Anyone jog their dog with a bike? - it's great for exercise...

[leashedForLife]

I don't know how popular bike-jogging for dogs is, in the UK; here, i still see folks foolishly loop their dog's leash on the handlebars, !!!! , & pedal off.  :wacko:   Bad idea.

I ** love ** my K9 Springer.   :wub:    It's sturdy, simple, & fairly safe.  Installing it isn't complex, & teaching the dog to accompany the bike is easy with any dog who has a half-way concept of LLW.  If the dog is already fluent in LLW / loose-leash walk, or even the more-advanced concept of 'stay at heel, even if i vary my pace', they'll easily transition to matching the bike's speed.

Some cautions:
 - just like the woman in this video, i modified my Springer to get the SAFETY clip out of the connection.  // Don't do this before the dog is very well-used to the bike;  U don't want to take a fall during an early trial run, & land ON THE DOG - bike & all! - trapping them, possibly causing serious injury.  Broken ribs, legs, etc, for the dog, & quite possibly a nasty bite from a scared dog in a panic, plus all the possible injuries to U as the bicyclist, could result.

Rolling at a nice easy 5 to 10-mph is good exercise; be sure to keep the dog off the paving when possible.  Provide water frequently, & watch for signs of heat stress [spooning tongue, heavy panting, thickened saliva, etc].

If the dog slows down, STOP - check paws for stones, nicks, bruises, a cracked claw, & similar. // Carry booties in case of injury, plus styptic powder & vet-wrap - wash out any bleeding cut with bottled water, wrap it & boot it, wrap the ankle of the bootie so it won't slip off, & go back slowly.  // When U rest, do so in shade - at least for the dog. S/he can lie under a park picnic table; U can sit in the sun, the DOG needs the shade!
Dogs do not sweat, & can dangerously overheat if not kept well-hydrated & given the opp to cool out, on warm days.

90 dogs of every 100 love to run - the rest love it sometimes, not all the time. Most dogs like to run daily, at least for a short while, to get the ants out of their pants.  Don't push an overweight dog or one who's out of condition & in poor muscle; let them come into better shape over weeks or even months, dropping BMI & adding muscle gradually.
Two dogs can be run simultaneously with a dual Springer - they are still safely under the rider's center of gravity, & can't pull the bike down. // Have fun - dogs love a nice romp!

 - terry

 

[Wotho]

Hi leashedforlife,

You sound very committed to biking with your dog, and more importantly you are savvy with all the necessary requirements that your dog will enjoy the experience with you.  I do feel concerned that people are aware of resting their dog, (particularly when he/she is attached to the bike)!  

Hopefully, you are able to get this across to people you meet.

I would not be surprised if there is a 'Dog & Biker' Group?  If not, why not consider starting one locally?

Thanks for sharing, enjoy the rides both of you.

 

[leashedForLife]

hi, Wotho,
I got into it while living in Tidewater VA, a mizrable climate for dogs - long, hot, sticky summers, very humid. Blecch. // The one gift was the beach, & wading a dog can really help keep them cool.

Biking, of course, can't be done on the beach - the salt water will eat metal components into corroded lumps.  There was a very nice 12-ft wide bike path on the former RR right-of-way, running for miles - thankfully, lots of mature trees, so few long sections without shade!  :thumb up:

The Tidewater area is very flat; low rolling rises & almost no steep hills, so biking is terrific - one way of creating a breeze on those hot still days.   My dog, & my clients' dogs, really enjoyed a nice low-key run, especially if we could find a relatively-cool time to do it; a cloudy day, early morning, or even dusk.

When the heat really kicks in there, the only difference between 2-PM & 2-AM is that 2-AM is dark; it's still 85'F or hotter, 75% or higher humidity.   Staying aware of how the dog is feeling / coping is key, for their safety.  It takes a long time for a dangerously-hot dog to cool out, once they overheat. // I'm so  glad to be back in 4-season, more moderate temps!  Hurrah!

cheers,
 - terry

 

[Wotho]

Hello leashedForLife,

Your description of that heat, made my toes curl - I would have to sit in a fridge!  At least, presumably you have air-conditioning indoors, but yikes the temperature barely changing from afternoon to early hours!!  I don't suppose you would see many people dog walking, except the beech area, but what if they do not live near the beech   Must be awful for dogs!

Glad to hear you and your dog are in better climes now.   8)

 

[leashedForLife]

Virginia was horrible for dogs...  not just the climate, but the pet-owning culture was very different there; in Pennsy, some hunters may keep their dogs outside in kennels, & some rural owners chain their dogs to dog-houses, but those are not many. // Most dogs in Pennsy, particularly in urban or burban areas, live inside - with their ppl.

