It’s that time of year again!!!
Do you bike with your dog? It is a great way to exercise your high energy breed.
Here are a few tips to get started:
Introduce your dog to the bike, walk the bike with them beside it or have a partner help you walk the dog. Reward good behaviour around the bike while it’s moving. Correct any tire biting or over interest (bulldogs, bull breeds and herding breeds are tire biters).
Once the dog is comfortable with that, hop on the bike and walk them around. Note, it’s important that your dog understands not to drag you on the leash – wear a helmet to avoid accidents.
Once you begin to peddle start slow. Teach your dog a word that means slow down, left and right away from the bike, then incorporate it into your practice. We use EASY to slow, WATCH for left and HERE for right.
We always start with a hand held leash for full control when we begin the initial phase of teaching. Then we move to a bike leash.
Don’t just dive into an hour long bike ride. Dogs bodies need to be built up to longer and longer distances, especially if they are not used to this kind of exercise.
Invest in a good hands free bike leash set up. They help to keep your dog away from the tires and usually have a bungee system to reduce impact of pulling.
Keep an eye on paws. Don’t over do it on extreme heat days. Invest in good dog booties if you are doing a lot on the pavement. We try and avoid the roads and stay on the bike paths for safety. Make sure to warm up and cool down. Don’t just dive right into a full out run and stop on a dime.
We’ve taught a few dogs over the years how to run with the bike and each one is a bit different. Some are slower, some like to keep pace with the bike and one is a maniac that when given the cue GO will turn on the rockets and drag the bike.
It’s a fantastic activity that we love. Have fun, happy training!!
Smart Dogs Canine Training Milton 