I’ve just introduced the BlobOnAStick mutt to trail houndary. She LOVES it, we’ve been 3 times now covering about 8 miles on the Malverns.

So, how far do you think she’ll cover once she’s ‘tuned up’? She’s a fully grown 15-month old cross (probably a mix of terrier and lurcher plus whatever) and weighs 13kg.

Tales of tails on trails please! 🙂

Charlie comes out with me for about an hour and a half about once a fortnight , very occasionally a bit longer . She will just keep going till her legs fall off so i try and be careful with her . Be careful of their paws on certain types of surfaces, i find twisty woodsy stuff best as your not going to fast and the dog isn’t straining to hard to keep up .

I love going out with her but shes 7 now and i am wary of knackering her joints out to much .

Samson. A border collie has been my Fort & only trail dog since he was 6 months he is now 8yrs.

1000m + climbing & up to 37km (my distance not his,he detours chasing deer, squirrels, foxes)

He did his knee ligaments last new year, 5 months later and a £4k knee rebuild later he was out with me again. (While he was recuperating one of my chums even named a Strava segment at our favourite local route as tribute) I am canny with him now especially in the warmer dry weather, but he will out again with me tomorrow 7.30am.

My German Pointer has done 17 miles with me, that’s me doing 17 miles with him covering much more chasing things! We ride once a week normally around 12 miles and 400m of climbing.

As with most dogs he’ll run until his legs fall off and he’s a big dog at 35kg so we take plenty of water stops and try and keep him calm but he just wants to run.

Ours will keep going but we limit her to around 10 to 12 miles in a day. Five year old Border Collie.

Chewie (fastest hound on the Kessel run) in his heyday (3-9 years) would do approx 20miles of single track around Friston as his top end mileage, usually we’d do around 16 miles of stop start singletrack which better suited him than long XC runs.  We’d do the occasional 20 mile days across Dartmoor as well but at a stop start pace.

Top end was 40mph and he’d snake bits of singletrack and Strava line to make sure he’d pop out at the end of the trail just in front of you.

https://vimeo.com/21609478

https://vimeo.com/22994165

Our Labrador retriever is 2-years old this week, she’ll happily run 10-15 miles with me running or biking – if off-lead she’ll easily cover twice that distance I reckon. 2 years is the age they reckon dog’s bones are fully set and therefore the ideal age to start running / biking.

My collies (working farm sheepdogs) would run all day. Took the pack on the Gap loop once which is 32 km. They didn’t bat an eye. All they ever did was run behind the quad bike all day and round up sheep, so were pretty fit to be fair.

However…. all bar one of them has now passed on, and the one left is 16 and deaf and blind.

So say hello to the new one. Meet Flo

She already follows the bike around the lawn, but at 10 weeks I think it may be a while before she hits the trails proper.

Most dogs will run until they drop dead if you let them. Need to be careful with it and I’d be checking with vet before upping mileage or intensity.

I limit ours to about 10km as he has a will keep going if he is having fun and then be ruined the next day. If he gets too hot or tired or doesn’t want to do a particular trail he will stop. I think they need to know it’s ok to stop if they want to.

Flo looks so cute. Fin says high.

As above we worked with what the vet recommended.

Fudge the Chocolate Lab comes with me over the winter. Only short distances, we do about 8 miles as I’m cautious of his legs.
He may even make an appearance at Woburn tomorrow. He’s 3 years old and been coming with me during the wetter weather for over a year.
Only take him when it’s wet and cold otherwise he over heats.

Used to take Hope the pointer out every day, but never measured the miles. It’s not a competition, so just take them out for how ever long they are comfortable for. Hope’s 11 now and can’t keep up, so I just walk her. She started at 11 months and her joints are still in good nick, so I’m happy we didn’t overdo it.

Our two pointers a Hungarian and German short hair would do up to 20 miles, that’s us (they would do further) in their heyday. Aged 3 to about 9. They often did a 3 mile run in the morning, then 3-5 miles with the horses and then a 5-8 miler in the evening with bikes. They were very fit and lasted till 16 and 17 years old, only the older (GSP) suffering from arthritis in his last two years. Vet said they last so long because of their fitness and that it probably caused the arthritis.
Our new one, a Parsons, loves bikes and running but we stick to less than 5 miles and he looks Pretty shattered sometimes, and I often have to carry him back last mile or so. The Sprollie also loves bikes, again keeping below 5 until three plus but he’s terrible at pacing himself so I reckon we will have to be careful with us doing no more than 10 miles.

Any excuse……Jazz actually is a Trailhound- retired from hound trailing in the Lakes and a great pet- see http://www.trailhoundwelfare.org.uk if you fancy rehoming one!

Loving the stories folks!

Cardi is pretty beat after 8 miles so I don’t intend to take her much further for the moment. But her speed/freshness after this distance has noticeably improved after just the three runs.

I have noticed she’s choosing to run on grass rather than the stones, so she’s learning as she goes.

I’m amazed how much more I enjoy being out there with a little fluffy companion 🙂

We get an occasional visitor dog. Prince, (one of those trendy spaniel cross mongrels) is sensible enough to follow a bike a short way I think. I want to try it in a limited area for a couple of miles max just to see. He’s not very fast though, a relaxed lope is the best he bothers with, a definate single speed specific dog.

