Time in my life for a dog in the family. What breeds are best at trail hound duties? Come to think of it, how come Singletrack has yet to do a trail hound group test?

Trail hound?

retrievers aren’t hounds for a kick off

My experience of Golden Retrievers is that they’re great family dogs but they like to run off exploring interesting smells….

it has 4 paws a long pink tongue, slobber and a wagging tail, and might occasionally go….Woof!

Doesn’t that constitute being a hound?

Or would you prefer: canis lupus familiaris sequor

Retrievers are lovely lovely family dogs but probably too stubborn to run around after you on a bike!!!

hmmmm,

primary motivation is for my son, who is mildly autistic, so a chilled out fluffy friend is the order of the day, but with potential keep fit whilst I ride the trails. Any other suggestions?

Biggest crash of my life was due to my retriever: single log bridge, big ditch, I gave dog right of way. Flew about 20 feet and broke frame and forks. Not the best trail dogs and not necessarily designed for long running. Reckon something like a dalmatian or viszla would be better

I think mudshark is right. They’re called retrievers after all. If you have a tendency to throw balls all day while out riding fine? Other than that i’d look at another breed.
Apparently, ‘carriage dogs’ are good – like dalmations.

i had a black labrador when my son was born, i used to take my son on the back of the bike and the dog ran at the side.
i spent lots and lots of time looking for the dog who had followed his nose somewhere.
we had him put to sleep when he was 12.
i currently have a 18 month old black labrador bitch, who justs attacks my tyres.

My brother had a Black Lab, and she would run for miles and miles, so maybe it’s all about them liking biking too?

A Collie would be a good shout – lots of stamina & trainable (ish)..

Border Collie will run for days. Seem to enjoy chasing bikes too. What about a deerhound? It’ll leave you in the dust, with the added benefit of scaring the beejesus out of anyone you bump into in the forest at full pelt!

Collie – trainable (ish)..

With the right training those buggers could difuse a bomb. Scarily clever and adaptable dogs, anyone who’s ever seen a well trained sheepdog acting on it’s own initiative will know what Im on about.

collies are cool, but not ultimately patient with kids. My dilemma is well…erm…a dilemma?!!?

AndyRT
collies are cool, but not ultimately patient with kids

Depends on how they are introduced to them. Collie Lab cross ftw.

We’ve got a German Shorthaired Pointer and he’s ace- he’s only 8 months old so I’m taking it fairly easy with him but he’ll do an hour with me on a singlespeed no problem. Today I’m feeling a bit guilty as we had his nadgers off today 😥

I sense this might sway the thread a little (typing with crossed legs)

A word of warning on the collie option. They can be difficult pets due to mentally high energy and intelligence levels. If they get frustrated or bored, you’re in for a world of problems you can’t even begin to imagine.

Also, they can be nippy and aren’t always the best option for children. Of course, if you can give a collie all the attention and stimulation it needs, you could end up with the best dog in the world. But think carefully and don’t get a dog from a working line.

Apart from the running with bikes bit, I’d recommend a Retriever.

Spaniels are popular on here, quite enjoy a run so I’ve heard, and are probably a better family pet than a collie, on the whole.

can’t see the pics Dorset Knob…

Staffie?

We are with Pop, I did the research, needed to be good with kids great with bikes, mountains, and horses, and be trainable, willing for others to look after him and have others wanting to look after him, ended up with German Shorthaired Pointer has been great but nine years on we are back with SS suits both of us. Kept him entire – never had a problem. good luck

I have a Blue Merle collie.
Will run as long as i an cycle! Then want to play ball again once we’re home!
He’s fantastic with children. Just sits there as my niece dresses him up with necklaces and hats! They then go walk around the garden, he’s never far from her side.

It’s taken a dog debate to generate my first post on here!
My folks are on their second retriever now, having got their first when we (my 3 bros and I) were all sub 10 years old. Absolutely brilliant family pets and would highly recommend one, especially if you have a young family. The dog used to go down a storm in the old folks’ home when on grand-parent visiting duty, due to sedate temperament (not the grandparent…). Also totally at home in the great outdoors (again, not the grand parent). I think one would be fine to take on your bike- you’d just have to get it fit. A guy in my office takes his labrador out running whilst he’s on his bike, no probs.
My old boss had a german short-haired pointer. Again, a really nice dog, but I think from what you’ve said, the retriever might be a better bet with the family.

Thanks JA, glad to be of service, welcome

Another vote for the German Shorthaired Pointer here. He’s great out on the bike, tends to keep about 30 yards in front on the uphills and is quite happy to run behind us on the downs. Managed Carn Ban Mor no problems 😉

And Ben Rinnes

We’ve gone and got another one now, he’s only 6 months so won’t be out with the bike for a while yet.
They also make suberb family pets they’re both brilliant with my young neices and nephews

Another GSP here, she’s nuts, but out on the trail just stays with me. Loves the running – just got back from a night ride actually. Was fab.
Vid from the other week, Dezb Jr. on the trailerbike. (Excuse the wobbly pic, was a handheld Ixus 🙂 )

can’t speak for the others , but i used to have a giant schnauzer. big black hairy and ran all day up and down the beach following the motor bike . wonderful animal great with kids its just ——– in winter she had a long coat an it trashed the back seats, they stank bad. shame shes not around now. but a good choice of trail hound (and there coats dont moult)

pop larkin, tell me im reading that wrong.

you have an 8mth old whp that you run for an hour.
that is not good.

