PORC

Hi everyone. I've got a little Vizsla puppy who I'm hoping to groom into a trail companion. Only trouble is all the leash laws, etc., around here. Does anyone know any relatively local trails where dogs are allowed to be off leash? Maybe in the state gamelands somewhere? I'm fairly new to mountain biking and have rode north park a lot, but obviously you can't ride with a dog there. Those of you with dogs, where do you ride? Thanks!!

Nate

Its advised to wait until the dog is a year old. Running with a bike is bad for a puppy's ligament development.

Then leash train the dog while you ride the bike. That can be done anywhere you are comfortable riding.

The state gamelands are great for training, but you should train the dog to return to you on command first. Otherwise you'll be posting a message for a lost dog.

I've trained 2 dogs this way.

Biber, PTAG Board member

All very good points above.

Frick the is understood place to ride off leash. There are a million signs saying not to but people will have their dog off leash there. I hope to be there Monday with mine.

Frick is a fantastic place for off leash dogs, especially if it's mean, your training up an attack dog or just trying to get it started early on chasing cyclist. Steevo is an espcially big fan of off leash dogs (outside the offleash dog area) at Frick park. http://thesteevo.blogspot.com/2010/01/s ... phecy.html

Please. I got bit too.

Heh, should have figured I'd start a controversy with this. Thanks for the advice. He won't be a year old until September and I have no intention of running him hard until then. Just looking for some places to start working with him on some very short rides once he gets to 7-8 months or so. He's so uncoordinated and floppy right now that it certainly wouldn't work at all. Of course there are two sides to the biking with dogs issue, that's why I'm trying to find places that are legal and will have limited distractions at first to train him right. I wouldn't want to be bitten or have my pup attacked by a crazy dog off leash.

Those of you who do ride with dogs, do your dogs run in front or behind you? Any tips for training?

Thanks!

I think this is the definitive article:
http://www.dirtragmag.com/print/article ... y=features

My very limited experience is work with your dog off leash and when you walk them. If you can't control them in that situation then you won't be able to on the trails either. Sit, stay, come. Left and right are helpful to so you can get them to turn.

Dog behind is easier. They'll get caught up in scents or whatnot and just stop in front of you. I've buzzed both dogs a few times. MOVE is another command I would teach them, I've used that before.

I'd also not ride with them in a group for good while. It's hard to know how they'll react to other people. And it's hard to stay focused on them and their needs and not trying to get a group ride in. I have one dog that's never been good for more than an hour and every time I've taken him out with other people I've ended up pushing him too hard.

everyxnewxday wrote:Heh, should have figured I'd start a controversy with this.

Take no offense, we couldn't help having a little fun with it. Good luck with your pooch. Vizslas are beautiful dogs.

Hey everyxnewxday, I got a vizsla too and am going to start to train her to run with me while I ride. She is eight months old right now so I'm thinking this spring will be a good start to train her. I live close to the Montour trail, so I think I am going to try her out on the leash there first like mayhew has stated. She has been in a few training classes and is learning sit, heel, and come pretty good. We are working on stay. She does pretty good around bikes right now, I tried to introduce them to her when she was about three months old by having walking her on the Montour trail and my wife brought her to the Pittsburgh adventure race, so she got to see a lot of bikes there. My main concern is she is a very social dog and loves greeting other people and I know this will transfer over to other people on bikes. Let me know how things are going. Where are you located at? Do you have any area to let him run off-leash?

Thanks for the article Mayhew, that will make some good reading for tonight.

Whoa, I never advocated riding with your dog while holding a leash. That is asking for trouble, esp with a hunting dog that is going to lock in on something and go. By leash I meant walking around with them, teaching them commands and how to work with you and move with you. Riding with my dogs is not a lot different than walking with them. They stay on the same side and I use the same commands in both situations.

No sweat on the link. Karen wrote a really good article, for sure. I see her a lot and recognize her dogs as easily as her.

Thanks guys!

Anthony - I'm in Cranberry TWP and yes, I have a nice section of woods right next to my place that I walk him in, off leash, every day. I'm going to ride there some, but the trails are all dirt bike/quad trails and are pretty muddy and rutted. Not the greatest riding conditions, so I'm looking for some better places. My main worry is that he has a tendency to always want to be in front which I'm working on breaking, but having limited success so far. He's doing well with Sit and Stay, but has a mind of his own regarding Come. Any time I change direction he eagerly follows, but he'll run past and want to be out front until I change direction again. He'll come when I call, unless he wants to go the other way then he just sits and looks down the trail. heh.

He's only 4 months old, so he's got time to grow up and learn still. : )

Mayhew a little confusion on my part, but I did not plan on using a normal leash. Like you sad that would be a nightmare. I have a 20 ft lead that I use to train her with that I had planned on using. Figured it would give me some warning and time to drop the leash should she take off after something.

Every, I hear you on them wanting to be out front. Ellie does the same thing but that is mostly because she is to fast for me! Might be a different story on the bike.

