Hey all,
So I've been thinking about buying a bike harness and taking my husky on bike rides. I know the ideal location to bike with your dog is on trails, woodsy areas and such, but what about streets and your local neighborhood? Are there any rules for this sort of thing, do we stay on the inside of the street itself or are you supposed to be on the sidewalk?

Just make sure your pups paws are protected I used to take my neighbors husky on bike trips all the time

Research "bikejoring" and watch the videos on youtube and the Diggler dog scooter website. I've been biking my dogs about 3-6 miles daily for the last 4 years. We mainly bike in a nearby cemetery (so there's not much traffic nor distractions) on the street/concrete/pavement (whatever you want to call it! haha). We have had no issues with paws or joints or anything else. If you have any questions, or need info on equipment, etc. just let me know. I will help you the best I can. I belong to the local Cascade Sled Dog Club here in Oregon, and I'm sure you might have a similar club near you. The people in these clubs can help you and your dog/s get fitted and geared up for your bike rides.

Here is a pic of 2 of my 3 dogs bikejoring in sled dog equipment. Our GSD, Nara, runs with us now that she's lost enough weight to be able to keep up with the huskies. I attach her on one side of the boys in a "fan" formation, where she is also attached at the butt to the gangline using a tugline, and is connected at the neck to the other dog/s using a neckline, similar to how Paw Paw and Beowulf are both attached to the gangline and each other at the collars:

Kevin, you are very accomplished at bikejoring. Our experiences include sudden dog stops and the tug line gets wrapped up in the front wheel, several "exit, stage left" after squirrels, and a few "we want to double-back and see what you are doing". Now, with more training this can be reduced and I enjoy going out with the dogs.

I'm just pointing out that if one goes bikejoring, one must be prepared to bail at any time. You will bail and hit the pavement, sooner or later. Protective gear is a must.

The dogs will wander back and stare down at you, wondering when you will get off your butt and continue with their fun.

I second protective gear is a must! Also pavement is hard not just on paws but on joints too, you may not get the distance out of your dogs that one on more forgiving trails might.

I've honestly never worn protective gear, but you're right, there are times when they will go off trail to chase something. Our nemesis has been a pack of about 11 coyotes in the cemetery. I've fallen a few times, but I made sure it was into the soft grass and not on the pavement. I've gotten pretty lucky. The dogs now know the typical sled dog commands, like HIKE, GEE, HAW, WHOA, and most importantly ON BY. The last few coyotes and squirrels we've come across have been left alone because of the ON BY command. It's great to see such progress in training.

And yes, off road trails should always be desired and sought out, but where we live, there just aren't any within a practical driving distance. The cememtery is less than 1/4 mile from our house, whereas the closest trail that is not highly populated with bikers, runners, walkers, dogs, etc. is 45 minutes away. Since we run daily, I don't have the time to drive 45 minutes one way for a 20-30 minute bike ride. Hopefully you'll be able to find a better situation. The softer the surface, the better for the dogs paws and joints.

I'm hoping our next move will provide some nice off road trails. We leave Oregon in September. Not sure where we're headed. That will be up to the military.

I bike with my older husky quite often. I use the Springer attachment ( http://www.springeramerica.com/ ) and LOVE it. Brooks stays right next to me and nothing gets tangled. I can work on commands as we ride together. I got her harness and springer attachment both here: http://www.activedogs.com/product.php?id=1194 The harness is great because she can still pull me even though she is on my side. The spring in the attachment takes a lot of load off the bike and we have only crashed one time, but we were on a trail that went to a single track with no warning and there was no room for her and she stopped and the quick release didn't work. Now that I have 2 huskies I'm not sure what setup I'll use, but Brooks knows commands so I may teach the younger one the commands also and put them in front of me. We'll see.
Either way,I suggest the springer attachment.
Also, we mainly ride in the street, stick to neighborhoods and I use Mushers Secret (paw wax) sometimes.

I've been thinking about getting into some bikejooring for sometime and have had a few questions.

How do you reinforce commands while biking? Just a big, excited "good job"?

Did you originally teach the commands while walking?

Although I think Sky would like to pull, she's never showed a strong working desire. Am I SOL for bike jooring.

If doggy numero 2, Carter, gets the all clear from the vet, I'd like to bike with him to as he seems to have a strong desire to pull and work. Will he be a motivating influence for Sky?. As an aside, I've accidently dropped his leash once while he was mid tug, but after he got a few paces away he realized I dropped his leash and he stopped.

laurnerox1 wrote:

Now that I have 2 huskies I'm not sure what setup I'll use, but Brooks knows commands so I may teach the younger one the commands also and put them in front of me. We'll see.
Either way,I suggest the springer attachment.
Also, we mainly ride in the street, stick to neighborhoods and I use Mushers Secret (paw wax) sometimes.

I've seen where people attach a Springer on both sides of their bike, so they can have 1 dog on one side and 1 on the other to balance everything out. They'll let the dogs do most of the pulling so they don't even have to pedal much, just steer.

