[Closed] Biking and dogs?

this has been done before. many times.

so have a video. dogs rule.

I take my Cocker sometimes and she can much further than me, but I do worry that she's going to knock someone over. I'm also careful not to go too fast/far 😉

Which brings me to, should all dogs be kept on leads at all times unless on private property?

No.

I've ridden into my (40kg) dog a few times, its like hitting a brick wall. I never have him on a lead but always bag his poo so I can hang it on the latch of a well used gate.

Someone brought their greyhound/saluki cross on a group ride I was on at Hamsterley once.

For narrow stuff, it waited until the last rider in the group set off down a trail, then followed behind. On wider climbs it trotted next to its owner. Whenever we stopped it spent the time bounding around in the undergrowth so did about triple the distance we did.

Brilliant dog, no problems at all.

My patterdale loves coming on rides with me (she sulks if i dont take her) after a few weeks of basic training she got the idea of how it all works, start out training with just you and the dog for a few weeks, then introduce a friend for a few rides and build up into group rides, i used treats to train her into what i wanted her to do, worked for mine 🙂

So long as it's trained well I don't see a problem, any responsible owner wouldn't risk their untrained dog by taking it somewhere it could get hit by riders doing 20mph+ surely.

I'd love to take my dog for a run/ride but he's a daschaund/jack Russell cross and it would probably kill him. He also has a tendency to want to wee up any bin, post, tree or bush in sight so we probably wouldn't get very far. I think taking them up the woods or your local trails are fine if you can keep control over them, but not at a trail centre where others are involved.

Interesting, I saw a guy at gizburn with a jack russel the other month. To my it just seemed irresponsible.

I also know of a guy who got taken off his bike last year by someones dog and he spend a considerable amount of time in hospital with a broken back. Im interested as to how people think they can control their dog off the lead when its excited. (i guess its the same thing with horses)

Im interested as to how people think they can control their dog off the lead when its excited

training.

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Having been bitten by an off-the-lead dog last year (Ashton Court, Bristol), I have a rather dim view of dogs off the lead in public places.

My in-laws Weimaraner is brilliant. He is like velcro, just runs along side you for as long as you're prepared to go. He got 'bitten' a couple of times by that nasty minion on the front of the bike and now has a healthy respect for the bike and maintains a constant and safe distance at all times. He has had no bike training, just one of those dogs that can't bare to be too far away from you, and will follow you anywhere (he's also a bit stupid which helps!) 🙂

do they not get caught up in your wheels / pedals at times?

Depends on how well trained the dog is. My lab/springer cross is fantastic on walks but out on a trail...not so sure. He'd spend more time trying to climb trees chasing squirrels than running beside me and the bike!!

wait for the full wrath of the stw dog haters to rain down upon you for starting this thread. 🙂
bonbon anyone?

Always looks fun when a see a decent trail dog.

There was a guy at grenoside on Sunday though that was stumbling round after crashing into his dog. The dog let out a helluva yelp and then ran off back up the trail. The guys son, 12ish i'd say, was left trying to see if his dad was ok and trying to find the dog.

I reckon they have to be well trained and you need to be a decent rider as well. I might get one in a few years when the kids don't want to play with me any more!!

Some classic posts here!!
Being a dog owner (She loves to come riding with us) the same old tired posts come up time after time.

andybrad it's clear don't have a dog, your questions are trolling at best.

Fuzz head - so if someone is rude to you then all people are going to be rude? In the nicest way try not to judge all dogs and owners by the standards of others you have met. I know it's difficult but some of us are very consious of our pets.

As has been said a million times it's about the owner not the dog.
we have a 45kg Ridgeback, I have lost count of the number of times she's been bitten by smaller dogs.
Dogs are mostly a reflection of their owners.

This one's been done before...

IME Most Dog owners largely do whatever they fancy with their pets and then just blame someone else when they get into trouble, or find incredible justifications for their animal's behaviour ([url= http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/dog-saves-womans-life-by-eating-her-face/story-fneuz9ev-1226796989583 ]see what I mean[/url])...

This "Training" for Dogs to run alongside bikes, who runs the courses then?

If your "Trail Dog" get's mashed under my bike on a public trail it is your fault, and I'll be asking you to replace anything damaged by colliding with your out of control pet... Until that happens do as you see fit.

@fozzybear - I'm not a hater at all, dogs off leads in public places is a v thorny issue. We regularly have 2 dogs with us on our group rides, and aside from getting lost are very well behaved.

Just asking really and i apologise if its deemed as trolling. Theres two things.

1. Were moving house soon and we are considering getting either a dog or baby. 🙂 we've never had a garden before so we thought that it was cruel to keep a dog. However we will now have a garden and be at the side of a well known bit of mtbing tail. I guess you can see where my thoughts are heading ?

2. ive had lots of bad experiences with dogs on canal tow paths. Yes i believe this has jaded my view somewhat but mainly of irresponsible owners but i thought there would be a few folks doing it on here. Do they have leads for example? im really worried about the dangers of it all?

Having seen the aftermath of poor dog control i would not want to inflict that on anyone for my pleasure of dog ownership but i do like the idea of having a dog that is so controlled it wont end up under your wheels. (btw my wife screws dogs back together with bits of titanium so i get to see this from both sides of the fence)

I'd love to have trail dogs, sadly, the two Westies I have would be crap.

Eric just wants to wee on [i]every[/i]tree, and Esme,well, if shes sees a squirrel/ rabit etc.. then she's off..

Tried it once.

