Running next to a bike

Yes, I would get prong or a choke chain, and teach her the command for slowing down like "Whoa"  "Hey" or simply "Slow Down"  when she is going too fast. Praise her when she's jogging to your speed, I simply say "good girl" but cookies might help, and if she decides to speed up use the slow down command and the prong until she learns not to pull and stay to the right of the bike and not ahead of it.                                             

I do it a little differently with my smaller dog. Because she's small(30lbs) I allow her to pull and go a little ahead of me and she can go at full speed.

When I was just starting out biking with my dog Martini, it was pretty hard to control her prey drive. We've gotten into a few accidents along the way because of it. She's a type of dog that wants to chase everything she sees. One time she pulled me right off the bike when I wasn't paying attention, another time she darted after a frog right under the bike and the front wheel of the bike ran over her paw, and another time she went after a dog on the left side of the bike and got hit with the front wheel right in the gut.                                                                             

The most dangerous accident we had is when we were riding at full speed and Martini decides to run behind a fire hydrant, the leash catches on the fire hydrant and I go flying off the bike and Martini gets a tremendous yank on the neck, but thankfully her leash was not strong enough and broke in two before doing any injury to her neck. There have been many more small accidents but we were lucky enough to escape with only a few bruises. Martini and I learned form each and every one of them.

 After being hit by the front wheel of the bike a couple times Martini doesn't dare chase anything when biking. She stays to the right of the bike  and runs on the grass( better for her feet). After a whole summer of biking everyday it's like second nature to us. It's very easy now and enjoyable and Martini even knows all the routes we take to get to the park. Sometimes I let her pick wich way to go and she pulls the bike all the way there even making turns for me and looking for cars when crossing the road. We have zero accidents now.

Bike riding with you dog is a great exercise and it's fun but I hope you don't injury yourself or Maze in the process, like I did.  Just a couple of years ago in our town a man was killed by a car while biking with his dog. So I suggest you go slow until you get Maze under control.

You aren't going to use a prong while biking are you?  A prong can be a good training tool when all else has failed, but be sure that you've tried "all else" before you resort to a prong.  I wouldn't ever try to bike with a dog wearing a prong....too much potential for real damage to him.

I don't know where you live but I have one suggestion that compliments the above, I think - try biking at night, like 1 to 3 am especially on weeknights. There are generally fewer cars, fewer people, fewer things to lunge at and less to worry about at least until you get used to the whole thing, of course make sure you put some reflective stuff on yourself, the dog(maybe a vest?) and the bike.

I just started biking with Morrison last week.  I decided not to use his collar at all just in case there was an accident that would pull far too hard and hurt his neck.

I put him in his harness and rode around in the driveway with him for a few minutes with him off leash.  That was he got a little familiar with the big bike thing.

Then I clipped his leash on and tied it to the post under my saddle.  I only gave him about 4 ft of slack so he didn't have enough leash to get in front of the bike at all.  We started riding and he caught on really quickly although he did pull to the right and away from the bike.

Once I got on the sidewalk and he could trot on the grass he really seemed to enjoy it, as did I.  We did stop a few times and I asked him to sit when I did that.  I also said things like "easy", "this way" and "let's go".

We've only gone around the block a few times as I am trying to work him and his pads up to it.

Have fun and be safe - wear a helmet!!

Kenya runs wearing a Ruffwear Webmaster.  I like the leash clipping on the back and hanging over the side, rather than hanging at the front of her neck where she can step over it or trip over it.  I don't have a safety attachment, so I hold the leash in my hand.  I do not wrap it on my wrist or attach it to the bike.  I just lay it on the handle and hold it against the handle bar.  If I need to, all I have to do is lift up my hand.  I would not attach it to my bike unless I had a safety attachment that could release.  Kenya is trained very well to run in heel and even has voice commands for going faster, easing up, and changing direction, but there have already been times where another biker, dog, or car interfered and I've had to let go rather than hit her or get clotheslined.

I personally would not bike with a prong, but on the GSD board it seems that most people do.  I have only ever used a harness so I can't comment either way. 

 I'm only using the prong for the training session. I'm not gonna run her full speed with the prong on. To easy to injure her. I usually ride around 8pm when all the streets around my house are empty. I'm thinking about buying a harness and a light up collar for night runs.  The prong is just to teach the commands for the bike.

Thanks for the advice.

In SchH, the AD test is 12.5 miles at 7.7-9.5 miles per hour, so 8 sounds about right.  Basically you want the dog trotting/gaiting, not running or sprinting.  The actual speed depends on the dog's gait.

 I didn't know that. I had her trotting last night as a warm up (after the walk to make sure she was empty. Lol) But she kept foraging ahead trying to go faster.  I've got my work cut out for me. Lol.

I've haven't walked my dog on foot for over a year and I've taught dozens of dogs to run with the bike. At first I use a 4 foot lead, pull the seat off of the bike, put the loop of the lead over the seat post and replace the seat. I do that so I can keep both hands on the bike. Just start slowly until he gets used to walking with the bike as opposed to you. My dog usually runs off leash but some of the neighbors doesn't like dogs so I rigged a flexileash towards the rear tire so there's plenty of play.

 With the 4ft leash around the seat, doesn't the leash get caught in the pedals?  I'm using a 6ft and just holding on the handle bars.

 Bugsy caught on really well with biking and we started with him trying to attack the bike so anyone can do it

I also recommend a harness and also use the Ruffwear harness, which I think is ideal for this purpose.  And I tie his leash to just under the seatpost with no problems.

B always starts out full steam ahead which I allow then I tell him - go slow- and he trots - he also knows -  go fast - (which we use if something interesting like another dog is ahead - we just whizz by) - let's go home' means turn around

I could never have him off leash so no input there

He goes into work mode and trots right beside the bike never going off to a side or out front - I take no responsibility for that he just seemed to get it.

Good luck it is such an awesome thing to do with your dog - I really let him decide how fast he wants to go because I want him to have fun with it.  Some days he has run for 2 out of the 3 miles and other days he has really trotted the whole time.

It's a lot safer to use a Springer or Walkydog to bike your dog. In a harness- do not imitate the person I saw with a dog attached to a Springer by a gentle leader.

I second the springer with a harness recomendation.  It absorbs some of the pulling, & keeps the dog & leash a safe distance from the bike.

oranges81

 I'm only using the prong for the training session. I'm not gonna run her full speed with the prong on. To easy to injure her. I usually ride around 8pm when all the streets around my house are empty. I'm thinking about buying a harness and a light up collar for night runs.  The prong is just to teach the commands for the bike.

Thanks for the advice.

If you use a prong, some dogs will decide that it is the bike that is causing their necks to hurt.  A choke is not appropriate for this use, and can cause significant esophageal damage if you have an accident.  I think the harness is way more sensible, although certainly it pays to walk the bike the first several times, so that you know whether the dog is frightened or not.