Dog Community

Ski (er... roller) joring, anyone?

Posted : 5/25/2010 5:25:22 PM

Oh my gosh this looks like a blast!!! Has anyone tried this (Having your dog pull you while you ski or roller blade behind) ? I like to roller-blade with one of my dogs and I have to say that putting him and a harness and letting him do some pulling sounds like a great way to have fun, and to tucker out my inexhaustable dog Smile . Anyone with a bit more wisdom on the subject before I lace up my skates and let my dog play husky?

M

DougB

Posted : 5/25/2010 5:33:37 PM

Wear padding. Have fun. Report back.

Jewlieee

Posted : 5/25/2010 6:25:02 PM

I used to rollerblade with dakota. She LOVED it and so did I :) it was a total rush, we would get going soooo fast initially and then she would settle in on a comfortable pace and we could go for miles on end.

We only had a few crashes, but I'm pretty good at roller blading. I wouldn't recommend it for someone new to skating.

Unfortunately my aussies don't have the same drive to run or pull. Or the same endurance. I've tried skating with them but they kind of look at me like I'm nuts.

outdoorschik

Posted : 5/25/2010 6:32:37 PM

Way fun... but off the snow I suggest Helmet, Knee pads, and Elbow Pads :). Get a ski-jor set up or make your own by buying a pulling harness for the dog (x-back or h-back), and taking a rock climbing harness for you, cutting the leg loops off, adding a nice (long, for safety and reaction time) bungee to the loop of your harness.

akyramoto82

Posted : 5/25/2010 6:40:26 PM

I take mine on Roller blades, I REALLY would love to do the skiing version of it!! I'm really bad at snowboarding so that'd be another excuse to switch to skiing LOL

I have two vids of rollerblading with my dogs. I used regular harness' cuz at that point I didn't know how into it they would be & didn't want to throw down for TWO x back harnesses. I just used a leash. If I only had one dog I'd have one leash on the harness and another on a slip or martingale collar for the emergency brakes LOL. I never had to use it once, my dogs know what 'whoa' means. the first vid was the very first time they had been out, so I was actually teaching them to not pull so I could contain any craziness lol

So here ya go!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFHilYEbBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll8jYsjHTeI

Zoey likes it so far, but she doesn't really pull, so when I'm out im just 'skating' with my dogs, there's not much pulling happening.

AgileGSD

Posted : 5/25/2010 6:50:28 PM

I tried it...unfortunately I tried it at a bike path that went down hill a lot and it was really scary!!! Lucky I had a dog I could just let go of LOL I'm not a real confident rollerblader though, my hubby enjoys "bladejoring" with the dogs though.

akyramoto82

Posted : 5/25/2010 6:55:32 PM

AgileGSD
I tried it...unfortunately I tried it at a bike path that went down hill a lot and it was really scary!!! Lucky I had a dog I could just let go of LOL I'm not a real confident rollerblader though, my hubby enjoys "bladejoring" with the dogs though.

LOL now that you mention it, not alot of hills in my area! That probably would be scary! I don't have a brake on my skates either. ( took it off, it was in the way)

AgileGSD

Posted : 5/25/2010 11:16:33 PM

akyramoto82
AgileGSD
I tried it...unfortunately I tried it at a bike path that went down hill a lot and it was really scary!!! Lucky I had a dog I could just let go of LOL I'm not a real confident rollerblader though, my hubby enjoys "bladejoring" with the dogs though.

LOL now that you mention it, not alot of hills in my area! That probably would be scary! I don't have a brake on my skates either. ( took it off, it was in the way)

I don't either! I ended up letting him go and diving into the grass LOL He thought the whole thing was GREAT fun though ;)