are pointers easy to train to run with bikes?

the internet seems to suggest they love running with bikes and or jogging humans. so a question to those with dog, especially pointers… what sort of training process did you go through to develop your dogs ability to out gnar everyone you ride with? 🙂

I have a wirehaired Vizsla, basically the Hungarian version of a pointer. Like all hounds they can be a little bit stubborn, but he took to running with us with very little fuss. I always have a few of treats in my pocket to reward him when he comes back when called. Generally he is either running by my side or having a play with another dog until I call him.

I took him to CYB for the first time running with the bike a couple of weeks ago, he’s 20 months old now. We did a few laps on the new blue, as it’s a bit quieter than the other trails. He loved it. He’s used to running with us and he has seen the bikes plenty of times. He took to it almost immediately chasing the lead bike off the back wheel on faster sections and either ran between me and my wife on the climbs or in front when we were too slow. But he never ran out of site, or interfered with other riders.

(Brief note to dog haters. He didn’t crap on the trails, get in anybodies way, or cause any accidents.)

Dunno about Pointers but I used to have 2 Spaniels (brothers) one would love to run alongside in the woods, the other just happy to sniff around in the undergrowth. It was a mare taking both out, so I stopped doing that and ended up taking just the one of them.. at a time.

Shirly it’s more about the dog and how you bring it up No?

My Hungarian pointer just runs where ever I ride or run, he just runs everywhere full stop, no training is required, These dogs just want to be with you. If I stop he stops. I use a whistle if I loose sight of him and in seconds he comes bounding back.

I may be off here but I think my pal has a Pointer and my own dog a Dobie shares pointer Dna, and obedience isn’t high on their list of attributes.

Mine loves running with miles ahead of the bike, fine on trails with no distractions, but he is easily diverted by livestock, he once head butted a cow we came across at night and he acted in a manner that gave me cause for concern with a sheep. So cannot now be trusted off the leash if livestock are about. He and my pals pointer have both been to every dog training and dog agility class going, everything is fine, right up until that moment when they decide they want to do something else for whatever reason, then they have bloody minds of their own.

In short, there are other easier dogs to work with.

sorry bluebird – keep your dog away from dedicated bike trails, they are not for motorbikes, horses, walkers or dogs

easier dogs to work with yes, but the rescue dog i’m going to see on saturday is a pointer cross and i’m amazed by how much the internet agrees on them loving running with bikes.

if its not good with the bike then i’ll have to take up jogging, but if it is good with the bike then i can do a 45min-1hr loop each morning in the woods before gym/work 😀

its down to the dog rather than the breed.

first thing to work on is recall, maybe best following an ‘on the lead’ run to burn off a little excess enerty.

once recall is good you can start to introduce a bike
bit like anyone starting to ride a bike, you want to practice in a large open area

my first dobe would trot alongside a bike on the lead and run behind a bike happily (upto 5miles, never went much further)
my current dobe was too strong (physical and will) massive prey drive so never tried, that said he could never do the distance anyway so walking/running was better with him

excellent, tis what i was thinking 🙂

sorry bluebird – keep your dog away from dedicated bike trails, they are not for motorbikes, horses, walkers or dogs

🙄

Not a problem soobalias, but as far as I’m aware there is no dog ban on FC trails. Perhaps I missed them, but I didn’t spot any signs saying no dogs.

Back to the OP. All breeds have tendancies to be more or less trainable than others. Gun dogs are very trainable, but as with anything there are exceptions. If you’ve got a local KC pop down and have a chat with people who have the dog you’re interested in. Ultimately it will be up to you and how much effort you’re prepared to put into the training your dog.

I taught my collie to heel well when he was a puppy.

Now he’ll heel to me if i’m walking, running, riding. only thing that is different is the speed we are going.

sorry bluebird – keep your dog away from dedicated bike trails, they are not for motorbikes, horses, walkers or dogs

riiight.

interesting approach.

Started out with my dalmation on canals as they can only run forwards or back. Once you ride into / over them a few times they learn to stay out of your way, my dog is 40kg & like hitting a brick wall. I’ve ridden into mine 3 times and he was fine on each occasion but I was a in pile on the floor.
So, tricky bit is not standard heel/recalls but getting them to heel/stay when there are rabbits/squirrels etc to chase/kill.
Mines 7yo now and still loopy for the first 15mins of running then he’ll run pretty well, used to do 20 odd miles but now hes/Im older I don’t do as much distance.

Taught him ‘Behind’ which is very useful down singletrack, he just follows. Oh and I do a route that avoids roads and goes through lots of drinking streams but otherwise its just normal local trails in the woods.

canals are a brilliant idea! 😀

the dog we’re going to visit is a pointer cross, when the rescue place first got it they thought it was a collie springer cross cos of its size but in more recent photos you can see the pointer in his face and markings.

What happens when you reach a road? I’ll stick to keeping the bike riding and thw dog walking as seperate activities.

roads? i live a 3-4minute walk from the woods, sticking in those woods leads me straight into swinley forest 😀

dog would stay on the lead until recall is amazing, then we’d only practice little bursts off the lead, slowly build up, but always on a lead if remotely near a road 🙂

luckily i know where the roads are 😉

morning exercise will be jogging on the lead to begin with probably until spring when i can do some focussed work on training with bikes. gives us winter to work on as much training as possible. not in a rush and only want to attempt the dog and bike thing when the dogs ready

What happens when you reach a road?

