Dogs on the Trail

[atomrat]

Does anyone bring their dog on the trail?

I have a Lab/Shepherd mix female dog. I have been thinking about taking her on some trail rides with me. I thought that I would take her when doing rides of about 10 miles or so. Any longer than that I think would be to much. My wife already takes her on 3 mile walks on the sidewalk.

[Evel Knievel]

tuytuj

[chauvinist_youth]

I once saw a guy with a toy sized dog on a leash behind his bike and it was refusing to run and just let itsself be dragged. I didn't have time to catch up with the guy (I had sat down to snack), but he definatly should not have been on th trail with it.

[Rockinthecasbah]

my lab cuts in front of me all the time if i ride while he walks

[jcbikeski]

I'm a bit hopeful mine will become a trail dog, but there's a lot to cover before then. First we will do a lot of hikes with some being off leash. Then around the same time period I'll be taking her out on short rides but with a leash (with a special bike attachment). I then want to take her on hikes on trails with lots of bikes and teach her (first using a leash) to get the hell out of the way of bikes. Maybe then she can do some select trails with me on my mtn bike.

Might take a year to get there if ever.

[speckledtrout]

I've brought my dog, Pip, on a couple of rides. She's a rat terrier and she loves to run! i kept her on the leash until we got to the trailhead and then i untied her. She tried to run in front of me at first but then she realized she was gonna get run over, so she ran by my side or behind me. She loved it! I only do short rides with her. Like 5 miles. Otherwise it's too much for her and her shortish legs. Also, I only do it during the week at off hours so that the trails are not busy. And i pack a collapsible water bowl in my Camelback and make her drink anytime I stop to take a sip. She doesn't always want to though as she's often anxious to keep going! I can't even tell you how well she slept after...

[ryandood]

I was riding down meadows at Aliso and a guy was riding down withi his big dog too. We passed him and he pulled over and his dog just got right out of our way and then proceeded after we'd gone by. That guy had his dog trained very well and I'd say that if you can get your dog to do that it'd be lots of fun for the both of you.

[Schecky]

My Austrailian Shepherd goes with me. Only in the Cleveland - No dogs allowed in OC/State parks.
He loves to go and looks at me longingly every time he sees me suiting up. He has also met Art Tuttle and survived.
I always have food and a collapsible bowl. It's important to go slow and do short rides at first. You also have to go slower on the faster downhills.
I plan on getting him some booties at REI to protect from the rocks. He is a rare dog that is completely obedient off leash, but I still hook him up around others.
When you hold the leash, make sure it can't get tangled in your handlebars.

[Pain Freak]

My ex brother in law had a really cool fox terrier that used to go on hikes with him all the time. I got a phone call one day from his girlfriend that they'd lost Tigger. Seems a coyote thought he'd make a good meal and as the little dog ran ahead a coyote jumped on him shook him, snapping his neck then jumped back into the brush. My b-in-law followed him down into the gulley where the coyote finally dropped Tigger, but of course he was already dead. This was the smartest dog I'v ever seen, but he had very little fear and probably never even seen the coyote.

So please take this into consideration. Mountain lions will take down a full grown German Shepard with little to no effort at all. And it's never legal to have your dog off leash in a public area, unless it's a dog park or otherwise posted. Sad really, but we can thank irresponsible dog owners for this.

Also dogs can pass on canine distemper to skunks,racoons, coyotes and a few other animals are suseptible to other domestic animal diseases.

I'd love to have a trail dog, but the one that is smmart enough is to lazy and the other one is to stupid and afraid of all kinds of things, but not afraid of people so she'll just run up to them to greet them, which scares the hell out of some folks as she looks like a pit bull.

[speckledtrout]

Pain Freak, that's really scary about your friend's dog. I worried about that too with Pip, so I only take her on this one trail where I've never run into any animals except for chipmunks, squirrels, etc. I'm not saying that something more dangerous isn't lurking, but I have a feeling that this trail sees enough traffic that those animals stay off the beaten path during the daylight hours.

I always have my leash when Pip is with me, but we've been fortunate to never have had any problems with the rangers saying anything to us. They usually tell me she's cute and keep on going. Most likely this is because she's a small dog. Only 16 pounds, so she's not real threatening. But don't tell her that.

