I'm getting a friends 3 year old (fit) Chesapeake Bay retreiver this weekend. He's great and he'll be a great running/walking partner and family pet.
Can you train a dog to keep him from under bike wheels? or is the dog best left at home as it's just too risky for riders and dog.
The dog is mine from this weekend (i'm not expecting to train him overnight)
Dogs always chase me.
Not had to train the one I borrow, seems as long as he's happy with your company, he'll quite happily run with the bike. Now, if I can just keep up with him on the singletrack...
I'm planning to take my year-old lab out with the bike for the first time tomr. Have a horrible feeling he'll either be cruising about 47mm in front of my wheel, or, too busy sniffing around in the trees!
Should be fun tho, i'll let you know how we get on.
My dog rides his 
Sorry. I carry ham in my pocket and feed at regular intervals to keep him interested. Since he's a cocker spaniel, speed is not great, so he always follows up the rear. The food gives me confidence that he'll come eventually. In fact he normally stays pretty close provided I don't hammer it.
I'm wondering if they can get that awareness to keep out from under wheels. I see dogs at trail centres, so it must be ok. I'd hate to think he caused an accident. Just wondering what experiences people have had. If this fella stops on the singletrack there will be no going round the big cuddly fella.
My working cocker had abandonment issues, the only time he came out he stuck about 5 cm from the back wheel and when i braked for a corner overshot on the insider, better sending him out up front. Fin nightmare so he doesnt come anymore.
I trained mine to walk to heel and then just carried that over onto the bike - he got the idea within a few minutes and runs a foot or so off the back wheel.
He's only a smallish lurcher cross though, so no good for distance at speed. Should have bought a collie 
Still love 'im though 
The dog will only go under your front wheel once and learn not to get to close pretty quickly
I taught mine by using local canal towpaths first as they can only go forward or back. I've ran into/over him 3 times, hes like hitting a brick wall, had me off every time. Running isnt a problem for a fit dog, its keeping them under control when there is rabbits / foxes / TJ about and coming back to you thats the hard part. I also taught mine 'behind' which is very useful sometimes. Lots of practise, praise and patience.
my spaniel was trained early on to respond to MOVE! when walking. if she didn't shift out the way she got bumped into/shoved out the way to illustrate the point. shout that and she gets out the way. 
seems to be spatially aware enough now that when she runs in to work with me on the bike i haven't hit her yet, though to be fair, there have been a few 'moments'. you just have to remember that they have their own little brain in there and sometimes they're going to do something we perceive as stupid.
i don't nail it though, as i don't see it as fair for her to be flogging herself to keep up all the time. i could ride to work in about 20 mins at a fairly easy pace, but using all the off-road i can, which includes lifting the bike over a fair few styles, it usually takes me between 40 and 50 mins with the hound. if i walked it would be an hour and a half.
maybe yours will be different. i treat it as a quick walk, rather than a slow cycle.
basically though, if you can take the mutt on the lead, and it's fairly responsive to you, then you'll be ok. build up distance and speed slowly though.
good luck!
If the dog knows the "heel" command and you can refresh the dogs training when not cycling, you can then try doing that on the bike. My dog comes to heel when I am on the bike and runs about a foot behind my back wheel.
Ours were great with bikes, runners and horses. We did a fair amount of training, walking then running with them. Using extending leads and two or three commands, heel being the same on all three ie just behind on right hand side but both would walk or run where pointed (eg by the rear wheel) when asked. Break yours in gently inc the pace and distance as they can be run into the ground - tend not to give up! Have a great time, I loved riding with mine.
Yup.
English Springer Spaniel here that rides to "wheel" on verges/pavement/cycle paths while I ride down the path/road along side her.
On singletrack she does get distracted by other things if I am riding too slow but being near roads etc is just like the behaviour switch that a gun causes for her to go into shooting mode.
my dogs have always been fine (and loved it) out with the bikes.
if the dog is getting in the wheels or running in front get a 3ft length of plastic pipe and feed the lead down inside it, this means you can keep him/her exactly 3ft away. find a narrow path for training so there is no left/right to worry about. i use 'behind' on the bike and heel when on foot.
obviously keep an eye on paws for wear and give food and water and rests cos a dog will run till it drops dead in extreme cases.
I've given up taking my two out (black labs) other than for very short rides where I'm stopping frequently or pottering about trying new stuff on the bike. Bitch is great as she sticks about a 2 feet away from the left crank no matter what but it seems to stress her out. The dog is just plain stupid and a major random zig-zagging hazard.
