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All things going well we will have a 4 legged member of the family join us in a month or two. I want to find a way of him joining us for family rides, I've seen people use both the K9 Sports Sacks and a variety of trailers. Anyone able to chip in with pros and cons of each, and on trailers any particular recommendations? I assume the Burley is gold standard, but anything else worth considering?
I used a K9 Sport Sack yesterday to carry our 10kg Cockapoo to a friend’s house. Only about 10 minutes each way. He seemed to enjoy it.
No problems for me either, it was quite nice having his head on my shoulder!
Depends entirely on the size of the dog. I wouldn't fancy carrying a St Bernard on my shoulders! The trailers are pretty much like the kids trailers. You can pay the price of a mid range bike for a super light one or a hundred pounds for a heavier one.
They are very popular here in Germany and I see a lot of these about.
We actually use our old Chariot kids trailer to carry our two dogs about and they are so used to it now they will lie in the trailer without the cover on.
How bigs the dog?
How bigs the dog?
14kg-ish fully grown, though in the first instance the main thing is to get something for the next year or so to join us while he is growing but unable to do the distance under his own steam. I don't really fancy using the backpack much when fully grown but might be a good option for now.
14kg might be a bit much for longer rides.
We also have a small dog specific trailer we’ve used, tricky bit is sourcing the correct axle, that will be another £50
He’s our fella the other day
I tried to put our 8.5kg cockerpoo in my roll top pannier yesterday. Freaked him out, so we both had to walk. I probably need to practice at home and find a way to make it a fun game, i.e. bribe him with treats.
Here's a follow up, does anyone use a lead for the dog while riding? I've seen a few contraptions with a solid arm to then attach a lead to, some people seem to wear by them. Obviously no good for technical trails but for fire road bashing in areas where you don't want them off the lead, any good?
Options and ideas from David Hembrow of Dutch Bike Bits. Custom basket or basket for your trailer? Or shows diy and commercial trailer and dog baskets that they sell.
http://www.hembrow.eu/dogtrailer.html
Can I resurrect this one? Any other thoughts as we want to take our pup on summer hols and would be a lot easier to bring him along. I’m thinking rucksack like the K9 so it’s more versatile for longer walks than a trailer-just not sure how practical it would be with frequent bike stops.
I won’t use the K9 for our fella when it’s hot, he’d definitely overheat in it unless you got him wet first.
The little trailer works well, he sticks his head out like R2D2.
Burley Tailwagons are good quality and relatively light. Easy to take on and off. Pain to get a bolt through axel but once purchased, no problems. Shame our dogs hate it for some reason. Still, Tailwagon what a cool name.
But not as cool as Buddy Rider. Seat for a small dog? Or Chicago Blues singer? We'll find out next week cos we're trying our border in one.
Our terrierist refuses to participate in any form of rucksack or trailer based shenanigans.
Bike packing.com have a few good articles in "dog packing" for some inspiration for carrying dogs
Our dog came fully formed with her own opinions. In a trailer she barks constantly, I think basically telling us that ‘you’re leaving me behind’. She loves the buddy rider though, where she is constantly winning…
I’ve seen a few contraptions with a solid arm to then attach a lead to, some people seem to wear by them. Obviously no good for technical trails but for fire road bashing in areas where you don’t want them off the lead, any good?
I’ve got one that uses a Klick-Fix adaptor to the handlebars and have a 2.5m rope lead that loops around the headtube - stops the lead getting tangled in the front wheel when it goes slack. NonStop bike antanna having the Klick Fix means it’s easy to remove / strap to top tube
You’ll be amazed at how much extra oomf 1 dog-power adds -