How far can I cycle with the dog?

[Crackle]

This is a fascinating thread, Crackle. I'm considering whether to get a dog that will come touring with me in the future. (It sounds like I just want a dog to take touring, but I mean I think I'll want a dog as a companion, and will want to take it touring.)

I'm toying around with the idea of:

• Small dog that will ride in a carrier on the bike when we're on the move
• Large dog (Dalmation?) that will travel on his own feet, and distance will be to suit him
• Somewhere-in-between sized dog that can do a mixture of running and riding in a trailer

Obviously, because I'm talking about touring, the small dog idea is the most practical one because it means less food and water to carry, but I've wanted a Dalmation since I was a little girl (yep, when I read 101 Dalmations), and it's so tempting to just throw caution to the wind and say, "I can make this work." (Not a good idea, I know, so it's a good thing I'm not in a position to get a dog just now!)

Well as companions on days out, running, walking, cycling, they're great. There are compromises to be made with a dog but not ones which are too onerous.

Touring is a whole different ball game. I couldn't tour with mine, the combined weight of dog and food would be too much. Even trailers start to top out at dogs of around 30kg and he's 35kg and you will have to tow if you want to do any kind of reasonable mileage. There is a crazyguyjournal you may have seen of two people touring with reasonably large dogs but while it makes interesting reading, the thought of attempting it makes me feel weak at the knees.

Different dogs are suited to different things, Dalmatians might be one of the ones most suitable actually but if you do end up with one, make sure you socialize it well as they are one of the few dogs I don't trust not to nip at me or the dog and we've had a few encounters out running.

 

[ColinJ]

A friend's dog accompanied us to Scotland last year. (Don't worry - we drove up there!)

He's some kind of Jack Russell/Staffie/Lord-Knows-What cross and has loads of energy. We did 75 miles of mountain biking and over 10 miles of walking in 4 days and he out-performed us by a big margin! All day long he was running this way and that, so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd actually run 120+ miles, and some of those were very arduous up-down-up-down miles. Complete contrast from him in the evenings though - walk into the caravan, eat, collapse, sleep for 10 hours!

When we did short stretches along roads, he ran alongside my friend on an elasticated lead attached to her. He was really well-behaved, not getting under her wheels or stopping suddenly to sniff stuff, which is what I'd worried that he would do.

 

[lulubel]

Well as companions on days out, running, walking, cycling, they're great. There are compromises to be made with a dog but not ones which are too onerous.

Touring is a whole different ball game. I couldn't tour with mine, the combined weight of dog and food would be too much. Even trailers start to top out at dogs of around 30kg and he's 35kg and you will have to tow if you want to do any kind of reasonable mileage. There is a crazyguyjournal you may have seen of two people touring with reasonably large dogs but while it makes interesting reading, the thought of attempting it makes me feel weak at the knees.

Different dogs are suited to different things, Dalmatians might be one of the ones most suitable actually but if you do end up with one, make sure you socialize it well as they are one of the few dogs I don't trust not to nip at me or the dog and we've had a few encounters out running.

I have seen the blog. It opened my eyes to some of the possibilities, at the same time as making me very much aware of what I want to avoid.

I know Dalmatians can be quite challenging to train, and they also need to be socialised from a very young age. However, I'm confident of my ability to train dogs - I started practicing on my mothers' when I was a kid! - and, as a small and slight woman, the thought of solo touring with a large, well-trained dog is very tempting. I don't think I'd have any concerns about wild camping if I was sharing my tent with a Dalmatian. (Apparently, they're known for being very protective of their owners, and also making great guard dogs, which is presumably one of the reasons for them being used as carriage dogs and being left to guard the carriage at night.) If I was to go down that route, I'd look to have him on a raw diet so I didn't have to carry too much food.

Another possible breed would be some kind of collie because they can cover large distances herding sheep, although I think they're more suited to dash-stop-dash-stop than keeping up a steady pace. They're easy to train, though.

Then there are medium dogs. I have considered the possibility of a dog that could ride in a trailer (I'd probably look at something like an adapted Carry Freedom Y-Frame rather than a specialist trailer) on the flat and downhill, if I'm riding at a decent speed, and jog alongside uphill or any other time I'm going slowly. That would be the best of both worlds in one sense because I'd be relieved of the weight when I particularly needed it, but we could still cover some distance. But the trailer would restrict where we could go to a degree.

Or I could just go for a very small breed and get/make a front mounted carrier, which would be the easiest option. Then I could get a more flexible trailer like an Extra Wheel to allow for all the dog stuff I'd need to take. And I wouldn't have to worry if I need to spend a lot of time on roads.

It's a lot to think about, which is why I'm starting to think about it now.

 

[lulubel]

A friend's dog accompanied us to Scotland last year. (Don't worry - we drove up there!).

And there I was thinking you would have made him run all the way

 

[Sara_H]

My Lab loves coming out with the bike. I don't normally do more than 6 or 7 miles with her (on the road) and 10 is about as much as she's happy with. I've got one of the attachment thingies that works brilliantly whenever she spots a squirrel and tries to shoot off to the side.

View attachment 17843
(March 2012 - Back on the lead after stopping at a stream so she could have a drink and a paddle to cool down.)

It didn't take her long to get used to the whole concept - I started by riding up and down the drive with her off the lead so she got used to following, and then took it from there.

