# Off Leash Mountain Biking



## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

Back story: We recently moved from Michigan to Seattle with our male V Otto. He is just a little bit over a year and obviously is still filled with energy. In Michigan we backed up to a section of woods with some trails and Otto use to love going on trail rides. It is really what we did for his exercise for most of last summer. 

Since moving to Seattle we have not done any biking other than some short laps around the neighborhood on the leash. That is fine and all but we live on a hill, so now that its getting warmer, i'd like to get back into the woods. 

We are lucky to have some great off-leash parks in Seattle so Otto has been able to burn most of his energy off leash at these parks but I miss riding trails with Otto. 

My concerns: Otto does not venture too far, but we had a few instances in Michigan with Deer where he took off for 20-30 minutes chasing, which for me as a new dog owner was very scary. The majority of the time his recall is very good and typically when we ride he bounces in front of me then behind me and around sniffing stuff and catching up as we go. The only times we have ever had issues is a few times when he ran to meet other people on the trail and it was more his puppy taking over than anything else. 

I think i've only been yelled at once :

Ive researched a couple of areas out here that people recommend riding with dogs. How should I approach riding a new area with Otto? Should I go out and walk it a few times off leash and let him check out the area, or am I safe to go and do a slow ride with him and give him the chance to explore a bit? My concern is always having him get excited and take off after something, but he has only ever done that once or twice and for only maybe 20 minutes. It doesn't seem that there are many V's that run away... But I worry. 

Any advice from people who ride single track off leash?


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Controversial as this comment may cause... we always use an E collar. I don't trust the dogs without it. Last weekend they caught site of 2 coyotes. Had they not had their collars are to stop them from chasing them, it could have ended badly. I have stopped them multiple times from bolting under barbed wire after rabbits and multiple times from chasing coyotes. I run them daily in places where they are supposed to be on leash, so I always have them come to a heel if we see people or other dogs. I also have been using the Ruff Wear collar attachment that makes a 2 foot leash quickly if they need to be on leash all of a sudden.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

That has actually been a thought of mine as well. I am not opposed to the idea of a little shock to turn his brain back on, but my GF is a bit hesitant. That is probably the same way that Otto would react if he saw some coyotes as well...


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

I don't feel safe anymore without it. Our dogs are so fast, if they took off even for a minute away from me, they would be so far gone I would be terrified I wouldn't be able to find them. I have had to get stricter when we are in heavy brush areas as well, because they like to run around in there and it scares me that I can't see them.

We have had positive experiences with the E collar and plan to upgrade our unit whenever this one is done, not sure how long they last.


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## MeandMy3 (Feb 27, 2013)

I was that hesitant girlfriend-turned-wife. NO way were my dogs going to have e-collars. Now I love them! Once they got the idea of them, we haven't had to use the correction mode - shock or warning beep/vibrate. If the collars are on, our dogs are so much better behaved. I am a believer in the collars now.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

I have always thought that an eCollar would provide the level of confidence that I don't have 100% of the time. It would be great to be able to train Otto with this; he is super smart and I think would get the idea rather quickly. Come/wait or be beeped. 

How much training did you put into the eCollar? How many times since the training have you actually had to zap them?


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I don't know your dog, but I'd think the first couple times out he would be more likely to stick close. Once my girl is comfortable in a place she ranges farther and explores. Biking at a fast pace doesn't give her any time to get far away, but she's just entering into adolescence so I've only experienced prey drive vs obedience once. 

It might be a good idea for you to bike it first without the dog so you can be aware of any temptations and obstacles. 

P.S. have you seen this guy's videos? Mountain biking with a gopro and a V.
Edit well good thing you've seen them since I forgot the link! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaILJUx8O30&list=UUY2h1QUSHpEXbmaHsh_-HpQ


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

If you pedal fast enough they stay close. :

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2012/05/define-vizslas-running-large.html

Training collar condition does not take long. Then eventually the need for it is reduced BUT I never walk or ride with my dogs off-leash near any active road EVER. Things happen too fast with these extremely fleet-footed dogs.

