Biking With Dog

[eddiejoe]

Long time lurker,

I was hoping to outsource a question to the community. I live in one of the most bike friendly areas in the US, and the past couple summers my girlfriend and I have really enjoyed taking leisurely bike rides around town.

There is one major difference between this summer and summers past, we have a little pooch. She is an 8 month old Miniature Dachshund named Mele and is full of energy and spunk. We love to take her on walks and hikes around town and sometimes to the dog park.

There is a great dog park approximately 4.5 miles from us that is right off a paved bike trail. I would love to bike there with Mele vs drive (walking would be quite time consuming). But I can't really figure out the logistics of biking with the dog. I know there are backpacks you can get where a dog can be put in securely, but I'm worried I'm going to crash and my 6'2 230 lb body will land on her 12 lb body. My other thought is an enclosed bike trailer.

Any thoughts, comments or experiences would be appreciated (Especially if you think this is a bad/stupid idea in the first place). It should also be noted that we live in a condo, with no backyard in an urban area, so the dog park is really the only place I can let her off the the leash.   

[ketchup]

I have 40-50lb Australian Shepherds, but they enjoy running along side me while I bike as long as I'm not too fast and my speed is consistent.  The leash can be a little tricky logistically but I've gotten the hang of it.


EDIT: Just realized you're talking about going 4.5 miles.... disregard.  Bike trailer sounds like a good idea.

[Morning Glory]

What about a basket on the front of the bike?

[Cromacster]

I've seen people use trailers with their dogs.  A basket type thing could also work if the dog if well trained enough to stay in it.

[KCM5]

I bike with my 15 pound dog in a bike trailer. But I really prefer (and I think he does too) putting him in a milk crate attached to my rear rack. He wears a harness attached to short leashes that attach in two spots on the milk crate so he can't jump out. We put a towel in the bottom of the milk crate.

[patchyfacialhair]

We put a wicker basket on the front of a bike, lined it with felt, cut a small hole in the bottom of the felt that sits in the bottom of the basket, and looped a leash through that is secured to the bottom of the basket. Dog goes in the basket, seated, with front paws up on the edge of the basket. Leash is hooked to collar so he can't go anywhere.

Our dog is a 3.5 pound yorkie mix, so he 's got plenty of room in the basket. Should work for a weenie dog as well, OP.

[Lanthiriel]

My father in law's dachshund has been trained to stand on a board mounted behind the handlebars and is attached via a harness. He pops the dog in his jacket if he gets tired. They even bought the dog a tiny helmet. This, however, is crazy person behavior, so I recommend a bike trailer :)

[KCM5]

My father in law's dachshund has been trained to stand on a board mounted behind the handlebars and is attached via a harness. He pops the dog in his jacket if he gets tired. They even bought the dog a tiny helmet. This, however, is crazy person behavior, so I recommend a bike trailer :)

*Looks at location*: Portlandia, eh?

That tiny helmet, though - not just for crazy people! Four year olds get a kick out of them, too.

[Brother Esau]

I bike with my dog often. Mostly on forest trails. I bring a leash but almost never use it since she is a very well trained dog.

[Lanthiriel]

My father in law's dachshund has been trained to stand on a board mounted behind the handlebars and is attached via a harness. He pops the dog in his jacket if he gets tired. They even bought the dog a tiny helmet. This, however, is crazy person behavior, so I recommend a bike trailer :)

*Looks at location*: Portlandia, eh?

That tiny helmet, though - not just for crazy people! Four year olds get a kick out of them, too.

He lives in Ventura :)

[bogart]

Not relevant to the OP, but I will note that I was recently trying to work out a way to exercise a dog who needed to be kept on leash but also get a lot of exercise and tried two devices -- the Walkie Dog and the Springer Dog Exerciser (both searchable through Amazon among other places).  I found the Walkie Dog marginally functional and the Springer pretty useful (I replaced the "attach the dog using this rope" that they include with the product, with a short dog couple that had snaps on each end, and attached it to a nylon harness she wore).  To be clear, I (a) worked with the dog so she grasped the basic concepts involved and talked with her when we were out using a few simple verbal cues to let her know if I wanted to slow down or speed up and (b) picked routes carefully -- this wasn't an "I'm going out and I'll take the dog along" thing, it was an "I'm going out with the express purpose of exercising the dog safely using the bike."

It worked pretty well, and she liked the running she could do thanks to this (she has since been adopted by another person, which is why I'm using the past tense -- not the right dog for me long term, but a lovely dog while I had her and provided I could get her enough exercise :) !). 

[sjlp]

My father in law's dachshund has been trained to stand on a board mounted behind the handlebars and is attached via a harness. He pops the dog in his jacket if he gets tired. They even bought the dog a tiny helmet. This, however, is crazy person behavior, so I recommend a bike trailer :)

And you're not sharing a photo???

[pennyhandlebar]

At 12 pounds, I imagine that you could get a hard carrying case and attach it to your bike rack with zip ties or maybe some cam straps if you want to take it on and off. That should be just fine. I use a dog trailer (Tail Wagon from Burley) for my dog, and it works well, but he weighs 75 pounds - for a mini daschund, I don't think you need to invest in a trailer.

[vittelx]

Please please do not let your little friend run 9-10 miles. Anything more than a mile is probably never going to be a great idea; they do love to run but they have no real distance endurance. Trail running is probably best avoided as well (anything that forces them to absorb shock in the shoulders is bad for even a healthy dachshund). That being said, a fit, not overweight dachshund makes a great short distance sprinter or even speed walker. Use a harness, not a collar, so you avoid pulling back at the neck, use a fixed length not a retractable leash. They are high energy but fatigue takes more out of dachshunds than other breeds. When they are over-tired, they cannot support their backs in a straight line & damage happens SO FAST.

I encourage you to do some reasearch or ask your vet.

I have a standard dachshund by the way - they are awesome :)

[CptCool]

If you go with a basket/crate idea attached to the bike - I'd recommend putting it in the rear rather than the front. Adding 12-15 pounds to the front of your bike can really mess up your bike handling and braking, especially if you're not used to it

[FIFoFum]

I've used a bike trailer for a larger sized dog. For a small dog, I like the idea of hard-sided crate attached to back of bike/rack space or a harness attaching to deep milk crate style seat. I agree that your dog doesn't "need" the space that comes with a bike trailer. However, it might be more comfortable for her, since she can lie down and will have a lower center of gravity. It really depends on the dog.