In Ye Olde Dominion, it was not at all uncommon to see city dogs chained to a porch post, & the porch floor overhead was their only roof; they might or might not have a mat or a rug to lie on.     I was stunned. // One of my former clients had 2 pre-teen children, a husband, a 4,500-sq-ft home, & a 1.5-acre fenced yard.
With 4 bedrooms [1 for guests], a family room, a great room for entertaining, a den with a wet bar, 3 full bathrooms & a half-bath by the kitchen... where did their 75# Chessie-mix live? // Outdoors, in the fenced yard, in all weathers - coming in for brief visits if he wasn't wet [rain] or dirty [mud].  W-T-H?!? - why have a dog?!

Mosquitoes are year-round in VA, as are fleas, stinging insects, etc; fire ants are an invasive alien that is everywhere, & unlike the Deep South, in VA they do not build a foot-high mound - they have simple open holes as ant-hive doorways.  Yikes! - i was stung 3 separate X over 18-mos, twice needing steroids for my reaction.   Dogs who live outside are constantly harassed by insects, & heartworm [mozzie borne] is endemic. Ticks are also common, with a half-dozen tickborne diseases around.

The climate was sheer H*** for dogs, especially if owners were ignorant of dogs' cooling system & how it works; dogs can't cool properly once the humidity reaches 75% & up, as their cooling is evaporative. At that point, shade, cool H2O to drink, & minimal activity are lifesavers.   Yet i saw eejits jog their dogs on 85'F days in full sun, on paving hot-enuf to cook a raw egg.  //  These were well-schooled, well-intentioned owners who had no grasp of the cruelty they were inflicting on their dogs.  :'(
A woman who wanted to buy an English Bulldog puppy in July, one summer, commented while petting the puppy that her Bulldog at home had been "lazy & not hungry" for the past 3 days; i inquired further to discover that her 2-YO [intact M] Brit Bully LIVED IN A CONCRETE PAVED YARD, with no shade! - we'd just suffered thru a 5-day heat-wave of 90 & up daily, & her dog had probly had a heat-stroke. Gaah! - i sent her home, to get him to the vet ASAP.

I am so, so thankful to be out of the sauna that is the 7-Cities! Whew...
 - terry

 

[gypsysmum2]

A warning to dog owners in the uk. It is illegal for us to cycle on public roads with our dog running alongside us in this country.

 

[leashedForLife]

... but it's legal to bicycle on bike-paths in the UK,  with or without a dog, yes?

 

[gypsysmum2]

Not if the bike paths are part of the public highway. Only what we term "off road" paths can be used such as those through forests etc. I'm not sure if the Forestry Commission allow it or not though. I think they require you to obtain a licence of some sort. There is a recognised sport called Bikejoring where they section off parts of forests to keep the general public safe.

 

[leashedForLife]

beg pardon, GM2 - 
we were not discussing bike-lanes in roadways, but bike-paths such as are often shared by pedestrians & dog-walkers, skateboards, wheelchair-users, mums with strollers, etc. //  Such paths do not permit motorized vehicles, other than a Segway or similar low-speed variations.

point 2,
"Bike-joring" puts the dog AHEAD of the bicyclist, responding to verbal cues.  .  We were not discussing bike-joring, nor any other dog sport. // We were talking about riding one's bike accompanied by a dog, & with a mechanical device to connect dog to bike behind the rider's knee, for fun & as exercise.

As for UK law, shared paths & dogs appears to be somewhat vague - here's a barrister's opinion:
http://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle/dogs-shared-paths
 

 

[Wotho]

Hi, LeashedForLife,

Your Post (3 back) made grim reading!  It's shocking that anyone should consider it even remotely acceptable to ignore the well-being of a living creature.  

How can we ever call ourselves "civilised" when these type of situations continue.

 

[leashedForLife]

yes.
Equally appalling to me is the resurrection of punitive "training", or even simply harsh handling LABELED as training, since the Dawg Wrassler was anointed by Nat'l Geo as "a real trainer". //  Aversive traditional training was dying from the scene, & motivational training had finally become mainstream in the U-S, rather than 'just for puppies' - even hard-liners, such as hunters, cops, & the military, had at long, long last begun to reward dogs for getting it right, vs kick their a$$es when they got it wrong.
Along comes the Pied Piper of Punishment, & they all run to follow him like sheeple.  :'(   

In the past few years, i've seen folks treat pups as young as 10 or 12-WO as if they were budding terrorists, jerking collars & leashes, shout, roar at them, even scruff & shake them hard - till U'd theink the poor pup's brains would scramble like eggs. Even when i was a kid, folks didn't act that harshly toward pups - they might do those things to a 9 to 12-MO when they'd thought s/he had the concept, but they wouldn't do it to a baby. // Since the rise of CM / DW, any dog of any age can be suspected of 'being dominant'.
What Godawful twaddle - & as DVM Nick Dodman observed, "Cesar Millan has set dog-training back 20-years". // I think Dr Dodman underestimated the damage - IMO, he's set dog-training back 40-years or more, to the WW-2 standard of "make 'em or break 'em, & send the broken ones back".  Wasteful, cruel, & needless.

