Good way's to exercise my dog

robdunne

Hi all,

I have an 8 month old beagle. He gets walked practically every day, The really bad weather over the winter did not help and if it's late, we have to walk country roads with no light so he can't get good run.

However, we are expecting our firs baby in 8 weeks and this will limit doggy time so I am looking for an efficient way to thoroughly exercise the dog. I would take him for a run with me but my knee's aren't able to road run every day on top of the football I play. Also i'm worried if i cycle beside him on the lead, he may jump under the bike wheel killing us both!

Any suggestions?


Thanks

Robbie

kopfan77

robdunne wrote: »

Hi all,

I have an 8 month old beagle. He gets walked practically every day, The really bad weather over the winter did not help and if it's late, we have to walk country roads with no light so he can't get good run.

However, we are expecting our firs baby in 8 weeks and this will limit doggy time so I am looking for an efficient way to thoroughly exercise the dog. I would take him for a run with me but my knee's aren't able to road run every day on top of the football I play. Also i'm worried if i cycle beside him on the lead, he may jump under the bike wheel killing us both!

Any suggestions?


Thanks

Robbie

Bikejoring - http://www.tailsandtrails.ie/showthread.php?695-Bikejoring

Im dying to try it!

SophieSakura

Is there any field or park you could let him run around after a walk? Or play fetch in the garden for a while or something?

cocker5

http://www.1fitmutt.com/shop/springer-dog-bike-attachment/

Try this... its an attachment to goes on your bike and it stops your dog from going under the wheel...

http://www.thedogoutdoors.com/

I cycle my cocker all the time and he loves it... best way to chill out a dog and get rid of any pent up energy

robdunne

Hey there,

Thanks for the replies, would love to try the bike-joring thing but maybe sart simple on the dog-bike attachment.

Yes Sophie, there is a forest nearby which he loves but if it's late evening, it's no good due to the dark, the local GAA field was a good spot until he figured out ways through the hedges into gardens of neighbouring houses with dogs, gaps that only dogs can fit through.

Do you use one of those dog-bike attachments cocker5?

If so, where did you get it?

Robbie

PS again, thank so much for the responses.

endabob1

I have a 13 month old Beagle and I bring him on the bike all the time, no contraptions, just me, basic 1.5m lead & dog. Lead in left hand in case I need to take my hand of the handlebars, I'm right handed so better able to steer one handed with the right. It also keeps him on the inside of me when cycling on roads but generally I just do it in the park. I find the trick is to move at a fair pace, if you slow down he wants to sniff and it becomes too stop start to be productive and you're more likely to have an accident.

An alternative would be to train him to fetch and return a ball, someone I know did it using a rubber ball coated in aniseed, every time the dog returned the ball it got a treat, eventually he just like returning the ball and the treats got phased out in exchange of praise, similar to training them to sit stay, etc...

I'm also suffering with gammy knees so I'm going to try the ball trick, you do need to start it in the garden I'd imagine to get some confidence that he won't run off as soon as something more interesting comes along!

**Vai**

Yeah the dog wont run under the bike, just take care in sharp corners. Attach it to the part where the saddle joins the frame for stability. If u happen to have a treadmill at home stick him on that for 20 mins a day at a slowish speed.

cocker5

Hi Robbie,

Yes sorry i should have posted this earlier... i use the attachments.. got it from zooplus...

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_cages_carriers/biking_accessories/bike_baskets/129831

Its excellent.. my cocker was mental... i mean total mental, mad hyper when he was around one year to 18 months... we got a trainer she recommendded we cycle him... 20 mins each night, at a nice leisurely pace not too fast.. let him guide you and not a bother... after two weeks he had calmed down alot and he adores the bike... when he see's the bike coming out of the shed now he goes mental...

i would also recommend you get your dog one of these:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/clothing/129630

My dog is jet balck... so he always has one of these on him...

and when you are cycling him... make sure you are beside the traffic ie your is either on the path or beside the path.... or beisde the hedges.. not beside the traffic!!

Best of luck and let me know how it goes

Asphyxia

Bikejoring sounds really fun I also would be a little afraid in case he would run infront of the wheels.

Endabob1 you have convinced me to give this a try I'm going to borrow the brothers bike and try cycling with him. I'll be starting at a slow pace.

jamesd

cocker5 wrote: »

Hi Robbie,

Yes sorry i should have posted this earlier... i use the attachments.. got it from zooplus...

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_cages_carriers/biking_accessories/bike_baskets/129831

Its excellent.. my cocker was mental... i mean total mental, mad hyper when he was around one year to 18 months... we got a trainer she recommendded we cycle him... 20 mins each night, at a nice leisurely pace not too fast.. let him guide you and not a bother... after two weeks he had calmed down alot and he adores the bike... when he see's the bike coming out of the shed now he goes mental...

i would also recommend you get your dog one of these:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/clothing/129630

My dog is jet balck... so he always has one of these on him...

and when you are cycling him... make sure you are beside the traffic ie your is either on the path or beside the path.... or beisde the hedges.. not beside the traffic!!

