# mtbiking with V



## brankulo

i would like to start taking my V mountain biking with me. i am wandering if there is anyone else here who bikes with V and if he could give some advices on how to start, when to start, how to handle the dog while biking, on leash vs off leash and so on. thanks


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## bounce

This guy does have some useful on leash stuff:

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/search/label/bike%20riding

T


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## gunnr

Former USCF/ Norba cyclist here. My dogs, were and have been, my training partners for 20 years. It's really cool biking with your dogs. 8)

Once your dog is under control off the leash, and responding to commands, start him off. Drop the idea of the leash while biking, and that "whip thing" that attaches to a bike needs to be forgotten. I've seen some pretty messed up folks whose dog went one way, and they they the other while riding. Keep the leash with you though. I see in that blog his dogs were hooked up to the bike, but my riding was a little less sedentary than that. 

Put a hunting bell on the dog, and a bell on your bike,find a nice secluded area,and just start riding around. He'll follow. Call him and have him heel up next to you while riding, and let him explore on his own also. let him know where you are and call himm up when you change direction. Carry twice as much water as you normally would, and make sure to stop every 15-20 minutes so that he can drink.

I used to take mine out for hours at a time in the forest.


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## marishavh

ooh my husband and I are keen mountain bikers - can't wait until Elwood is old enough to come with us! What's the bell on the collar and bike for? Is that so you can hear where the dog is and he can hear you?


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## gunnr

marishavh said:


> ooh my husband and I are keen mountain bikers - can't wait until Elwood is old enough to come with us! What's the bell on the collar and bike for? Is that so you can hear where the dog is and he can hear you?


 Yep. That's what they're for.


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## Big Rick

I'm no mountain biker but I use the Let's Go Pet Walker to give Dexter some excercise.
http://www.amazon.com/SHIPPING-Lets-Go-Bicycle-20lb-55lb/dp/B002U2PV6O/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1262916469&sr=8-8


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## gunnr

Rick
That looks pretty cool a nice clean attachment.

I have more personal question for you though.
I served onboard the USS Andrew Jackson, SSBN 619G, and the John Marshall, SSBN 611B, Submarines for those unfamiliar with the terminology, with a person named Rick Schoenborn. 
You weren't by chance on a submarine at one point in your life were you?


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## jas

Wow!!! That would be really cool if it was him!


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## Big Rick

Actually I was on a sub once, but it was an old one anchored in downtown Tampa. :

I was in the USAF way back in the early 60s. I'll bet that I'm somehow related to the Rick that you knew. It's not a very common name. (I mean 'Schoenborn'. 'Rick' is pretty common!!!) ;D


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## gunnr

Nope, I've never been on a sub in Tampa. I've been on the ones at Disneyland though. ;D They don't really go under water though. I was very disapointed as a kid when I realized that. :'(

I was on subs in the early 80's, so it must have been some other dude that stole your name. 

Allright, lets get back to Mtn. Biking with Vizsla's


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## madaboutvizslas

I have taught my girl LEFT, RIGHT and FRONT. This works well when cycling if you have to have the dog on a lead. Just be careful around things like lamp posts. If the dog goes around the wrong side:

a) it just about takes the dogs head off and ,
b) you will probably fall off your bike :-\

FRONT is good when she is off the lead, as she usually likes to stop for any really juicy smells on the way. When this happens it is normally always right in front of you. FRONT means get out front here I come. BEHIND is also another good one if you are going down some steep country (walking or riding) and you need the dog out of the way so you can see ahead (far enough behind that she doesn't trip you up).

Last year I got a harness and a couple of weeks ago she was driving me nuts. So I put her in the harness and tied it to my handle bars with a slip knot (just in case!). So I am now working on a new command "MUSH"!  She loves it. Gets to pull all she wants and the boss is happy at the same time!


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## brankulo

i took Lulu biking on our street yesterday. just back and forth, from one end to another. i kept her on leash as i dont completly trust her off leash yet. i just did light biking, but she got the idea and started running reeeal fast. i really had to push. lots of fun. what worries me is that she tends to run too close to the bike, trying to sniff around rear wheel and pedals while running.


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## madaboutvizslas

After a few rubs with the tire she will learn to stay out of the way. What drives me mad is how mine has to stop to smell everything on the way.


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## brankulo

how long do you ride? i have heard you are not supposed to ride too long until she is over 1 year. i usually do 2-3 miles with her in the evening. that is running and walking combined, along me riding on the bike. i am taking her on paved trail, not regular mtb trails. i wander if she needs some kind of shoes to run on concrete. last evening she was licking one of her paws. i wandered if it was from running on hard surface.
and yes, Lulu loooves to sniff. everything.


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## GinjaNinja

Hi

I mountain bike regularly w/ our 2 year old bitch. We first took her out at about a year - but only for 2 very slow miles. Or at least we went v slowly & she behaved like a lunatic. She really loves it now - sometimes I put her in her trailer, ride the 5 miles to the park, lock the trailer up & bike round the park with her. It didn't take long to train her - we ding our bells once & she comes back - I also use a whistle & make sure I have a really good stop trained in.

If she's in season I attach her to the bike & cycle gentle trails - but it's not as good for her as free running, she can't smell stuff & go at her own pace.

Technical mountain biking is the best as it slows your average pace & is usually somewhere pretty interesting for the dog - rather than just speedy running along trails.


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## tiggers mum

Its lovely to read that people are biking with their V's. My V is 10 years old and we are still biking with him, not every day but still quite a lot. We do not keep him on a lead as he is trained to stay with us and quite honestly, he gets concerned if he cant see us. The thing I would say though is that one very dry summer we were out biking and Tiggers pads did crack on the hard ground. I felt awful when I realised. He only showed us when we got back home. We stuck to field biking from then on for a while.