I use one of these;
http://www.walky.co.uk/walky-dog-range.html
on the way to the woods / hills. Works well to keep them a safe distance and the sprung loaded bit takes out some of the shock if they see something interesting. I use body harness, rather than neck collar for connection.
Our black lab is very good at keeping alongside without getting in the way. She doesn't like being attached to the bike downhill though and I have to keep at the same speed as when going uphill! First time I took her out I thought I'd killed her, as JT says they don't know when to stop. Had to walk a couple of miles at less than 2mph after over doing the time / distance.
Taking my Mums' less than 1 year old dog as well is more of a challenge as on the outward leg she's very 'keen'. And when off the lead she loves to pick up long sticks that I fear are going to get jammed in a wheel!
Still it's good fun for us all and I'd get out on the bike much less without taking them along.
My wife picked up a stray dog and I started taking him cycling, job done. He learnt really quick to keep an eye on me and the bike, uphill he wanders around ahead of me or in the bushes, as soon as he hears the bike speed up downhill he tucks in behind. I'm useless at training dogs but thankfully my dog is clever at working out what I am supposed to have trained him.
Any dog can do it. Heres a Westie (courtesy of SFB).
My advice is let them run infront if you can. The reason being is you can see if they are tiring, struggling and/or if they are behind they'll out-doo themselves to keep up with you.
I took mine out from 6 months when I returned from a ride, just for a mile, to get him used to the bike. It's second nature now. He runs to heel and when it narrows he tucks in behind. You've got your work cut out training an older dog but it's not impossible.
i was on a ride the other day with a five month old husky (tho he looks older due to the size of him)...we were out for 2 hours ( biscuites n water for husky onboard)....but he just kept on running and running and running....he was amazing...
And they prefer drinking from stagnant pools / muddy puddles than the clean water and bowl you should carry with you. Heres another pic.
"Can you train a dog to keep him from under bike wheels? or is the dog best left at home as it's just too risky for riders and dog."
Maybe, but not looking at the muppet who was trying to get his dog to run along side him on a busy road in the dark last week where I live
Devs
Wondering if my emails are getting through ref the light loan for the puffer
its on its way for a today before 13.00 delivery
Dunc Paddy took to it nearly straight away on the back road to kildwick from my house
had 2 dog front wheel interfaces and he now knows to keep away from it .
I introduced mine to it gradually, took him in the garage to have a sniff, next day bike out of garage, walk round the garden with it, ride round the garden etc... I still have to buzz him with a mudx now and again
I'm in the middle of training my Mini Schnautzer, She's doing fairly well but its a slow process, I've been at it for 9 months now a fairly steady job, She's more than happy with 10 - 12 miles over 2 hours now. I tend to let Her do Her own thing sometimes in front, more often behind Me. I judge Her fatigue by Her tail as mad as it sounds, its a clear indication. Take plenty of snacks for said hound, prepare to have your riding ruined for a while & you/dog will have great fun, good luck with it & enjoy...
Dont forget to bag your poo and chuck it in a tree, next to your innertubes.
I am disappoint.
Why has this not turned into world war 3?
trout ygm
I am disappoint.Why has this not turned into world war 3?
Cos all the argumentative muppets have kept away 
taught my collie to heel properly and he'll now do it if I'm walking, running, biking. He even heels to a quad bike....
teaching them to lie down on command at a distance is very useful as well.
Workout what you want the dog to do,I always av my dogs on my left and behind me when of the lead,
Take him out a few time on the lead on the bike,he will only get in the way a few times
Before you go out the gate / house what ever make him sit and let you go 1st all the time,
Some dogs are quick enough to stay in front but this means you need to be more aware of him stopping or changing direction
Don't expect to much to soon but make some rules and stick to them
One of my riding mates has a lab that comes out with us regularly, he who started at about a year old, to start with I was a bit nervous he would run into one of the riders but never has and he has been out for a couple of years now.
You did need to be a bit careful about distance though, if you go too far he will knacker himself completely rather than stop
Working Cocker here:
Cons - no road sense at all, run for ever, will chase birds/deer/fox's etc but a shout brings him back, needs his 'feathers' keeping down otherwise snow to sticks to him
Pros - doesn't want me out of eye/nose sight, trained to move out of the way (by tbh been run into...), run for ever, drinks anything, swims to cool down
I'm selective where I take him and stay off roads, but one thing is that because of the pace compared to a dog-walk he's very stocky compared to his brothers/sisters - almost twice his sisters size.
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