As for the dog's paws, I've never had an issue with cracking or whatnot. I gradually got them used to running on the pavement, and their paws toughened up from exposure, almost like how we can build up calluses. But you should certainly take preventative measures to keep your dog from injuring itself. If we were to run in the snow, we'd have them wearing dog booties.

lpp06 wrote:

I've been thinking about getting into some bikejooring for sometime and have had a few questions.

How do you reinforce commands while biking? Just a big, excited "good job"?

Did you originally teach the commands while walking?

Although I think Sky would like to pull, she's never showed a strong working desire. Am I SOL for bike jooring.

If doggy numero 2, Carter, gets the all clear from the vet, I'd like to bike with him to as he seems to have a strong desire to pull and work. Will he be a motivating influence for Sky?. As an aside, I've accidently dropped his leash once while he was mid tug, but after he got a few paces away he realized I dropped his leash and he stopped.

Yes, we used verbal commands and positive reinforcement. I won't give them treats while we're exercising. But at every turn, I would give them the command, and eventually they got the hang of it and would do it, then I'd say "good boy Paw Paw, good GEE!" I'm usually talking to them the entire time, especially at turns, giving them commands and positive verbal reinforcement. They've gotten better and better. The last time we saw a squirrel, dog or coyote, my commands (and their obedience) helped get us passed it without a single issue. That wasn't the case in the beginning, which is when I was dragged and fell. None of us have ever gotten hurt though.

And I taught them all of their commands while on the bike, not while walking. Our walking commands are slightly different. On a walk, I use the LEAVE IT command, but on the bike it's ON BY. So I want this set of commands to be strictly related to bikejoring in their head so there is no confusion.

Paw Paw is my lead dog and the strongest puller. The other 2 dogs don't pull as much (Nara doesn't really pull at all), but they will pace themselves and run alongside Paw Paw and sort of race him. If your main dog is running too fast or pulling too hard, all you have to do is ease on the brakes. I ride the brakes a lot to keep them all even. This will slow down your lead dog and provide extra exercise through resistance (almost like freight pulling), and will enable the slower/weaker dogs to be able to keep up and not get dragged.

Hope that helps.

As some of you know, I got a bike and a Walky Dog for Christmas to bike with Mishka. He is coming up to the 1 year mark and while it's still cold here I am getting him used to the bike. He knows some of the commands and we are building on distractions (the biggest thing we need to work on). I take it slow with him. We only go fast enough so that he trots along side the bike. The biggest issue I have come in counter with is he wants to run, like full tilt run, when I don't want him to because all we have is pavement right now to work with and I don't want him to damage his joints.

Is there anything I can do other than holding the brakes (because that's what I do now) to slow his pace. Once he gets one good run out of his system, he general goes the pace I want him to. We have only been going about 1/4-1/2 mile if that.

It's something I had train Link. I actually used the word "pace". Which is a fast type of walk/trot. I just kept holding the brakes and then letting go when he was going the speed I wanted and saying 'pace'. He still has trouble with it sometimes, but luckily Yuki is a natural pacer and doesn't want to go full-speed all the time, so shes been helping keep the pace slow and steady.

Thanks Megan! I'll have to start with that command. I think I was doing that when we were jogging a bit and he would try to run too fast. I know I didn't do it very long so I can't even remember what activity it was with. Lol.

Over haw/over gee is one that we take advantage of a lot, since a lot of our runs are on a popular loop.

hi, i was wondering if i should start biking with my husky Leo he is 1 year old now. i did take him slowly around the block when he was 51 weeks old just once. i use the petego spring lead, i turned upwards. i have taken him 1-2 times a week after he turned one as long is the weather is good and cool. not sure if i should wait longer, because is is big.

One is usually when you are good to start biking. the joints and muscles are more well formed to hold up to it. I would just start him slow and work up to it. Running on short distances to start and slowly going farther. Let him get used to the running and being on it first, then if you want you can start letting him pull you for short spurts.

he usually trots next to me at 4-5 miles an hour , but he wants to be up in the front of the bike. i usually try to let him pull at little, if i don't peddle he start to run and speed up  fast trying to get in front of the bike    . and i don't think he'll make it back home  . he is very lazy for a husky, even are trainer thinks so .

Once I got Kenzi used to the bike and how fast she could go on the bike I would let her pull until she didn't want to pull anymore and then I would take over and we would just take our time the rest of the walk. It helped get her crazies out after being cooped up all day so we can have a more enjoyable last half to the ride.

He loves going biking he is so excited  he'll just do his business and goes to the door to leave   when its biking day.  he is getting better at biking, but the weather has tarted to get warmer      now we'll have to take a brake for now.

what harness is recommended with a Walky Dog? We tested it with just a collar and it seemed like it would pull at his neck too much

i recommend a harness with good padding and a spacing away form the arm pit because it could cause rubbing in that area    . i use a Alpine Outfitters urban trail harness on Leo. it has superb padding and excellent space away form the arm pit area . its a bit pricey but well worth it, i used for walking, hiking, biking and mush command training . it has very strong buckles.

@Dentonate
I have Walky dog and my experience is not great as the design it does not offer much gives and when dog pull hard, it puts you hard.

that's very true, walky dog videos I've seen are a bit alarming. saw one where it gets giggled off of the quick release , not sure if it was a faulty quick release. heres the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i35-XmZgqpA