Just keen to understand who rides with their dog and if so what breed and how long can they run for. My dog leaves me under no illusion when she’s done for the day which is usually around the 6 mile mark, just wondered about other rider’d dogs and how far they will go for?

collie. I normally do 6-10 miles, he probably does more. never shown the slightest sign of being worn out.

Kelpies x 2

They have never shown any signs of having had enough / giving up, and in my mind this is a bad thing. I believe that they would run themselves into the ground rather than stop.

They have done 25km, but obviously over a day with plenty of breaks. I find that the more technical the terrain the better it is for them, I wouldn’t expect then to try and keep running at a steady ‘forest track’ pace for more than a couple of miles.

I have a kelpie also. Its very hard to wear it out.
If you look at last weeks mini movies its ‘the adventures of a trail dog’ Thats him there.

He has done big scottish epics and lots multi day stuff.
The ride on the mini movie was about 18miles

Patterdale terrier, she’s done 25 milers in the past but usually around 15/20 and very easily too, if is stop for a brew or anything she still dashes around like a lunatic, it took a while to steadily build her up to the bigger miles and plenty days rest inbetween, she and Sulks cries if I go out on the bike without her, lol

My Dalamation is 10 now so I limit rides to an hour or so depending on how he is, sometimes he limps after as hes got onset of arthritis. Left it till he was 2 or so before going on proper bike terrain as he was a bugger to train to a relatively half decent recall. When he was younger did 15 miles easy with lots of stops and dry dog food. I always bear in mind water for him and softer ground, he was often coming skidding to a halt on gravel when he sniffed a nice smell and tearing his pads.

I have nothing to add to this thread but can we have some picture of your trailhounds please.

+1 with a Patterdale. i take him with me if im riding alone for whatever reason. so every couple of weeks. for about 10-15 miles round the local moors, although he definitely runs twice as far as i ride with all the criss crossing and back & forths he does. its great to watch them charging round their natural environment. he also likes to bite my feet if i get too close! ive had him at a few trail centers too but he doesn’t seem to enjoy that so much…

tbh i normally go on my bike when im taking him on his normal walk in the woods anyway.

Lakeland Terrier here> Easy does 8-10 miles and more especially in the snow. Even enjoys night rides!

I don’t know how far he goes, but there’s a bloke I see out and about who uses his Alsation like a Husky, he has it towing him and his bike along the path 🙂

Did 8 miles with mine, but that was pulling my kids in a double trailer round my local park so the pace was low

He’ll do twice that with the kids in a trailer

My local ‘big’ loop is about 10 miles, but I’m in North London so its pretty flat. Would like to try him in the hills proper, but they’re quite a way from me

Boxer/lurcher cross here. She’s just over 2 and longest ride to date was about 8 miles over an hour + half.
Just building her back up after a nasty leg injury last summer (non bike related)
but she’s already happy with a 6 miler.
She’s a great motivator, staying close to the back wheel and shouting at me to go faster all the way down.
Chases pheasants and squirrels on the climbs, so she’s certainly not being overworked.
Blimmin love riding with her

Mowgli the Springer Spaniel, my partners dog,
[url=https://flic.kr/p/n4h4Ro]13th April; Morning beachride with Mowgli 038[/url] by coastkid71, on Flickr

3 years old now and full of beans!
He often runs 40 miles alongside her Endurance horses on field boundries, woods and end rigs around here. The horses average 12-16km, He ran 70 miles in a day when she was training for the 160km Seacliff Endurance ride last June which she won – i think it was Mowgli`s eagerness to keep going that prepared her for it!

And 10-20 miles easy on the coast, he just drinks out of the burns and puddles eon route!,
one very energetic hyper dog!

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2KW59Pr5Wk[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFvTacDZJqg[/video]

Used to ride with our Springer Lab cross, but the onset of hip displasia has stopped that.
He used to come on rides of up to about 6 miles, didn’t think it fair to do more as he would go flat out, right up to the point he was too knackered to move.
Miss it to be honest especially this time of year, sometimes by the time I’m home from work, have walked him and come back home again I just can’t be bothered to go back out on the bike. I used to ride with him in those circumstances killing two birds with one stone.