My Karelian Bear Dog goes nuts when him and a bike are put in the van, can’t go far though as he over heats badly but he will stop and lie down or go swim at his own choosing.

The only problem with introducing him to bikes is that he goes nuts at anyone else passing on a bike and wants to go run with them.

I used to have a dog who would chase anyone on a bike..

In the end I had to take the bike off him

I’ll get my coat.

I’ve only taken my Lab x Collie x Lurcher x who-knows-what once I did 10 miles and 3 of those were riding up and down the same trail calling her after she **** off after a squirrel…

Recall is not her strong point!

If the op’s dog has a serious amount of lurcher in it he’ll be lucky to get it to run 500m before its looking for a sofa!!!

My Collie/Lurcher can run all day at a lope, with manic charges every now and then, squirrel dependant. He can run further (and faster) than I can ride, but the lurcher in him means he can sleep longer than I can, too. He’s incredible.

Badger

@Tomb

What are they like around the house and other dogs/cats?

Our dog will quite happily sleep most of the day so long as he’s had 1-2hrs running/playing. Might be tempted if one would fit the same lifestyle.

Similar to the above here – 10/12 miles happily and more if you let them.

Welshfarmer – check you pm’s

10-12 miles of woodland singletrack in a couple of hours is usually about it. I’ve not tried longer xc rides because there’s a lot of livestock round here and on/off the lead a lot would be a pain.

(enjoying the sun, not broken)

He can run further (and faster) than I can ride

You cant ride very far then, my lurcher is almost 11 now but even when younger I doubt she’d manage much over 15km and I’d be riding slowly.

Obviously yours is different and could easily do a 60km day out!

Bottom line is most dogs shouldnt run more than a hour or so just because they can do it doesnt mean they should.

(enjoying the sun, not broken)

Dog.exe is re-booting.

You cant ride very far then … Obviously yours is different and could easily do a 60km day out!

Probably 30-40k realistically. Badger is 50% border collie, 25% some sort of bull terrier 25% some sort of running dog, so has more stamina and is undoubtedly slower at top whack than a true 50/50 lurcher, although ‘lurcher’ is a very broad church, lol. He’s also in his absolute prime at the moment. I guess I ‘could’ ride further than that but I enjoy 20-25k rides (any further and I go into ‘long distance slog mode’), I’m not quick and the dog does significantly more distance whilst ranging in the woods on any given ride anyway.
https://imgur.com/gallery/Qka385g

Badger looks like a bull cross lurcher crossed with something else big!!

Kea is a mix of greyhound 3/8, whippet 1/4 whippet and a dash each of beaded collie, border collue and bedlingto terrier…she’d laugh in your face at tge thought if a 30km ride!!

Im not sure its a good idea riding with your dog on trails with varying terrain especially rocks and roots for anything more than 10km. As previously mentioned they will keep going as long as you do but that doesnt make it a healthy option for their joints.
I would say you are setting yourself up for big vet bills in a few years if it becomes a habit.

I’ve a 3 year old cocker spaniel which I wanted to take out with me on the bike. I tried a few times but if he sees an animal while out he’s more interested in that than me on the bike and just buggers off…

Badger looks like a bull cross lurcher crossed with something else big!!

Not far off I reckon on his dad’s side, but Mum is a gorgeously tempered working collie. This is the lurcher dad;

Badger’s dad

Your guess is as good a mine, but there’s something big headed in there and something long legged, and the markings are pure bull terrier.

Kea looks gorgeous! 😃

Nala, also known as bear, dog-dog, doggo and more often Doggy Dumbarse…

I was thinking about taking her to the Forest of Dean tomorrow but she managed to disappear for an hour at the local country park, so that’s not happening.

Long enough to carp on the trail & get in everyone else ways. Oh hang on, i dont have a dog & if i did, i would leave it at home.

@daveylad Not once has a trail dog got in my way, plenty of other riders, kids and walkers have though, should they all stay at home?

Often go running with my mate Edu and his dog Trufa, she can easily manage up to 25km up and down the local mountains.

One thing to bear in mind is access to water: while you’re happily sipping away at the Camelbak, what’s the dog drinking? We plan routes in warm weather that have guaranteed access to water, and in the height of summer (we live in Madrid) she stays at home.

My two (Vizsla Pointer cross & Pointer) will run 15 miles without breaking into a sweat! I don’t go to trail centers or use woodland singletrack as they like to run at the side of the bike, as I live on the edge of Sherwood Forest i’m blessed with many miles of Fireroad.

I don’t agree with people who say it’s forced exercise as if I take them on a 15 mile walk they run all the way anyway chasing Pheasants & Squirrels!

I don’t see it at all as forced exercise, depending on the dog and how fit. We’ve had a Lab, good for walks, a wirehaired GSP which would go for miles 10-15 plus but stayed near to us, the Viz and GSP who were very fit and did three four long days a week (10-20) and never less than 5 miles a day. And now the Parson and Sprollie, one is good for old man jogs, the other will be great for decent rides.

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Long time ago in a far away land, trail hounds 2b…