I have seem a few people win their dogs out at Bavington and with them being game lands I don't think there would be any problem out there. Just need to watch other riders of course.

I had two siberian huskies (RIP) that I mushed together with my bike. Boyce park and North park were my favorite places to take them. They loved it. I used actual mushing harnesses, a double connector to join them side-by-side, and a retired climbing rope (stretches a bit) which wrapped around the top tube of my bike. I mushed them 3-4 times a week every Fall, Winter, and Spring for about 9 years. In my case, they were on leash all the time and in front of me pulling all the time.

The key is to train your dog all the commands and make sure he listens. Train him on leash while walking, make sure he listens even if there is a deer nearby or a squirrel running across the trails. Only when you know he will listen, does the leash get removed. I taught my huskies the commands 'let's go', 'left', 'right', 'slow', and 'stop'. They never did do the 'stop' command very well (LOL).

HIS SAFETY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE RIDE. ALWAYS. REMEMBER THAT!

My main advice. Do it!! You and your dog will have a great time.

Seven Springs' and surrounding trails are cool for dogs vs. county parks with mean, leashed owners of dogs.

Believe this, I didn't train my dog on how to hang on a bike ride. He figured it out instantly and to this day teaches me how to carve the singletrack with authority.

A long time ago, the day I adopted him I took him on a bike ride after completely convincing him that I had the most tasty treats on the planet. (high-quality professional-grade lamb that comes in a big tube like sausage at quality pet stores that I diced into cubes and bagged) He didn't let me out of his sight. I rewarded him with treats for dozens of rides and hikes to cement the fact that it is better to hang w/ me than to run away. Eight years later I still reward good behavior with treats (and love of course).

Eventually your dog will develop good trail etiquette. Maybe the quickest way for that to happen is to take your dog on a ride with other dogs when he's ready. He'll learn the ropes from the pack quickly. I'd be more than happy to hook up w/ you for a ride when the time is right.

Finally, just as a precaution, make sure that the ID tag you put on his collar offers your phone number and NOT your dog's name. If by chance he does chase a deer and gets lost, you don't want him to be adopted (stolen) by someone else with treats and knowledge of your dog's name...

My dog's ID tags says:
Please,
724 433 4486
Thanks

Thanks for all the advice! I'd love to go on a pack ride sometime. : ). He won't be ready for any serious riding until late this summer, but perhAps we could do a short ride and puppy play date sometime.

Thanks!

Every - just wanted to give you a heads up, I just bought one of these on Amazon to start to train my vizsla on the bike and to also allow for her to come on rides with me and my wife on the rail trails. I figured for the $27 it cost on Amazon, it was worth a shot. She walks good on a loose leash and heels well, so I thought this might be the next logical step. I'll let you know how it goes once i get a chance to try it out.

http://k-9bikejogger.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

Huh, that looks interesting. Let me know how it works. Does it allow your dog to run behind the bike, or only to the side? The leash part doesn't seem very long, but they have very few photos.

Thanks for the heads up!

Weston is getting bigger. About 31 pounds now. We've done some short (~1 mile) rides in the woods by my house and have done a bit of roller blading, which he loves. Can't wait til he's big enough for some real rides!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3332116&id=22667314658

I should have it tomorrow, so i'll let you know, but from what i've seen and read on other forums, the leash length is adjustable and you should be able to have them run behind you instead of in the heel position if you want as you can attach this to either your frame of seat tube. This will depend on if you can extend the leash or not. I'll give you an update in a few dates. Weston is a good looking Vizsla, his face reminds me of mine, Ellie. She is (and has been for a few months) about 46 lbs. We went on a 8 mile run on Sunday and she wasn't even phased by it. Anxious to try this out to see how it works.

Bavington is a good place to work with your dog. I recommend only on Sundays.
Make sure you are treating your dog with Frontline or some other tick killer because there are a lot there. I recommend a bell on the dog too. Our dogs are pretty good but if they do get out of site a bell would help locate them.

We hike with the dogs alot so they have learned what a trail is. When they were younger we did a few things while training them. We used 35 foot retractable leashes. We kept a little bag of cheerios with us, we would call them and give them a little tug and when they would come we would give them one. They learned to come on command quickly. The other thing we would do is when they weren't paying attention to us we would stop, keeping them in sight and wait for them to realize we weren't behind them. When they looked back we would start walking/running the other direction. It was a game, but it makes them pay more attention to where we are and what we are doing.

Beautiful dog.

Yeah, I was thinking of taking her up there this Sunday to go for a hike in the morning. I have a high visibility vest that I use on her when we run in the morning that I am going to put on her while we are up there. I do need to go get a bell though. We hiked on the trails in South Park when we had all the snow and she did pretty good with staying on the trail. I will still probably keep her on a longer lead for the first few times though.

Funny, I do the same thing when I take her to Fairview Park. Sometimes I'll call her to come and she will just stop and stare at me while she waits for me to catch up to her. I think she is used to me always walking up to her, so i will turn around and walk the other way while I call and she comes flying! My only concern with hiking and biking with her now is that she does not know the whoa or stop command.