Back in December I brought home a little pup named Lola. She is the laziest Lab I have ever met. I am pretty sure she is mixed with a sloth.
My other dogs have always hated anything on wheels. Attacking lawn mowers, rollerblades and running away barking from bikes of all propulsions. So I thought I would start earlier with this little gal and see if I could have a trail dog for once in my life.
I started by googling ‘How to Train your Dog to ride bikes’ and found enough information to be get started.
My parts list:
- (1) Willing puppy participant (about 4 months old and 25 lbs)
- (1) Leash long enough to not kill either of us (5’ – 6’ is what I had on hand)
- (1) Surly bike
- (1) bag o treats
There are a lot of caution steps, warnings and other things to remember noted on other sites. You should probably go find these and read them. I ignored most due to lack of time and patience. Here are the steps I followed:
- Hooked Lola up with an old 5’ standard canvas leash
- Had Lola sit and wait for me to board may Cross-check
- Said ‘let’s go!’ and started pedaling
To my great relief she started trotting right along with me. I started with her on my left because it felt right. She did great and stayed at a steady pace. It took her a few tries to understand where she needed to be, next to my pedal about a foot distance. We turned corners smoothly as I shouted out warnings of “Right! Right! We are turning Right!” and “Left! Left! We are turning Left!” She caught on quick as to what was about to happen.
Our first trip was a quick around the block. I wanted to keep it positive and get her back so she could load her up with treats and be stoked for our next ride. As soon as we came to a stop I praised her, rubbed her down and shoved her favorite puparoni treats down her throat. She was in heaven.
Our next ride was the same route around the block on the Cross-Check. I moved her to my right side after a few attempts. No real reason other than that seemed to work best for us both. She had one or two instances of running ahead of me. I would stop or pull her back depending on the situation. Mostly she stayed right in the sweet spot next to me.
A lot of snow set in the following week. I was concerned this would throw her off but loaded up the Moonlander to see what she thought. She did even better with the Moonlander. It may be the I AM THE CONQUERER OF ALL feeling I get when I ride the Moonlander. I feel like I could crush small towns if I was that kind of gal. But I am not, so we just rode about town and crushed small snow banks.
Things I learned about teaching a pup to join in the ride:
- Vets advise you do not run your dog until they are at least 1 year old. Growth plates can close, hips can blow out or disfigure, the puppy could be broken for years to come. I keep Lola at a light trot and keep the trips short.
- Talking to her while we ride made a huge difference.
- Lola may be an exceptional pup in that she seemed to naturally stay by my side and not charge ahead or pull away.
- Lola hates puddles.
- The pace for me on a Moonlander is great for teaching a pup to ride.
Lola and I now ride regularly together. My next step is to get her on trails and see how we can work that out. I finally have a bike dog and I am stoked.
