Biking with your dog, which harness and how long?

[DooinMeCleanin]

I let him pull today. I had no choice, really. He obviously decided to vent all his pent up sexual fustration and hatred of me for having him castrated

I couldn't keep up with him, so had to be pulled along. I noticed he wheezes a bit so I want a better harness for him and how long do I let him go for? He didn't seem to want to stop. I thought I had tired him out as he started slowing down so we came home, but now he is busy stalking next doors cat along the back wall. He's only been home 5 mins and he's clearly not tired.

[toboldlygo]

How is he attached to the bike? Will make a difference as to what harness but you can't really go wrong with one of these, these or these as the point of attachment is likely to be high on a bike.

The fit is crucial, have a look at the fitting guides on the site (also Snowpaw store), too small and it will choke, too large and it will slip and rub.

[DooinMeCleanin]

He's attatched on this and the length of the lead brings him line with the front wheel when he is pulling.

I don't trust him enough to put him out front and let him have total control just yet, we'd be half way to the next town if he spotted a rabbit. I like to have a bit of control over which direction we go in

[toboldlygo]

In fact I have just checked in the gear cupboard and if by any chance he takes a 22" neck I have a used Nordkyn one in black that you are very welcome to have. :) I'm a bit obsessive about harnesses, have approximately eleventy billion and only actually use two per dog (one Manmat shoulder harness, one custom x-back).

[DooinMeCleanin]

Ah he's only a wee terrier mix, so I doubt it would fit. I'll have to take him to my mums to measure him, or buy my own measuring tape, but thank you for the offer.

I have eleventy billion sighthound collars and rarely change their collars.

[toboldlygo]

It last fit a 10 month old Siberian husky so doubt it'd fit a tiddly terrier. Snowpaw can do custom orders of those if he's a really wee size.

The last lot of harnesses I ordered were in custom colours with their names stitched on.

[Takver]

Daft question, but do your dogs want to stop every 3 seconds for a sniff & a pee when cycling?

Can't help with the harness question, as we just walk through town then cycle off road so he runs alongside (or doesn't, as per above).

[Takver]

Do you cycle with your husky attached to your bike, boldly? I've always been very wary of doing this with the mutt (part husky) as I worry that should he suddenly take off (unlikely, but possible - he's old and reliable, but you never know) he'd pull me straight over.

[DooinMeCleanin]

No he just runs and runs and runs. It's the first time today I have let him have full control of the speed we go at. We were chasing dd1 but after about 30 seconds dd1 was a wee spot in the background and we were hurtling towards a fence . I decided at this point I should slow him down a bit , but when weren't heading for fences I let him pull full pelt and he loved every second.

He a Fox Terrier x and true to breed he is notoriously bad at recall so biking is the only time he gets to run properly.

[toboldlygo]

Takver - I used to use a bike when I just had one but now have both a rig similar to this and a scooter similar to this. They don't stop to sniff and pee as they're trained to race, I've a job keeping hold of them when they know they're going to run. :)

[Takver]

They look fantastic! I think dear mutt would have loved to have something like that to pull when he was younger - he's a bit old for it now (11) but still likes to go at a good clip alongside the bike. When he's not stopping and sniffing, that is.

(To be fair, we used to live on a farm & he rarely went off of our land so I think he is just making the most of all the other dogs to stop & sniff after now we are in town . . .)

[BigBirdisSaved]

No because a stupid and irresponsible neighbour let her huge white demon family pet rush my dog the one time I tried and she lept into the wheel and got her back leg entangled badly and it was a wonder she didn't break a leg. It scared both of us badly. I've looked into attachments but I haven't found one that would stop her doing it again for sure in similar circumstances. I'm bummed, she loves to run and can run faster than we can and I used to bike with my old dog as a teen.