Put him on a lead or ride the other way. 💡

dog would stay on the lead until recall is amazing,

riding with a dog on a lead is a recipe for disaster…

riding with a dog on a lead is a recipe for disaster…

yawn. its not juggling knives. im sure people riding with their dogs are aware they are riding with their dogs, and thus are taking it steady and not just blatting around wildly…

lol i’m well versed in wrapping myself around trees without the risk of doggy dragging me into one! i’d get off the bike when it comes to lead time i think 🙂 unless i’m dawdling along at a slow speed. not exactly going to race down some singletrack with a dog tied to my bars!

not expecting it to be a quick process, not expecting the dog to be happy or good or want to run with the bike, but if it enjoys it then i’m willing to put the effort in

I ride with mine on lead (both on footpath, how rebellious). If a cat runs out between house and BW your asking for knife jugglers but its fine once hes got rid of some energy.

i’ve so far taken too young dogs riding (only short trips as they have bendy bones and whatnot)

both times the dog has been WELL into it, and you have to go steady to not have them blow themselves to pieces.

its all simple stuff. be VERY aware of where the dog is. have lead to hand. take treats to entice them back to you, and basically go round corners at walking pace until they get used to quicker changes in direction.

just try it, they will get better by doing it regularly, just like every other bit of dog training.

Speaking from the experience of friends who just adopted a 1 year old rescue, I’d take it slow until you really have got recall sorted. Not to say you shouldn’t let them off the lead at all (in fact I’m a firm believer in letting them off the lead very early on) – but just that you might want to hold off on riding with the dog unitl you’ve spent several months making sure you can always get them back when you want them while out walking and running. Reducing the chance of failure from the outset is rarely a bad idea.

How old’s the dog? If he/she’s very young find an enclosed outdoor space and walk them off the lead as soon as you can. Obviously on roads use a lead.

Puppies will want to stay reasonably close to you as you’re the head of the pack so you’re supposed to protect them. We did this with ours from when he was 12 weeks old, we also hide behind trees every now and then, it sounds stupid, but it taught him to keep an eye on us, which in turn means he follows us. We had him from 8 weeks though, so he already associated us with being in charge.

It can be a bit of effort from time to time to training them, but once they are well mannered they’re great fun to run/ride with.

yeh i missed that bit. make sure they know their own name, and if you let them off the lead in some woods they wont just **** off into the sunset.

the hiding behind something so the dog worries its lost you is a good trick, friend does it when training guide dogs.

did that with my old spaniel, crossed a bridge over a river and hid behind a tree.

she sprinted the entire length of rivelin back to the van to try and find me. (had been about a 40 minute walk)

didnt do it again!

didnt do it again!

Yes, definitely try the first few hide and seeks in an enclosed space!

I try to do the hiding thing with mine on most walks – it stops the little sod from deciding which way he wants to go and scooting off into the distance.

at least she went back to the van and didnt go and join a hippy commune or start a nasty crack habit. spaniels are well known for starting on some small treats, soon they’re eating grass when you’re not looking and then BAM, smack habit.

Firstly make sure dog not too young as young bones can be damaged, personally I would wait until 24months old before say a 20 mile cross counrty ride at ok pace. (but I am no expert).

I found the following steps right for me and my dogs but I guess everyone/breed different, Spanish Water Dog and Springer for me.

– make sure lead work is spot on and recall not a problem before even attempting bike work.
– with flat pedals fitted find an open quiet area and ride slowly with them on the lead, walking pace, making sure the heel command and wait are perfect
-speed up a bit
-dont worry about riding in to them at slow speed….I discovered if you do ride in to them at slow speed it stops them getting in way at faster speeds!
-when confident that dog/s will behave and are used to bike let them off the lead, ride at walking pace making sure they heel and are under control
-speed up
-any misbehaving and put them back on lead and start again
-they soon get the message that if they misbehave they go bgack on lead which isn’t as much fun
-might take a few attempts but should pick it up quite quickly and get in to your routine
-springers like to be out in front so he is always level with my front wheel about 2feet to the side (gave up trying to make him run behind whne I realised I would prefer to see him as although great with bike he still does have springer tendencies!). Spanish water dog just hugs the back wheel and I dont even know she’s there.
-take an old water bottle with large lid to fill with poo bags!

It might take time but once you’ve trained dog to be a bike dog you’ll be able to tire him/her out quickly and they will appreciate you for it.

Have fun!

We used to holiday with Freeride Spain, Oscar their German pointer used to come out on rides quite often. In fact he would lead on some of the singletrack sections and it was a struggle to keep up with him!

not lost my collie yet. he tends to stay pretty close.

just bought him one of these for night riding so i can easily keep track of where he is…

The Beacon™ Safety Light

A double-up lead is great for on bike work. Lead goes around waist and allows the dog to get an idea of where he should be running.
Like Scruff I have a dally (though he’s the more compact 25kg version) and he likes a run with the bike. With the lead we can link trails, subject to the road being right for the task. (Nice verge on the inside and not too busy)
He would bury himself while out running so I have to moderate the speed and distance.

Our Dog runs with us on our bikes she is 18months old and now beginning understand not to run in front of the big knobbly rubber spinning thing at the front. We are now trying to discourage her habit of running with a stick in her mouth…

No specific training but she is a sheepdog so likes to “run the line” anyway. Need to keep it slow on the descents for her as she will try to keep to up.

Jam bo, normal bike one swith elastic work well, I put flashing one on the back of his neck and a white constant one under his neck so he can see the fox sh1t he’s eating.