This week my wife has talked us into having a Border Collie (I managed to use this as an ideal time to order a new frame 😀 ), yesterday we collected a lovely 4 year old male rescue dog. I have really taken to him and would love to take him along on a ride in the next few weeks, just wanted your thoughts/experiences?

Cheers
Matt & Shep

Take it easy to start with and build up his/her fitness. I ride with our lab all the time & I let him dictate the pace. It’s also worth investing in some ruffwear boots. Particularly good for trail centres!

A very contentious subject on here, I predict a thread closed on its 5-page, depending on which big hitters participate.

Seriously tho, plenty discussion previously, have a search.

The Collie look

And when you get home….

they like night rides too…

Yes its ace.

Whats that jacket, I lose mine in the dark…

Training our nearly 20 month lab to run with bike. Live by a canal so started using towpath to stop him running off. Been on the park and a local disused golf course. He does really well not getting under wheels. I slow to walking pace and wait for him to set off again regularly. I work shifts so can ride our local centre (gisburn) through the week when its quieter so gonna try him up there soon. Will take a tupperware box to put his eggs in, not putting full poo bags straight in my camelback.

Once he gets a taste for it, just try leaving him at home!
Singlespeed is made for dog walking!

Thanks for the comments and pics, makes me want to take him with me on my ride in the morning. How long do you tend to ride for please? (miles and time)

we have a chocolate lab 5 years old and boundless energy I take him out with me on the
bike when i have a local blast never tried any of the trail centres think they might be a bit too busy ..
he was a bit wary of the bike to start with but now fine like anything just build it up slowly.
I use an extended lead on the 1 mile to the local woods as were near a main road but after that
he runs on his own just ahead of me

1-2 hours its approx 10-12 miles in the summer he usually ends up in the river
and drinks out of the feeder streams,you can get inflatable bowls if your out for long
and they need water

Our springer spaniel often does an hour at Woburn with me and we both love it. But thats pretty dog friendly and any rider there I think has to expect to see dogs, its a big dog walking spot

I think longer rides and trail centres are where it gets more complicated. Both for the dog and other riders

I don’t take the dog when I go for a proper ride but I usually go out with the dog by bike instead of walking him. He usually has a walk during the day with one of the family and a five or six mile walk with the bike with me. He has grown up with it and is fine. It’s up on the Downs, often at night and so not many people around and I just potter along giving him time to have a sniff and a wander.

Took our Collie out a few times but he just used to sit at the top of any decent & wait for me to come back up & get him. At 7yrs old i guess it was a bit late to start him off & he wasn’t quick enough so used to lose sight of me which is why i think he just sat & waited for me. 😕

I loved riding with him but wasn’t too sure he was as keen but now wish I’d pursued it more as he’s 12yrs old now so too old. Next dog i get I’ll defiantly take him out riding with me.

My Collie loves going out with us. You need good control of the dog, but they will have such a good time that they will listen to you.

We don’t take our Lab out as she has had elbow problems that we don’t want to flair up.

As others have said, the down side is that if you are going out and the dog can’t come, they make you feel very guilty.

I’d like to start taking out my 1 year old lab/beagle cross, but every time he sees a bike at the moment he tries to run into the spokes!

Is 1 year too young?

I have taken our Jack Russel on a 4.5 mile loop thats bridlweays and paths.

Trigger loves it, snarls, growls and runs alongside the pedals.He is a dog that is better off the lead than off and sticks to me.

We did a test and he hit 29 mph, running with a stick in his mouth.

Dogs were made for running in a pack; the only worry is the wheels and his paws may not mix.

Is 1 year too young?

i think the issue is to check your breed and see if they suffer from joint issues, jack russels suffer from luxuriating patellas that means they hop and skip as the tendons do not drop back easily.

i think a mix of speeds, take rests and treats.

Ahh ok. I have to say Cooper is also better off the lead than on. He’s very stubborn and refuses to yield to my efforts to lead train him (i’ve had a few dogs, i’m failing with him!), so a 2 or 3 mile bike loop may be just the ticket. Hopefully he’ll be able to come on bigger rides when older.

Keep going with the training, it works after a while; you just have to stare him out. Bit like kids, just when you think you may give up , they give in.

i think they all want to get off the lead so they can do what dogs do; look at it, sniff it, pee on it run onto the next thing.

oz loves coming riding. i suggest you find somewhere deserted to practice riding with your dog for the first time, make sure he doesn’t run under the front wheel and so on. have a dog egg collection strategy (we use an extra bottle cage and put the bags in an old cut down water bottle.)
other than that make sure you have enough water, oz drinks from the camelbak hose. don’t over do it, oz would kill him self trying to keep up.

Whats that jacket, I lose mine in the dark…

These attached to the collar (or harness in my dog’s case):

About a quid each on Ebay.

A little OT…

Just been out for a blast on the road on the pompino, single track lanes, car coming towards me, going very slow and odd “blob” shape on the road to his offside…

As I got closer it appeared to be some ****hole taking up the whole road as he was “walking” his dog in his Mercedes 😯

Carlsberg don’t make dogs … but if they did, they’d probably be Border Collies.