 - terry
 

 

[Wotho]

Those sort of people you describe have always been there, and will use any excuse to justify their means.  Stomping and bawling are clearly not training, these are the people who bang equipment to "make it work"! - rather than assess and learn what is needed.

Recognising dogs as dogs, and taking time to see them as such, learning their ways, and expectations of us as their 'guardians' will bring fulfillment and better understanding between man and dog.l

 

[leashedForLife]

they may always have existed, yes - but in my experience, they now feel empowered by seeing CM/DW do his thing on national broadcasts, & by hearing him [IMO & that of many others] blatantly mis-represent what they can see with their own eyes, during an episode of his programs.
Plus, because he's been touted as an expert by so many secondary sources, there are many-more of these "dominate the dog" believers around - their numbers are sharply up, as a fraction of all dog-owners & as a subset of the human popn, including folks who've never owned or lived with a dog in their lives.

for example, in a 1st season episode with a timid F Viszla who's well-known to be shy of strangers and  to guard objects, CM/DW acts like a total numpty, IMO; he chases her around while she's carrying a favorite toy, & then he takes that object from the dog's mouth "to teach her who's boss", which triggers defensive growls & a snap from the dog - no surprises, there, but Mr Millan re-interprets these very predictable behaviors NOT AS, "I pushed her buttons, & she reacted as expected", but as 'dominance'.  :blink:   Huh?

He deliberately provokes a predictable response; then he blames the dog for it.  :rant:    Then he rationalizes his own actions as 'necessary'. Some ppl believe this hokum, they swallow it whole with no questions asked, & internalize it, to use it later with their own or, worse yet, with other ppl's dogs. // Typically, this does not work out well.

Later in the same episode, he has the Viszla outside on a noisy city street, on leash, & she's predictably cringing along with her pathetic stub of a docked-tail flat on her bum; he uses the leash as a handle to bend her tail upward, & hold it close to vertical - then he proclaims that, "lifting her tail makes her feel ("balanced", more confident, happier - whatever nonsense)".   :huh:  Say what?

If i poke my index fingers in the corners of someone's mouth when they're tense, depressed, or angry, & lift the corners of their lips As IF they were smiling - will this make the person more relaxed, more optimistic, or happier, or am i likely to get told-off by the stressed person in no uncertain terms?
If asked, are they likely to say that it helped, or more-likely  to state that they felt my actions were intrusive & completely ineffectual?
If the stressed person can fake a smile, research tells us they will indeed begin to feel less emotional distress - but THEY do it, freely; nobody shapes their face as if it's a Play-Doh sculpture.     And if they are too stressed to even fake a smile, an elastic hooked on their ears to draw the corners of their mouths up mechanically will not improve their emotional state.

He constantly paints dogs as adversaries, & treats them as such when he interacts with them; then he blames the dog when, predictably, his confrontational methods provoke a less-than-cooperative response.  There's plenty of drama in every episode, 99% of it needless & created for the camera, IMO; but the only lessons for the dog, again IMO & IME, are that this dude is untrustworthy & blind to communicative behaviors. // Dog-owners who take him as a role-model should not be surprised when their dogs regard them warily, & are cautious about everyday interactions - or worse yet, their dogs may flee from the owner in scary novel circumstances, vs run toward their owner for help or protection.

This man IMO has single-handedly done more to damage dog / human relations than any other recent celebrity, by validating harsh handling, & disseminating misinformation to a gullible audience.   It's a doggone shame.  I wish Vic Stilwell, Steve White, Ian Dunbar, Trish McConnell, Karen Overall, or any number of other science-based humane trainers, could achieve one-tenth the name recognition that he has, nationally or globally.

Here we are, over 40-years since i trained my 1st pup under an instructor's tutelage, & i can still buy a choke-chain or a prong collar or a shock-collar in 95% of the pet-supply stores in the U-S-A, & nobody raises an eyebrow.
Beginning in the late-30s / early-40s thru today, we have coin-operated dancing chickens & other pos-R trained public displays; in WW-2, the Brelands taught pigeons to find camouflaged gun-batteries, & airmen downed in the ocean. Captive marine-mammals learn to roll onto their backs, submerging their blowholes, for voluntary blood-draws from their tail veins; adult orcas open their mouths for visual exams, & pee into cups on cue.
And yet we still jerk dog's leashes to "correct" them. // Why? - because dogs, unlike orcas & chickens, LET US do it, & get away with it.
- terry

 

[leashedForLife]

a link on the Brelands -
 


[PDF]
Operant Psychology Goes to the Fair: Marian and Keller Breland in the ...



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