Never again. 😳

kind of like taking the missus along for a ride then, one and never again in my instance 🙂

Im more worried about other riders knocking me off than my own dog, there are plenty of clumsy gobshites on bikes out there y'know! I mean, ive even seen said gobshites pushing their bikes back up one way trails!!! Its Them who should be on a lead IMO.

"Training" for Dogs

plenty of training for dogs courses out there, once you have taught them to heel its doesn't really matter if you are on foot, bike, horse, quad etc.

In my experience obviously...

Dogs are highly intelligent animals, you can 'Train um' do do all sorts of things these days y'know! They can be trained to see for people who are blind, trained to dance for simon cowell, trained to deliver packages in times of war, trained to sniff out drugs ect ect ect, running down a trail following a bike would be sod all to a well trained doggie IMO again.

My dog doesn't understand why we wind our way up and down these twisty, bermy trails when she can get there in a straight line.
We're idiots.

🙂

way to go cookeaa! going to have to dock you a couple of points though, because as we all know, your example should have been a child's face...
genius!
😀

Awesome! "When Mrs Hamriding woke in extreme pain two hours later, Cassie had eaten her right eye and the bone around the socket."

I regularly take my Staffie out up the hills and woods.
She is very good and always runs behind the bike. but I would be wary of taking her to a busy trail centre. Plus as she has only short legs I have to take it easy on the decents as dont want her over doing it and doing herself an injury.

not a dog lover myself, wouldn't miss them if they were all gone. get a baby, they're good fun.

someone put on Facebook the other day one of those greeting card graphics saying "people are rubbish I'm staying in with my loyal dog". It had hundreds of thousands of likes.

all I could think was "brilliant, three hundred thousand dogs not cluttering up the streets and trails! result!"

[i] three hundred thousand dogs not cluttering up the streets and trails[/i]

Is that really what they do then?

yeah, bloody things are everywhere once you start looking, getting in the way mostly

people before dogs I say

Me and the mutt at Laggan, she very much a "lead" dog so stays out in front. She has been clipped by the front tyre a few times, nowt serious, so they learn to stay out the way, she has a command that means "go on" the other dog trucks in behind.
Now my ex had custody of the mutts but I still get to ride with them occasionally. Do miss them not so much at Trail Centres more on the XC rides.

I've a strong dislikes for dogs, well actually more their owners. But if a dog is well trained, I don't see a problem with it.

Thing that annoys me with dogs is the owners that think it's alright to allow their dogs to run up to every and anyone. It's not, when dogs approach me like this I have a great fear of them. I don't know how to handle them, so have it off the leash, aye, but if you do this also have it trained so that it doesn't harass unsuspecting people, who you have no idea of their level of comfort with dogs.

Some dogs I'm ok with, but others put the fear of death into me.

Please don't just wave it off as nothing and say, "auch it'll just lick you to death", maybe, but how the hell I'm I ment to know that, especially with some of the more aggressive looking dogs around.

I did try and take my cat trail riding but it turned out he preferred to wait under the car until my return.

Please don't just wave it off as nothing and say, "auch it'll just lick you to death", maybe, but how the hell I'm I ment to know that, especially with some of the more aggressive looking dogs around.

Well if it hasn't ripped your face off then you might be Ok, unless next time it's waiting for a small child.

cookeaa - Member

If your "Trail Dog" get's mashed under my bike on a public trail it is your fault, and I'll be asking you to replace anything damaged by colliding with your out of control pet...

good luck the normal drill is for the dog owner to run off as fast possible and get to the car park before you do 😉

Drac - Moderator
Please don't just wave it off as nothing and say, "auch it'll just lick you to death", maybe, but how the hell I'm I ment to know that, especially with some of the more aggressive looking dogs around.
Well if it hasn't ripped your face off then you might be Ok, unless next time it's waiting for a small child.

seosamh77 is right, I Don't know why Dog lovers always assume people are comfortable around their mutts, or try and trivialise other peoples discomfort at being in close proximity to them...
Much less having the things running about your wheels when you are riding, you might be fine with it, but I don't know your dogs temperament, typical reactions, any useful commands it might respond to (Does [I]"GETOUTOFTHEBASTARDWAYYOULITTLESHIT!!"[/I] ever work?) so don't expect me to be happy when I encounter it...

TBH if I'm presented with a random, uncontrolled dog on a trail my first instinct would be to brake/take avoiding action, so it's already getting in my way even if it does have the ability Predict my next move...

If you can guarantee it won't bother other trail users then Great, but I don't see how anyone could be certain of that...

I have taken my dog riding lots of times before I bought a derelict house, as I was riding min 3 times a week, every week in Mendips/Quantocks/Wales/Leigh Woods and Ashton court including night riding , no issues really only major hassle is all the people stopping to talk to you about your dog and it seems to really cheer people up 🙂

I would ignore the negative IT middle managers and accountants on here, as in the real world most people are happy to live and let live and seeing someone else enjoying themselves cheers them up.

I've even ridden with him at ...... Afan, but that was a pain as I spent more time chatting about the dog than riding; so it didn't really work for me 🙂

Only think which is well worth doing getting a flashing collar, whistle training them, ensure they can walk/run to heel when you are riding the bike and they are on the lead, and teaching them to walk/run around things on command (for when you are riding with them on the lead, you on the road them on the pavement and a car/lamp post/road sign gets in the way, so they can go around it without you having to ride on the pavement)

Other than that enjoy yourself!

We only go to my local trails and sometimes they do go over to other riders or walkers but not for long
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If you can guarantee it won't bother other trail users then Great, but I don't see how anyone could be certain of that...