Hey, guys!
I have a 9 month old husky puppy and want to start bijeroring with him.
Have been searching for a good harness on Amazon and Ebay, but I don't think t's a good idea to not really know what you are buying.
So, my question is what harnesses do you use for bikejoring and sledding?
And any other tips on bikejoring?
Thanks!
Btw, here is my Harry, he is such a bad puller lol. Has a really weird body for now, rear much higher than front. My friends say everything will get into lace after 15 months haha. he is 56 cm (22") tall and 20 kg (44 lbs) for now, very skinny... He is such a picky eater...

Beautiful pup!

he's a bit young for bikejoring, though. You normally want to wait until after one year to do any serious running on pavement for him, or you risk harming his joints. Despite his size, he's very much a baby!

That said, it doesn't hurt to start getting him used to the harness and pulling something. We use an X-back harness and a tow line designed specifically for weight/sled pulling. We took the measurements carefully and it fits perfectly. When we first started, we just put it on her and attached the lines to a large but light stick so she got used to the sensation of pulling something, then gradually added weight.

When it came to bike, we actually used an adult tricycle--so we could go very slow--and I had a friend run ahead of her calling her with treats to get her to move forward.

This book focuses a lot on ski-joring, but has lots of info that you can use when getting use to bike-joring too.

Most people use harnesses by Ruffwear. I've been looking at the Front Range because it has the front loop added. Ruffwear Front Range At 9 months he could still have some growing so I would get something that has a little adjustment left in it if you are planning to get it now instead of at 1 year.

Have you looked at bike attachments yet? Any idea which you are planning to go with. I have a Walky Dog side attachment. Springer puts out a good side attachment also. Side mounted attachments take out a lot of the tipping factor that can come if you have a dog that likes to dart after squirrels. Front attachments take up less space on the road though if you are going to be riding on narrow trails.

Mostly you need to start slow. Teach commands for turns and get him used to the sound of the bike. Start by just walking him beside the bike, work on directional commands, and then work your way up to moving faster.

Actually at the races the majority of people use regular ole x-back harnesses.

For Bikejoring I LOVE my zero DC faster harnesses, or my WC open back harnesses. When I'm running the whole team, I use Nooksack Racing's X-back harnesses.

Now are you in the US or UK?

For US I'd suggest Nooksack Racing to get your lines and harnesses.
For UK I'd suggest Indi-Dog. I've not ordered mushing equipment from her but I've been extremely satisfied ordering regular leads and she does make lines/harnesses.

As for tips as someone already noted he is a tad too young, typically 12 mo for running 18 mo for pulling.

When you start avoid pavement, try to find some good dirt/grass trails.

Work on commands now while on your walks

Also if you have like a small plastic kids sled, you can have him pull that to get used to something dragging behind him.

Most importantly, have fun when you get out there.

Thanks, all of you! I'll definitely wait more. He's gonna be one in November, so it will be sledding season very soon! I'm gonna start teaching him right away. Thanks!

I love everything i have gotten from Adanac sleds!
http://www.adanacsleds.com/bikejoring/

Please wait till Nov to start the hard running, but for now while out walking you can do mental work and do turn commands and heal and go to get him ready for the bike and sledding.
back in my pups young days i biked them and they have been out skijorring a few times as well, thats a ton of fun!

There are a lot of good harnesses. However at his age he will most likely quickly out grow any you buy him so you may want to wait a bit before you buy him one. Most males are done growing around 2 but some still bulk up a bit until 3.

Here are some links to high quality sled dog gear.

http://www.adanacsleds.com/

https://alpineoutfitters.net/Scripts/default.asp

Thanks!

Kat..How fortuitous that you were on today. I am unable to walk any distance at the moment and facing the reality that this will probably become a recurring theme in my life. So, am looking at alternatives for exercising the dogs and thinking an adult tricycle might be safer than my current two wheeled bike. Came across this old thread and found that you have a trike. What brand do you have and what vestiges do you find important.

We have hills everywhere so I'm thinking a 6 speed at least. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Amy, we have a new neighbor (lives about 5 miles down the road), a youngish gentleman in his 30's who has a recumbent trike. I've seen him on the blacktop road once going into town (16+/- miles) and he's happily sailing along over the mountains and around the curves. Guess he saves on gas but that could get to be a long trip! His does have some suspension on it which would help on the rutted dirt roads here but I'm not too sure about that ...

One thing you might consider, is that since you're reclining when on one of them there's not much of the pressure associated with a "standing" bike.

Take a look at this link that provides quite a bit more information.

Looked at some prices - man they're too high for my blood!! I'm guessing that all the extra metal in the frame and the related welding up that cost - but sooooo much!!!!

Al, I'm less comfortable reclining than I am leaning over. What would really suit my needs would be one of those arctic rigs that Megan uses but they are rather pricey for my purposes.  

I was able to walk Z'ev about a quarter mile and back today while Wayne took Ami for 3.5 miles.  Z'ev didn't even notice we had turned around and I let him do lots and lots of sniffing, pouncing and digging, then once we got home I let him off leash while we wandered.  All told he had 40 minutes of outdoor time.

I think first step is a couple of x  back harnesses and see how they do pulling some filled milk jugs.  If they don't pull nothing will work.  Weirdly enough, they get along best walking along in tandem so I think some sort of joring or carting would work with them.  I also like the idea of a sulky. But they are super expensive and won't give me a workout.  Also won't kill me either :p.  https://www.chalosulky.com

I tried bikejoring with Mars (a 75 lbs husky) with an x back and tow line last winter, but Mars Is not trained enough to not run after critters, etc., so I somersaulted a few times.  This winter I got the bike tow leash and it has made such a difference.  I control where we are going and I feel so much safer.  And, most importantly, he has not brought me down.