Watch the two videos on my blog post to see what I mean.

Happy trails. We're doing 4 hour 16-mile hike in the morning. The dogs will run about 50 miles over that hike. Well conditioned athletes.

RBD


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

I agree with that thought logic- Otto definitely seems to stick closer in areas that he is unfamiliar and does begin to explore further out once he gets comfortable, so that thought process eases my concerns a bit. 

I have seen the videos- they are awesome! There are a few other people out there who have started doing the same as the main video everyone has seen. One thing is clear with all of them, Vizsla's love to go mountain biking. Otto seems happier running the trails than just about anything else I do with him.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

Redbird- thanks for the tip! I am the same way, my biggest fear is Otto "freakin out" and heading into traffic. I think it will be smart to go and check out the areas id like to ride and see which ones of that best environment. 

I thought I was a well conditioned athlete too.... I realized pretty quickly that I was not the dominate athlete in our relationship ;D


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We had our boys wear the collars in the off mode for a month, then it took about a month to gradually train them to be proficient in it on the trails. 

Prior to this past week long trip to Carmel, we used tone and very rarely needed a shock function. Since their freedom on the Carmel beaches and miles and miles of off leash legal trails, they got bolder and used to free roam. Around our house they are not legally supposed to be off leash but I take them at 5:30am to avoid rangers, but they still need to be good to respect other people and their dogs. We have used shock about 10x this week unfortunately, but today not at all morning or lunch walk so I think they are back in the swing of things.


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

We worked real hard when hiking and running trails to get an auto-recall with our boy with hikers, bikers, and horses. We just stayed very consistent for a long time with recalling to heel every time on hikes. (reward reward reward) There's always that chance that there may be something too good to pass up. (our boy still hesitates if there is another dog to check out) In the end, I think every dog is different depending on their personality, training, and the locations they frequent. We've never seen anything since our boy was a real young that makes us think we need to try an e-collar, but as other people have said, it's been a good "safety" feature to have on their dog.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

This is all great, I was concerned about people having issues with me wanting to bike off-leash with Otto, so thanks everyone. I went and rode the area that I intend to bring Otto yesterday, it should work great. It is fully fenced in minus a few openings to get in and out and there was very little traffic. I did meet another person with their dog off leash and they said they never have any problems.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

Just wanted to give a quick update for anyone searching the topic. Finally had the chance to take Otto out on the trails and it went great! We did about an hour of laps and he seems to be getting pretty beat.

Only had two minor recall issues, 1st he saw a rabbit and went after that. Luckily the rabbit went for the woods and not towards the fence/road he was back within a minute. 2nd at one point he decided to do his teenager thing. Stopped and just sat on the trail and starred at me refusing to move. After calling him to come about 10 times I rode back to him which was maybe only 50' and he got up and started to follow me again like it was nothing.

He is 14mo now and every once in awhile he stops and decides he doesn't want to go my direction anymore, walking, hiking, and biking.... Teenagers... haha


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

Usually when our boy stops on a trail and refuses to move, it means he's beat and needs a break. I'd suggest caution when you're out with Otto riding, as it seems he could be getting to that point. He's still relatively young and his growth plates are still not fully fused. With too much activity and not enough rest during it you run the risk of permanent damage to his joints. Mountain biking is harder than a hike or trail run for a pup because they are running at a high intensity with fewer breaks.


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## leflerej (Jun 24, 2013)

I agree with that. I do keep a very close eye on him any time we are out and he is getting exercise, fully aware of their joints and the need for everything to grow properly. This was definitely not him being tired though, we had only been out for maybe 15 minutes and we were taking it pretty easy. 

I think this time it was more of a case that he wanted to go the other direction towards some other dogs on the trail and was trying to be the leader rather than the follower. Every once in awhile, recently while walking, hiking, biking etc he will do this (Sit down and not budge) whether we have been out for 10 minutes or an hour. I think its just him trying to be dominant because usually there is something around he wants to go check out. I think it is sort of a teenager thing he will grow out of... 

He never wins but I would rather have him sit and wait for me than to dart off after what is more interesting


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