said DO NOT TIE TO THE BIKE!

Even though that makes me a hypocrite because Traveler is tethered to the bike, but he's pulling me and has had two years of biking next to me to learn the commands and paths and things.

But for what you're doing I would just get a leash, probably a four foot and let it drape over the handle closest to him with your palm over it so you can let go or grab it as you need to. I don't like bungee leashes for biking with them next to you because I don't want give for them, I like to have more control but that's me. I also don't like to hold the leash in my hand so much because I feel that gives me less control over the bike.

Also, I might recommend a prong to start with if you think he might try to go after things. Having control while biking is a must and he's a "bigger" dog with prey drive.

I would also start adding commands as you go like "faster" "Slow" "On by" "On the grass" etc. Just start pairing them with things you do.

One of the things I like to try and do is break it up half way, I tend to try and bike towards water and have that be the halfway or so point. So like Didgie and I just did four miles and two miles in his a pond that we played fetch in. That allows her to do some un restricted running and moving and cool off.

I don't think you'll need boots for him, mine run sometimes on the pavement and normally they are fine. If it's going to be a hot day put some Mushers Secret on his feet. But just watch him, you know your dogs gait and trust your instincts. Earlier this week I took Didgie out and as we're going I just kept thinking something looked off about how she was running but nothing I could pinpoint. So I pulled over and looked her over and sure enough she had torn a toe pad on her front foot the day before at the dog park. So just pay attention.

Now I don't tend to do this because I have pretty set distances I go but I know my friend who does skijoring changes up how she goes daily. Sometimes she'll do a super fast, at a sprint the whole way one or two miles. The next time she'll do 6 miles at a steady pace. I tend to do sprints within an overall steady trot.

Give a day or two off, especially when you first start. I have it set so Traveler and Didgie alternate days. And if it's going to be hot soak him down before you leave (another reason to find water halfway). Bring water and if you don't hit water sometime spray his chest/stomach and feet to cool him off.

The biggest thing you can do though is pay attention. To everything. Be super hyper aware because people will not listen, they won't reel their dogs in, they won't get out of the way. Look ahead, through trees for people. Take corners slow and be ready to stop at a moments notice. When you're coming behind people instead of just saying "On your left!" add a "On your left with a DOG!" because people respond better to that instead of thinking you'r just another bike and they don't have to move.

Be prepared for every single dog to lunge at you and him. It will happen. Most times the people won't be ready for it, they won't think their dog will do it or what have you, so you need to be ready for it.

And work with him on going to the left side of the path with and passing people because they get stuck on being on the right side.

Also, WEAR A HELMET! This is not a time to decide not to because if you fall and crack your head open your dog is going to be loose so you need to not have that happen. Bring a first aid kit, I would get a backpack with things you'll use every time like a water dish, toys, long line, extra leash.

Most importantly, have fun! It's so much fun to bike with your dogs! I just absolutely love it.

I tried biking with Lucy, and it failed miserably.

1) I was not 100% confident on the bike. I can ride just fine, but being able to stay balanced with a dog who had trouble matching my speed was challenging. Lesson learned: Get good (really good) at riding a bike again before adding the dog to the mix.

2) I used a walky dog (the spring pole that attaches under the seat). It only gave her a foot or so to run in either direction, so she really struggled to match my speed if I would speed up or slow down. Any more slack and I worried she'd run in front of the bike. I'm not sure how I could have mitigated that.

3) Prey drive was our nemesis. Every squirrel, cat, deer, fox, every motorcycle, every mail truck--didn't matter how fast we were going, how into it I thought she was, she would pull hard towards the offensive creature/machine. Don't listen to the reviews that say you can't feel the dog pull. My 25 lb dog tipped my bike over multiple times.

4) Make sure your dog poops before you start riding Learned the hard way that it sucks picking up poop while you have a dog attached to a bike. It sucks even more carrying it while you ride.

In retrospect, it would have been easier to just hold the leash on the handlebars, but I didn't trust her recall at the time (still don't, if she saw a cat within striking distance). I'm fairly certain she'd yank it out of my hand though (if I didn't fall over first). I have not been able to work through her reactivity or prey drive enough to feel confident biking. I would try to borrow a bike for an afternoon before you spend money on one.

or I could have read all of Linds response and just said, do what she said

Bike frames come with so many styles now, the standover isn't really accurate. Sit on the seat, adjust the seat so your legs almost extend at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Make sure you're comfortable with where the handlebars are.

With a dog, I do like the seat low, so I can have 2 feet flat on the ground while on the seat, but to ride without a dog its entirely too low.

You don't really need a mountain bike for gravel trails.

Full suspension add cost, complexity, and inefficiency with pedaling. Just stand up slightly on the pedals and your legs make a decent shock absorber.

Hard tailed mountain bikes or even hybrids are good for gravel and easy dirt. There are even drop bar bikes used for dirt racing now (cyclocross- its dirt, but rather smooth).

Completely agree about keeping the seat lower when biking with dogs. Being able to touch the ground easily has saved me many times.

And Cali is sooo right about pooping. I can't get mine to go before because they are too worked up bit know your dog will want to poop like a minute or two in and watch for it.

I find they get a pattern down and will poop in the same spot.

OMG this. So much this. My biggest issue when I used to bike with Classic was that I knew somewhere in the first 5 minutes, he was going to SLAM on the brakes and poop. No warning, no slowing down, no funny steps, just suddenly stopping and squatting. Because he was so dang big, I would almost fly over the handle bars every time because he would effectively stop the bike immediately.

I sometimes see guys riding these tiny bikes (I guess they're bikes used for tricks or something?) and I was wondering if they'd be any safer since they're so much smaller and you could easily put your feet on the ground? They're about this size: http://hot-x-games.blogspot.com/2011/10/bmx-tricks.html

I'm a shorty and even if I lower the seat all the way (for a mountain bike sized for a smaller person) only my tippy toes will touch the ground.

"Going, going, going, going, going, go-POOPING!!"

Luckily I don't have a Dane so instead I tend to end up dragging them down the street while they poop.