[Jman]

Trail running is another way to train the dog. I have a friend (lives back east now) that started his dog on hiking, then trail running and then finally with mtn biking. His dog was an Aussie and they're as smart as they get. If my Queensland was still alive he'd have made a great trail dog in his day.

[dirtmistress]

I had a friend in Acton that was riding with her Jack Russel. They got surrounded by coyotes and one coyote grabbed the dog while the others distracted her. she had a gun that misfired. She never saw her beloved dog again. I just don't know about taking a small dog out there. But if you must take a dog. Get it micro chipped,have 2 tags on 2 different collars and make it wear a bell you can hear! We saw a woman on El P the other day with 3 leashed chi's. I asked if they have tags and she said the tags are at home and she doesn't let them loose. My first thought? Famous last words for a poor lost dog. anything can happen at any time.

[Vickie]

Originally Posted by atomrat

Does anyone bring their dog on the trail?

I have a Lab/Shepherd mix female dog. I have been thinking about taking her on some trail rides with me. I thought that I would take her when doing rides of about 10 miles or so. Any longer than that I think would be to much. My wife already takes her on 3 mile walks on the sidewalk.

Just be careful of a few things.

1) Your speed on the trail. Your pup will inevitably want to run to keep up with you and there is a chance her feet pads will get torn up from the dirt, rocks, gravel. A friend of mine did that with his dog and the pups feet were raw when they got back. My friend felt horrible!
2)A 3 mile walk with your wife is great, but out on the trails the terrain is different and 10 miles is pretty far.

Use your best judgement.

[jcbikeski]

Mine's an Aussie as well -- one year now. I have doggie booties from Ruffwear though her pads are already getting pretty tough. Trail running would definitely be a great intro though I have to be careful of my knees when doing that. I'd never go further than she can hike adding extra rest stops. Also never take the dog if it's anywhere near 80 degrees or higher out -- dogs don't feel that cool breeze that cools us off as we fly down the hill.

[Bergsteiger]

Originally Posted by atomrat

Does anyone bring their dog on the trail?

I have a Lab/Shepherd mix female dog. I have been thinking about taking her on some trail rides with me. I thought that I would take her when doing rides of about 10 miles or so. Any longer than that I think would be to much. My wife already takes her on 3 mile walks on the sidewalk.

Where you go makes a big difference. Having a dog off leash can be a problem in some places, not others.
I always run into people that are irresposible owners and let their dogs run around and have no control.
I have 155lb South African Boerbel, and he is a guard dog, meaning he protects his family and property at all cost. He is ALWAYS leashed. The problem is when I walk him and other unleashed dogs come up and start Sh$%#t with him. Use commmon sense and respect others when having a dog off leash.

[atomrat]

I was going to start with Vail Lake since it is in my backyard. Not very many rocks and many spots to cut the ride short if something was to happen.

[Lefty Kev]

I have enough trouble keeping these two under control while walking 'em on the leash

No chance I could ride my bike at the same time too!

[Pain Freak]

Love those Bull Terriers. Great dogs, but can be a handful.

[Lefty Kev]

quote: Pain Freak; Love those Bull Terriers. Great dogs, but can be a handful.

You got that right. They are very loyal though. Great with kids too, which is a good thing since I've got two of those as well

[Permagrin]

I love to see dogs on the trails; they just fit with the outdoors. What I hate is seeing the little blue bags on the side of the trail and dogs running around in the middle of the trail out of control. That goes along with responsible pet ownership that unfortunately some people have an issue with.

I don't mind unleashed dogs as long as they're under control but when a dog comes after you sometimes you don't know what it's going to do - play or bite?

I was running at peters at dusk a while back and a large sheppard jumped out of the bushes right in front of me and sent me 2' into the air; I never saw him coming. When the owner passed me he laughed and said "whats the matter, did you think it was a mtn lion? ha ha ha" I said no, but it would be nice if you kept your dog under control or he might end up as dinner for one" which of course earned me the stink eye. What I thought it was was a rabid coyote and that scared me more than thinking it was a lion.