Our Lurcher Monty’s record is 32 miles around the gwdyr forest, a machine!

The Lab Oscar retired a few years ago

Just getting Fin into it, She is now 11 months old and loves every minute of it. If we go local then its about 8 miles but in the Peak its a bit more. Following the vets instructions has seemed to work on how to build it up and vary the pace

Commuting, he does 5 miles each way in summer. Car parked for the day and a run next to the river. This is at the end before we go in the office and he goes in during the winter and shivers! Possibly not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/n3XtCt]Untitled[/url] by Hamster, on Flickr

Springtime in bluebells. Weekend riding.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pVyhub]Untitled[/url] by Hamster, on Flickr

our collie used to do 6-8 miles no problem when she was younger, we also accidentally did a 29 mile ride with her (was meant to be about 15 miles but got very very lost), she was fine to keep going apart from the fact that we later found out that she worn her paws. Now shes getting on for 13, a couple of miles is her max or she’s very stiff for the next few days (but she’ll still keep plodding for miles if you let her)

Excuse the picture but you can just about see ‘Jack’ my Patterdale terrier who seems to have boundless energy…the other half started him young by taking him with her when she went out on her horse and then he started coming with me on the MTB, provided we come across water at some point there doesnt seem to be a limit to the distance he can cover….i’m usually knackered before him.

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I tried with my lab Ben but he kept falling off

Axl the lurcher of ultimate fitness comes and does 10 miles regularly. He has done 22 and would do more. Trouble is when the distances go up so does the road and fireroad miles and I’ve blistered his pads in teh past which I felt terrible about. When I go without him he goes out and sniffs the wheels to check where I’ve.
Here’s a wee vid of me and him old man shredding the woods on Christmas day.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Ugld8hYYA[/video]

I have a, new to us, 2 yr old lab, Bailey, he’s ‘ lively’ and likes bikes so would be keen to take him riding and build up his stamina. How did you guys all train your dogs and what build up and precautions do you recommend?
Cheers
Scott

3 years old now and full of beans!
He often runs 40 miles alongside her Endurance horses on field boundries, woods and end rigs around here. The horses average 12-16km, He ran 70 miles in a day when she was training for the 160km Seacliff Endurance ride last June which she won

That sounds like an awful lot for a springer. No doubt they will do it but I would be worried about it’s joints in old age.

Winding down our springer now as she’s 6 1/2 now. Most we normally did with her is about 10 miles for me but of course she will do much more than that as they do loops in the woods around the trails.

sas78 – two main points in my view:

1. Build up the relationship. I can trust our springer to run along the pavement along side me (on the road) off the lead. i don’t do that often but I can. It’s the same with any training and you need to get a good balance of the dog knowing when it needs to be obedient and listen and when it can have fun and shed energy and all the time it needs to be fun. On the trail she knows when I am faster and will pull up out of the way if there is room or put the hammer down if not and she has reserves. Always cover the brakes when the dog is in front – I’ve come close a few times.

2. Build up the dogs stamina. No cycling trips until after 1 year, preferably 18 months.

Always have treats and plenty of water for both of you. I plan routes where I know there will be places for her to drink but in summer you can’t be sure. She shares my camelbak with me and I keep a stash of gravy bones and energy bars with no raisins or chocolate so I can always share with her. A good sign she is low on energy is she will nibble on horse or sheep poop.

Forced rests – if the dog is having fun it won’t normally tell you it’s tired (especially spaniels!) and check pads etc.

take something to store full poo bags in but try and get it’s main poo out of it before you head off by getting it running round the garden. The usual semi-solid poo will come out mid ride though when their bowels do an exercise related movement.

Lead wise you can get special ones. I would say don’t use a slip lead and use a proper collar (preferably with your and someone back homes details on ICE) and my current favourite lead to use is the long Help For Heroes one as it’s a good 1.2m ish so is about right for distance from the wheels.