Taking it out riding with you is just the start of finding ways to harness the boundless energy and intelligence that characterises BCs. If you don’t, you’ll likely come home to find the furniture trashed, the garden dug up, and a hole in the fence where the BC escaped to come follow you. It can be a bit scary having a dog that you suspect is smarter than you.

I’ve had a number of BCs over the years, the last one being a BC x Kelpie that was a serious nails cattle dog. The longest run we did was 27 miles – Hay to Grynwe Fawr and back – I was on my knees and he was as fresh as a daisy. A proper working BC can do up to 50 miles in a day without problem.

BCs don’t like collars and leads – you need to get their respect so that they follow you because they want to. Taking on a 4 year old BC rescue is a big task, but very rewarding. My neighbour won world’s obedience championship at Crufts a few years back with a rescue BC.

BTW, if you’re in sheep country a hi-viz jacket for the dog is a good idea. We always put one on the BC/Kelpie when we went off the farm – it was known as his bullet-proof jacket, the idea being that it would give the yokels pause for thought before taking a pop at it.

Wishing you all the best with your new friend.

Pete, innes and Phil. You have gorgeous dogs 🙂 I have two follies myself, one that’s my dog for working with… Obidence, heelwork etc, and another thats more a lazy girl. Best dogs in the world, my lads been out on 50km rides and still destroys me on descents. He just loves the challenge of racing me, you definitely need the right dog and need to consider the impact on their joints if its hardpack or rocky.

Endurance in dogs, lets remember what they are bred for.

border terriers were bred to keep up with a horse all day and hunt otters, JR’s are ratters border collies, well it can go on.

maybe a chiwawa’s gonna struggle to keep up!

if a dog’s bred to keep up with a horse, its going to keep up with you.

its the wheels that are the problem; friends have had rabbits run through the wheel as it may see it as an open space.

Olive the dog is The same colour as singletrack so she gets a Fluro neck buff and a small cattle bell, so I can hear and see her.

She is a britanny spaniel, and races like a French bitch, cutting you up, nicking the best line…. And then we ride back along the beach chaing seagulls together.

Bear and I go out regularly, 10-12 miles.
The last couple are very steady though!
The start he’s off like a rocket!
Loves it, as soon as I get my bike he’s at the door waiting.

A dark and
wet ride around the Wrekin.

Thanks for all your help, will keep you posted on his progress.

Love riding with my Kelpie, I’d be very cautious around sheep at the moment, particularly with a relatively unknown dog. You need a good stop on her to consider riding anywhere near them with a dog whose instict will take over at the sight of running beasts. Mine, at nearly a year, has only just got there despite her being trained for work as well as play. Had a few early detours with mine to bring her away from neighbouring farms after she’d gotten carried away with herself. Luckily we are a known entity and my shouts of “lie down” and “that’ll do” can often be heard when we are out working. Sheep bothering during lambing could be a shootable offence that no-one wants to see.
Have fun, you’ll both enjoy it.

Depends on the dog I’d never take Harvey (black lab) too easily distracted and doesn’t like mud, rain and the cold… wimp.

Been on a few rides when others have taken their dogs and its been a pleasure, no hassle at all.

If you are riding in the middle of the woods does no one else feel that kicking dog eggs off the trail and into the bushes acceptable?

Reilly (Springer x lab) absolutely loves coming out with me on the bike. We normally do around 6-12 miles on the South Downs/in QECP but he has been to the FOD and a few Welsh trail centres with us.
Ruffwear boots for the rocky stuff, he’s used to those from mountain walking though. They just help to avoid cut pads when he’s running.
The first few times I had to buzz his bum with my front tyre as he got way too close but now he tends to stick a few metres behind me, unless I tell him we’re racing when he’ll try his best to leave me behind.

I’m lucky that he has some sort of complex about pooing in view so he tends to go and burrow into the middle of undergrowth to do it.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm5B_pyPd20[/video]

Couldn’t resist.

If you are riding in the middle of the woods does no one else feel that kicking dog eggs off the trail and into the bushes acceptable?

No.

Took my German Short-Haired Pointer for her first proper ride last night on the Surrey Hills. She’s 2 1/2 years old, and we’ve recently adopted her from owners who were too ill to look after her.

Bearing in mind it was her first outing with a bike, it was awesome, and she seemed to love it. On flowing singletrack she can hold my pace and will sit behind my rear wheel until either (a) I slowed down, or (b) she thinks the trail is too windy, when in both cases she will just straight-line it past you! The only place I managed to pull a gap on her was on a rocky singletrack which is one you can hit flat-out on a full-suss, and even then the gap was only about 20 yards! She even had energy to chase a few deer too!

GSPs are known for their energy and she showed it yesterday. We’d already done a 2hr walk earlier in the day and then an hour on the bike, plus some ball-chasing in the garden!

If you are riding in the middle of the woods does no one else feel that kicking dog eggs off the trail and into the bushes acceptable?

Depends – i’ll do it if we are miles away from anywhere. Guess my criteria are two fold.. 1. Must be kicked into an inaccessible area (bushes / brambles etc) 2. Must be an area where few other dogs are walked (so the build up won’t out strip the decay time!!)

Controversial I know…

If anyone saw Thomas at Glentress yesterday, he managed two full descents and one up (between the two car parks) on the blue/red routes – he’s knackered today though 🙂