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## labeda14

I took Maggie (just turned 1) out for her first "official" MTB ride on Sunday! she was awesome!!! we have been taking her down to the trails over the last few months to hike and get her familiar. in the more remote areas we would let her off leash to see how she would react. to our amazement...she just cruised along the trail...she would get a bit ahead of us and stop and wait...or she would sprint up the trail and then sprint back to "check in" with us. Now i have been biking around our property (6 plus wooded acres) with her since practically the day we brought her home so i was encouraged by both of those experiences. On Sunday we had two day old snow covering the trails. they were in great shape so Maggie and i went for a ride. It was so much fun. she listened really well and for the most part just ran a bit ahead of me. she waited for me at the top of all of the climbs and stayed really close when we stopped for a break. i am so thrilled...seeing as how my wife bribed/ bartered with me to even get Mags (i got a new bike!) i have been looking forward to riding with her for over a year!

Here are a couple of photos of her on her first ride...and after her first ride ;-)


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## DarDog

Ah! Those pictures make me so impatient, hehe. I can't wait to start mtnbiking with Darwin! He should be good to go next summer .

Btw, I love the after shots of Maggie, very cute!


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## Mischa

I'd really love to get Mischa trained to mtb with me. We're city folk, so on leash and off would be ideal.
It use to be my primary source of exercise, and running is horrible on my feet and knees, so I've been relegated to walking for the past 9 or 10 months... :'( lol 
She's closing in on a year old now, so I'm thinking once we get some milder days here, I'll give it a go.

She's getting better on leash, but is still far from perfect, which I would need if I'm on a bike with my feet clipped into the pedals. 
I know when I do run with her, she focuses on running instead of sniffing, so I'm hoping once we get up to speed that she'll just run next to me, and not tug me down into the river. 
I think I'll order one of those bike attachments and I was thinking about trying out a backpack instead of a harness. I've seen Cesar Milan use them as a way to put a dog in working mode. I'd be amazed if wearing a backpack meant "follow Dennis". Plus she'll carry her own water and be built like a brick-**** house in no time.
This could be great! ;D

There is a really cool set of trails that we do our GTA meets at. That place would be ideal for hours and hours of off leash running. And I might even be faster than her...I'm very curious to see about that.


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## labeda14

Thanks DarDog--a tired maggie is a happy maggie (and owner!)

Mischa--maggie is still not great on her leash, but she is fantastic off of it...when she's running she listens so much better than when we're walking--i wonder if it's because she doesn't have time to get distracted? anyway, i don't think that i would suggest biking with a leash--i think it would be very dangerous for both you and her. we are fortunate that our property is big enough that we got to have a practice run in a more controlled environment before taking her out on the trails so we knew how she would react...is there anywhere that you could go to give it a try?


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## DarDog

I would recommend off-leash over on-leash with bikes as well. Especially when you get into mountain biking. (And when they are still young too!)

We introduced Darwin to the bike when he was about 5 months old (only once or twice)- we took him to a place where we normally walk off-leash. My fiance rode his bike, and I just walked. He got used to it pretty quick, and wanted to follow the bike - more exciting than walking!

We're waiting till he is around a year to go for a real ride .

Recently we tried xc skiing on an extended leash. And, um, it was... interesting . Wouldn't really recommend that with a young one either!


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## Mischa

labeda14 said:


> Mischa--maggie is still not great on her leash, but she is fantastic off of it...when she's running she listens so much better than when we're walking--i wonder if it's because she doesn't have time to get distracted? anyway, i don't think that i would suggest biking with a leash--i think it would be very dangerous for both you and her. we are fortunate that our property is big enough that we got to have a practice run in a more controlled environment before taking her out on the trails so we knew how she would react...is there anywhere that you could go to give it a try?


I ordered a bike leash attachment, so hopefully that helps. It has to be better than holding the leash on the handle bars. 
It looks like it will do a good job of keeping her away from the wheels and pedals, and the leash is attached to springs inside the tube so that should help if she pulls a bit, but who know how she'll react when she smells/sees something she wants...

Here's the link for anyone else interested. 
http://www.thedogoutdoors.com/walkydog-dog-bike-leash.html



I plan on walking the bike with her attached for a while to see how it goes. 
Off leash is going to be the best way of course, but it would be nice to ride my bike, with her attached, to the ravine that's close to me. Then letting her off once we get there, instead of having to load up the bike in my truck every time. If all goes well, this will be an almost daily event.

On weekends, maybe I can get the other GTA folks to go for a nice long bike ride, instead of a walk! 
Bah! they'd never keep up with me and the dogs! hahahaha

-Dennis


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## Mischa

The weather is finally breaking here so I took Mischa out on our first bike ride today.

I am proud to say that I am in fact faster than my dog....but she pwns me bad with her stamina. I was draggin my butt the entire way home, while after 2 hours of running with me she was acting like she just had a nap! What a jerk, right?!?!?!? hahahhaha

I walked her to the ravine trail using the "walky-dog leash" then let her off once we got there. We're a long way from me riding the bike with her attached but I was just happy to get her and the bike to the trail without having to drive them there.

The trail was still icy in some spots and muddy in others, but a couple km's where hard packed and bone dry. 
She got to play with a few dogs as I was glad to stop for multiple rests  but she didn't veer off the trail at all when I was at a good pace. She stuck close behind or beside the bike even if there were others dogs around. She was happy to come run with me as soon as I took off every time.

We've got plenty of work ahead of us to get some directional commands, and heel in place, but it was a fun afternoon!


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