Rest of it is just build up how you want the dog to ride with you. Again, I can 100% trust our spaniel pretty much anywhere. She has good recall, will stop when told and I know she won’t worry any livestock as we have a smallholding. Whistle training is very useful as I keep the whistle in my mouth in some places to call her back and it’s generally a lot more civilised than shouting.

PS have a recovery plan – ie make sure you have someone you can call should one of you get injured.

Oh and dogs have incredible trail perception and reactions and there is no better way to see it in action than following on your bike.

Small Irish Border Collie (full on ex-working dog, inherited at 1yr-old from family after the stress and strain of being a farmer took my uncle away).

She’ll run and run and run and run all day. I’m fairly sure she’d just run herself into the ground. 12k cruising at speed seems to be her limit. 25k when its trail-center mixed uppy-downiness.

When she lies down like this, I know it’s time to gently head home.

Irish terrier……usually 7-15 miles

[video]http://vimeo.com/99774100[/video]

Andyl, that’s great advice thanks. He’s not fully trained yet, and by that I mean I don’t fully trust his recall, just yet, we’ve only had him three weeks and despite being two and a half there’s still a bit of puppy about him when he sees someone new!

We’ve got good experience as we got our old beagle rescue dog fully trained which, if you know the breed, is tough going!

I would love to take Bailey riding as he really enjoys stretching his legs and he has a great turn of pace and such a LOT of energy!

Great pictures folks, it makes me think- is there anything happier than a dog bombing around? They always look so pleased and it makes me smile every time. 😀

3yr old Beagle/Cocker cross here. On the bike I limit ours to 20km which will be at as fast a pace as I can manage – she can do more though and if it’s slow going or we’re on a family ride then we might go further. Running she’ll happily run as far as I can (she’s only trotting at my pace), so comes along on Sunday morning runs which are up to 35km and she’ll still want a walk after dinner.

What amazes me the most is that she knows the way,even on trails we rarely ride.

NB Endurance horse events are 20 mile loops with a 30 minute vet period between rides. So the dog gets a good rest between laps or segments. Theres also the option to chuck him in the vehicle at the intermediate slosh/feed stops.

What’s the thinking about leaving a dog at home all day while you’re at work?

I’d like a dog in the near future, we had a dog while I was growing up (a German shepherd guard dog, that was huge, but really friendly to me and my brother), but me and the mrs are out of the house 8 hours a day. The dog I grew up with spent 8 hours a day on her own after she retired from guarding, and she seemed fine.

I know modern thinking is that it’s not ok to leave a dog for the day, but does that go for all breeds? I’m guessing the sort of breed that will sit at home all day happily, won’t be the sort of breed to run 10 miles through the woods… (pug).

EDIT: BTW, some awesome looking dogs being posted. 🙂

What’s the thinking about leaving a dog at home all day while you’re at work?

Don’t do it.

3/4 hours is okay but I wouldnt leave it any longer unless it had access to the (secure) garden and another dog for company.

I sometimes take mine to work – she gets a walk in the morning on the way, sleeps in the car until lunch when we go for a walk and then she gets another walk on the way home. If I was working at home she would be asleep in her bed for those durations anyway.

I picked up a doggy trailer when I lived in Bristol so I could transport her to the trails instead of using the car. Just take a lock and secure it somewhere while you go for a ride and then transport the dog home. Useful if you have a mile or so through town to get to trails.

I’m sure my dog is a secret strava user as she cuts all the corners on our local trails and then reappears in front of my from the bracken.

If we are posting pics:

what an excellent idea. im gonna fix a garmin to the dog next time i take him out and check out his strava!! i can record mine on my phone to compare!

This is my daaag, an english pointer, loves to run but has to be in front… then like to stop right in front of you

My dog will pull me a along as well as my two kids in the trailer behind. I have a hilarious video of this

I attach a lead to my waist for our rides, he’s on the lead on road sections, then not for off road bits. On the flats he’ll pull me along happily, he struggles uphill and downhill I usually slow him down or have to brake