Buster Passed Rollerblading 101!

[Psyfalcon]

His first day out!

He is a puller so I put on my knee pads and elbow pads. I couldn't find the wrist guards or hockey helmet, or I would have had them too. I don't have brakes on my hockey skates!

He did not pull towards the road, which was impressive, and a good thing, 2 lanes each way, I was prepared to go to the knee pads. We got off the sidewalk to the side road and started skating. After some initial indecisiveness (you WANT me to pull?) we settled into a good skating pace. He went from pulling to heeling and back a few times, and did fine, except for around overturned garbage cans.

We did a mile, and came home, which is pretty good considering he does not like heat at all (70F), I think the wind effect helped vs walking. I'll have to get him a proper harness and other gear soon, and booties, before the roads get too hot.

 

[Barb04]

Too bad you didn't get a pic of this; I'd love to see the two of you.

 

[Brattina88]

Good Job Buster!!
Sounds like fun... did you use a harness ? j/w! Glad to hear you used helmet and gear; I would need a whole body pad to keep me safe

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

Great Job! You're one brave soul to do that, lol. Would love to see some pics!

 

[Psyfalcon]

Well, he failed 102.

Instead of tiring him out, its actually causing him to get more wound up. He's shown some barking, lunging issues when leashed, around (some) people/dogs and the adrenaline is not helping. We successfully navigated by a family (he probably wanted to lick the kid) and the GSD (more teeth than tongues I think) but when I got home, he was insane.

He is now sitting in his crate since he would not stop growling at the other dogs. It started before we left, over leftover dog food but he saw fit to carry on with increased zeal once we got home!

So... he is stuck to foot walking until this can be sorted out.

 

[oc_spirit]

I''m with Megan! You are very brave! I would never trust myself letting a dog pull me on blades! Eek! That is an accident waiting to happen! I will not let a dog pull me on anything if I dont have good brakes. Way too dangerous in an emergency.

 

[Psyfalcon]

Knee pads are good brakes! Using the T brake method, I can drag to a stop, but that does a number on the wheels. If one must come to a stop, its a good idea to get on the ground. A good pulling Husky might be a bad idea, but Buster is neither

I lived on skates when I was younger, and lived in a town with steep hills and broken pavement. It was not that uncommon to find oneself flung into the woods at the bottom of a hill or on a curve. We've only been getting upto 10mph, max, Buster lacks top end speed, but I've done 25mph down those hills before, so that does not scare me.

Seeing a rabbit or dog first does, but brakes wont help there, I'd be thrown off anything smaller than a cart at that point.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Aww man, that's too scary for me, lol.

Cider runs with me as I blade, but there is no pulling, I'm not good enough for that.

 

[SharkyX]

I've taken both my dogs (not at the same time) out with my roller blades, in harness.
I've found you become a very good inline skater very quickly out of necesity.

It is only scary when they start running up over speeds which you can't attain on your own.

Simply a matter of paying close attention to your route, the surface/road and every other thing going on around you.. no head phones and ipods for those trips.

It's also a matter of knowing how to fall if that happens... but this will be my third year roller blading behind the dogs... I've fallen once and that was within the first two months of starting, I did not fall at all last year.

 

[Psyfalcon]

Thats pretty much it. I actually had one skate run into the grass yesterday, without throwing me off, I've gone one footed across sewer grates. There is one issue with stop signs, but other than that, its completely controllable, and the signs themselves can help you stop. None of my dogs are very strong pullers, at this point at least, when they settle into a trot, we are going slower than I normally would be going on my own.

Not that anyone should just pick up the sport, it can be dangerous, however I am well practiced at high speeds, on broken pavement, and on actual roads. The person who has only skated on flat bike paths might have more issues.

 

[SharkyX]

I skijor with mine.. they are both very strong pullers we go alot faster then I would normally maintain on my own.

 

[squirtsmom]

I'd love to try it, but never will.

 

[Psyfalcon]

I skijor with mine.. they are both very strong pullers we go alot faster then I would normally maintain on my own.

How fast are they actually going?

Right now after the initial burst of flying down the sidewalk to the back roads, they're only doing 4-5mph over 4 miles or so, in a trot. I really cant complain, but I'm interested in how fast the more experienced dogs are going...

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

My dogs, with the bike, average about 12 mph. (Which is still kinda slow)
They are going 20+ mph at the start, and slow down after about 1/2 mile or so.
When I tried skijoring this winter, we were only going about 8ish mph. Which is a perfectly fine speed for me for now. When I get use to a dog pulling me on skis, I'll be looking to bump that up!

 

[SharkyX]

Average speed over about 3.2 miles was 18 miles per hour.
As you can imagine, that being the average we had a number of bursts that would bring us up over 20mph.
It's thrilling but when it gets going that fast I stop skating and just concentrate on keeping on track
I suppose I should also mention I use a set of RollerBlade Lighting 4's with an 84mm wheel on them for some added stability/ability to roll over things.

 

[Psyfalcon]

I'll have to take the GPS out, but I just don't think Buster is that fast

Then again, I'm a terrible XC Skiier, so the 5mph slogging pace is probably good!

 

[Siberian Mom]

i have my 2 huskies and when we got out first one a year and a half ago i did a good job on teaching him not to pull. i want to try sledding and skijorring but now he thinks its bad to pull. any tips on how to fix that ???? we so have the x back harnesses for them aswell

 

[oc_spirit]

Put his harness on and attach a rope to it with something light that will drag like a pillow or a towel. Put his leash on and start walking him around. He might have a little bit of a freka out moment when he feels the drag but just calmly encourage him to keep pace with you and praise him when he ignores the drag. Once he gets good at ignoring it start having one person hold him and then you go off a distance and call him to you while the drag is attached to him. From there its just a matter of increasing the weight and the distance until he is actually pulling someone from point A to the person that is calling him. Itd be a good idea to switch up who is calling him and who is releasing him/riding what he is pulling. Eventually you simply build up the distance enough that he doesnt se the person that is calling him but rather, just takes off when the musher says "Hike!" Remember, NEVER ask for a heel when he is wearing his harness. Wearing a harness means that it is pulling time! My guys are allowed to pull whether they are wearing their proper x-back harnesses or just a regular walking harness because I want to avoid confusion and them having to worry about exactly which harness means what. Qite simply, if there are straps around their body they can pull, if they are only wearing a collar it means no pulling.

 

[jammer]

Oh goodness you are brave. I can't get around on blades all by myself, much less with a dog pulling me