I've often wondered about those - I've tried riding with my lab holding the lead but its useless. I'd be really worried about him dragging me over with one of those, but you find it ok?

To the OP, friends of ours used to take their dog for long cross country rides. He got a cut pad once, so they invested in a pair of boots for him. He also had a dog rucksack in which he carried a small amount of water and a folding bowl.

 

[Crackle]

...... If I was to go down that route, I'd look to have him on a raw diet so I didn't have to carry too much food.....

Makes sense. I'm wary of some of the suggested raw food diets, particularly ones with bones in and some seem to forget that today's over bred domesticated hound can't process some foods and others can be pretty toxic, onion, raisins etc.. plus with the plethora of in-bred problems, supplements are often necessary but in general, sounds like a plan.

 

[lulubel]

Makes sense. I'm wary of some of the suggested raw food diets, particularly ones with bones in and some seem to forget that today's over bred domesticated hound can't process some foods and others can be pretty toxic, onion, raisins etc.. plus with the plethora of in-bred problems, supplements are often necessary but in general, sounds like a plan.

Bones are OK, as long as they're raw. There's good stuff in them, and gnawing on them is good for tooth and gum health. It's cooked bones that are dangerous because they splinter.

I did quite a lot of research into raw diets for cats, before discovering that our older cats are very much set in their ways and won't touch anything that doesn't come out of a tin (or off our plates), and as a generalisation, depending on breed, raw diets for dogs are easier and require less supplementation than for cats. That would leave me able to carry a small amount of any supplements he needed, and buy meat from butchers as we travelled.

Although there is one thing that I overlooked until just now ...

If I became a really serious cycle traveller (which is possible given the flexibility of my work), what would I do when my large dog was too old to put in the miles? Would it be better to have a small dog who could continue to travel with me well into old age because he didn't have to put any of the effort in?

There's also the other end of the age thing. I think most large breeds are still developing until they're about 3 years old, if I'm correct, so I'd have to wait until he was fully developed to start touring with him. A small dog would be able to ride in the carrier as soon as he was well trained enough to not keep trying to jump out.

 

[hotfuzzrj]

Makes sense. I'm wary of some of the suggested raw food diets, particularly ones with bones in and some seem to forget that today's over bred domesticated hound can't process some foods and others can be pretty toxic, onion, raisins etc.. plus with the plethora of in-bred problems, supplements are often necessary but in general, sounds like a plan.

My dogs had some behavioural problems and a trainer recommended feeding them BARF diet (Bones And Raw Food!)
I gradually introduced them to chicken wings and various fruit and veg, eggs, oils, and some normal kibble to give them anything else they needed. I researched the fruits and veg that dogs can't eat, and I've found my dogs won't eat some recommended veg (fussy buggers...) There was no problem with the switch and their 'business' is much easier and less smelly to pick up than on other dog feeds.
They absolutely love chicken wings and I was getting such a good price from my local Halal shop in Brum (£10 for two carrier bags full, plus free bones whenever I wanted them!) I was gutted to move down to Surrey (well I wasn't gutted but put it like this; no Halal shops near me)
I now feed them on veg/fruit/eggs/etc bit of kibble and frozen free flow chicken/lamb/beef mince, bones and all, but finely ground so they would never injure the dogs - even though I'm well aware my dogs could wolf anything and be fine. They sell them in most pet shops.

I run with my husky X - he is amazing. Hills are so easy!
I'd love to cycle with them but they're both quite bad pullers, not sure how this would work. I'd hate to injure either them or me.

 

[Crackle]

I think bones are fused about 18 months for a Dalmation size dog and that, from my understanding, is key.

 

[Crackle]

I run with my husky X - he is amazing. Hills are so easy!
I'd love to cycle with them but they're both quite bad pullers, not sure how this would work. I'd hate to injure either them or me.

Well they are Huskies

Have you heard of this http://www.cani-cross.co.uk/

 

[hotfuzzrj]

Well they are Huskies

Have you heard of this http://www.cani-cross.co.uk/

Yeah I was going to join up for one but never got round to it... Typical! I think it's an amazing idea, I hate running but I enjoy it when I'm out with Oscar, he loves it and obviously loves being with me. I've recently moved areas and will have to find a couple of new routes for springtime.

 

[akb]

Good luck to you. I have 2 springers, both come out with me on the weekend for 10-20 miles trails and tracks. They love it. Make sure you have a couple of water stops to refuel and they will be fine. I wouldn't trust a lead attached to the bike but that's just me. All our cycling is off lead.

 

[akb]

Well I could show photos of at least 3 really overweight Labs whose owners don't appreciate the need of the breed. So overweight that they can hardly walk.

What is better??

Totally agree with this. Working type dogs need lots of exercise. A great excuse to take them out, walking all the time gets boring and riding mixes it up a bit.

 

[ArDee]

I know Dalmatians can be quite challenging to train, and they also need to be socialised from a very young age.

Wasn't the job Dalmatians were originally breed for was to run alongside stagecoaches and mail coaches as guard dogs? if this is true, I think a Dalmatian should be able to go a long way.

 

[coffeejo]

I've often wondered about those - I've tried riding with my lab holding the lead but its useless. I'd be really worried about him dragging me over with one of those, but you find it ok?

In two years, I've never once felt unstable or that I was in danger of coming off, and that includes sideways lunges after squirrels and pheasants. (I've jinxed it now, haven't I?!)