Picture taken 2-9-2011.Reading Wild Dingo's post on biking with her dogs has motivated me to start biking again too. :D So instead of crawling onto the couch after work to sit in front of the laptop for hours I pulled my bike out of the basement and cleaned the dust off of it. Then I leashed the dogs and started off down the road. I think this is the first time I've ever taken both of them at once and considering I haven't been all the consistent with exercise lately I was probably putting my life in their paws lol.
However it turned out great! Jackal was on the inside, close to the bike, on the shorter leash and Storm was on the longer leash to the outside of him. I was holding the least in my hand, but refuse to put my hand on the handlebar because I've been there before. When Storm was a puppy I had her leash around my wrist and my hand on the handlebar. She stopped, by handlebars twisted and I hit the gravel. Ouch!
I had Storm in her collar instead of her headcollar so she was pulling a little bit, but a vocal warning from me was enough to slow her down so she wouldn't knock me off balance. I've let her pull me in the past, so I don't want to completely discourage it. Jackal did fantastic. I was wondering why he was staying at Storm's flank instead of charging ahead and realized her chain (not heavy at all) leash was bopping him in the nose. I'll have to find one of my softer leashes lol. At one point he tried to go to the outside of her, but was getting tugged on so he came back to the inside. He finally ducked his head under her leash and ran head to head with her, but he still didn't pull. :) I didn't take them far because I don't want them to pull a muscle. I'll build them up to the full two miles over the next week. After that I'll have to figure out a longer route or just do it twice hehe.
Anyway I had fun and wanted to share. Sorry there aren't any pictures. I probably would have died if I'd tried juggling two leashes and a camera on my bike. :) I'll get the rest of Storm's snow pictures edited and posted tomorrow if I have time. Hope you all are having a good week.
That sounds awfully dangerous haha. Glad you not only survived but also had fun and got some exercise.
ReplyDeleteHehe thanks for commenting. I think I actually made it sound more dangerous than it was. :) They've both been trained to run with a bike separately, this was just the first time I've taken them together. They know not to cross in front and they weren't pulling (well Storm was a tiny bit - it actually felt like doing half halts on a horse). So I wasn't in as much danger as I implied . . . although I probably should get a bike helmet . . . Can riding helmets be used? :D
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like fun! By the way, here in New Zealand you MUST wear a helmet when you bike no matter how beautifully your hair is styled.
ReplyDeleteFun! I have thought about rollerblading with the dogs, but that was before I added crazy Murphy to the mix, LOL! No chance now!!! Anyway, good for you for getting out there and doing it!
ReplyDelete(BTW, I'm planning a post sometime in the next couple days about trick training- I was a miserable failure at shy, but we'll keep working on it, LOL)
Jen and the Black Dog Crew
OMG! that is awesome. i'm envious you do two dogs. i decided i'm just going to use the ecollar with them (i know i know, bad correction tool), but i figure it's better than them getting killed. you CAN use the walky dog bike leash attachment. it's really CHEAP, like $35. and you can do it with 2 walky dogs and 2 dogs but you need a long seat post to put both walky dogs on it. i've heard GREAT things about it. seroiusly and i'll probably use it for when Mr. WD and I bike them together.
ReplyDeleteno don't take pix while riding, PLEASE!