He said a GSP. Why is it wrong?

Greatest trail dog ever! He’ll run and run and run.
Will race you down the single track, becomes aware when you are closing in behind him and hops off to the side, lets you past then tucks in and follows you down.

Its my business partners Hungarian Vizsla named Alfie – official BBB tail guide ;).
He was the runt of his litter, pee’s like a girl and is very confused in his sexuality (although I guess many of us would be if we’d had our balls lopped)
Alfies best mates with a German Short Haired pointer, whilst not as agile as Alfie, could run through a wall (infact they both ran through my girlfriend who subsequently required knee surgery + titanium)

The pointer is more of a swimmer.. Viszla definately the trail dog.
That said, we’ve another friend with a Viszla and this one simply doesn’t understand the concept of bikes.

drawback with Viszlas? – can need a huge amount of personal contact and be quite ‘nuts’ (alfie didn’t chill out till about 2) Very pretty breed though IMO

My Lab shep X is only just one, so we’ve not done much with her on trail yet. Probably wont do anything like the rides we do with the Viszla either.. She’s quick, but i think will suffer in the heat and chances are she’s not going to be that durable in the hips 🙁
Longer haired dogs are a chore to clean up after too 😉

Viszla more agile than my pointer? No way! Race ya!

Had a flat coat retriever and he would have been great on trails after he was 2 or so. He ran all day. Sadly this was before I found mountain biking. All the golden retrievers and labs I have encountered have been too lazy, crazy or just plain soft to be good bike dogs. They breed small black labs round here as working dogs and I’m sure they would be ok. Can’t see better than a collie/lab cross for your needs i.e family pet and bike dog. Good at fetching sticks from the river too!

+1 on the carriage dog idea – although most of the dalmations I know are a bit nuts. If I were looking for a trail dog, it would either be a border collie, a deerhound or a dalmation.

As it is, I have a two year old lurcher – looks like a big, hairy whippet with a bit more meat on him than most whippets…. Doesn’t come out riding with me though – he’s good for quick sprints (crazy-fast) but doesn’t enjoy sustained running.

EDIT: I should mention that living with a long haired dog is like living in a cloud.

An English foxhound makes a great pet & will run until it wears it’s legs down if necessary – impossible to tire out

I have my eyes set on a Kelpie. Kinda like a tougher Boarder Collie.

Speaking Foxhound typa dogs; the Fox Terrier is an amazing runner. In my Zimbabwean farmer ex-life we had one which would run about 10k a day and still chase pickups. I’m not too keen about their temperament though.

We had a dalmatian for 11 years,choosen after looking at all breeds intresting character rode loads with us, great dog to go out with mileage was easy but just check the surface his pads would rip up on some, pacing was important climbs they will be ahead and will try and stay ahead on the downs meaning a lot of stress on the joints. BUT dallys will run off and eat any dead or rotten carcasses, they are head strong, when he was a pup he would like to cut across the front wheel after several near misses my wife ran over him he never did it again, they will pick up a smell and follow it sometimes getting lost, I lost him on some singletrack then heard him howling like a banshee took me 40 mins to find him. Ours was the best house dog I have ever owned but he was knackered all the time which is the point these are high energy, highly intelligent, highly greedy dogs that need exercise and a firm hand, he also had some weird phobias, placid around some dogs but ridgebacks and labs seemed to have a pathological hatred cows wanted to lick them……….no idea..but we were stampeded on more than one occassion, kids think they are great but they might not like the attention.
Mypartner works with adults with disabilites and he waas tremendous around lots of people but it was hard for him to pick up some singals, e.g eye contact so we always kept a watch on him, so have a good look at the nature of the dog not necessarily the breed.
As he got older 9 yrs old he stopped comming for rides with me, it was lashing down and he just sat in the car park and would not move, 6 months later he would not run and then he started having ops for stones in the bladder and kidneys common breed problem we had him put down a year ago, be prepared for heart break if you get a dog. Mike Ferrentino wrota a great article on the death of his dog in bike
If you are prepared to put in the time they are brill, buy from a household breeder and see the mother of the pups, get them trained get them trained again and exercise them, they love luxury and are fools and will amke you laugh, cry, swear and curse.
To date we have not got another dog if we did on the list would be
dally
german wired hair pointer

good luck 🙂

Border terrier everytime! Great dogs

Mine’s a springer staffy cross breed, I got him from the rescue center over a year ago. Hes wasnt trained and very very boisterious. I found taking him on rides a nightmare at first. Wouldnt listen got run over a few times but it has helped train him. I’ve got him to run and keep close when slow and at a distence when moving faster. still gets the odd ASBO moment when wildlife gets spotted.

But it is good to ride with him, seems to rely enjoy it. I’m meeting more riders with dogs on the trails there dosn’t seem to be a particular breed but are all medium to larger animals.

If you get a puppy it will be easyer to train. Thorough breds are more expensive and have inherent problems. Cross breeds are cheaper, go wrong less, live longer but can get some funny looking dogs.

I intend to get a dog at some point and have decided a Rhodesian Ridegback is the dog for me. Can run all day (and catch Lions if there are any around) but is the laziest dog ever if it’s at home, quite content to curl up and sleep all day. Sounds too good to be true!
From a year old you can take them out on all day epics!!
Sounds like they need to be trained well in the early days, but what dog doesn’t, afterall, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!!