Best of luck and let me know how it goes

Id love something like that, My Akita pulls very hard when out so I stopped cycling with him as he pulled me over the handlebars a few times, I wonder would 1 of these be strong enough for him - hes very strong.

cocker5

jamesd wrote: »

Id love something like that, My Akita pulls very hard when out so I stopped cycling with him as he pulled me over the handlebars a few times, I wonder would 1 of these be strong enough for him - hes very strong.

can i ask do you use a harness?? i use a harness with my guy and its grand, he is strong but not strong enough to hurt me or himself....

You could try this....

http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/

This is excellent in stopping a dog pulling, plus they can breath easy, open their mouth etc... so this and the attachment for the bike would really help you....

I use this to stop my cocker pulling while walking on lead.. he can breathe perfectly even drink water....:D

ISDW

cocker5 wrote: »

can i ask do you use a harness?? i use a harness with my guy and its grand, he is strong but not strong enough to hurt me or himself....

You could try this....

http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/

This is excellent in stopping a dog pulling, plus they can breath easy, open their mouth etc... so this and the attachment for the bike would really help you....

I use this to stop my cocker pulling while walking on lead.. he can breathe perfectly even drink water....:D

Sorry, I'm not sure if you're saying to use the dogmatic while cycling, using the bike attachment?

The dog is encouraged to pull while bikejoring, the dog must wear a proper pulling harness, and you need a shock absorber in the line between the bike and the dog, but its great fun.

cocker5

Sorry ISDW.. i was replying to jamesd regarding cycling his akita.. not bikejoring... just general cyling a dog...:o

beagle001

Have a 2yr old beagle,he can be a bit of a trouble maker if he does not get any exercise also.
I find taking him to the local fields or forest and using a gun dog whistle to teach him little games and calling him back at different distances soon tires him out and lessens your energy expenditure.
A note on the dogmatic,we tried everything we used one of them and a halt but he hated them consistently and had to give up with them.
Picked a sporn non pull harness up from amazon.co.Uk,looks way better fits him comfortably and the pulling has stopped 80% which is great as the missus can walk him now.
Recommend highly

Knine

As cycling wasnt my thing, I used to put baby in the buggy and dog on the lead and head out and do a few miles each day. It sure got me fit again after having the baby!

ISDW

cocker5 wrote: »

Sorry ISDW.. i was replying to jamesd regarding cycling his akita.. not bikejoring... just general cyling a dog...:o

Hiya, yeah, I realise it was about using the attachment, but please tell me you weren't suggesting using the dogmatic and attaching that to the springer, or whichever attachment you were describing? It could be extremely dangerous for the dog to have a lead attached to the dogmatic and the other end to a bike.

TooManyDogs

Knine wrote: »

As cycling wasnt my thing, I used to put baby in the buggy and dog on the lead and head out and do a few miles each day. It sure got me fit again after having the baby!

Yep, I did the same! But I was given a baby seat for my bike and this summer me, baba and the younger dogs are going to be going cycling.

If you want to get better value out of walking your dog on the lead you could train him to carry a backpack and put a bottle of water in each side, that way he has to worker a little harder and gets more tired.

Stressica

I have a 12 month old b/white springer spaniel and tbh she's an angel

she loves to go hiking in the mountains that are behind us ..i take her up the trails and paths any oppurtunity i get and she LOVES it

she also loves running on the beach and swimming in the pools and of course chasing sea gulls..

also she's excellenmt and running along beside me on the bike ... i hold her in my left hand (she's always on the insdie) ..

not a bother from her

jamesd

cocker5 wrote: »

can i ask do you use a harness?? i use a harness with my guy and its grand, he is strong but not strong enough to hurt me or himself....

You could try this....

http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/

This is excellent in stopping a dog pulling, plus they can breath easy, open their mouth etc... so this and the attachment for the bike would really help you....

I use this to stop my cocker pulling while walking on lead.. he can breathe perfectly even drink water....:D

Yes we swapped from collar to harness as it gave me more control over him since he's so strong, he always likes to be just at the length of the lead ahead of me when walking.
I think I will order a dogmatic for walking him and see does it help with his pulling. Thanks

Edited: Dogmatic just ordered.

ISDW

jamesd wrote: »

Yes we swapped from collar to harness as it gave me more control over him since he's so strong, he always likes to be just at the length of the lead ahead of me when walking.
I think I will order a dogmatic for walking him and see does it help with his pulling. Thanks

Edited: Dogmatic just ordered.

Dogmatics are brilliant for walking, I think they're much better than the haltis.

beagle001

Have had no positive results from both the dogmatic or halti leads.
For us the sporn non pull harness,looks great fits under the stomach and he loves to walk with it.
There is no training period worked straight away,only got it recently and it's a different dog walking,dogmatic looks cruel to passerbys

Cherry Blossom

robdunne wrote: »

I have an 8 month old beagle.

endabob1 wrote: »

I have a 13 month old Beagle and I bring him on the bike all the time,

Stressica wrote: »

I have a 12 month old b/white springer spaniel

Aren't these puppies all a little bit young to doing such hard work? Running on a hard surface will be putting an awful lot of stress on their joints which are still growing. I don't think I'd be cycling with a beagle until they were a year and half old and I'd be building it up very slowly with very short bursts of running to start with.

pitbull_fanatic

we just had a baby a few months ago and from a new daddys view...trust me you will get out to walk your dog! even in the evening just to get out of the house, or take the buggy and the dog and give mummy some time to herself. the best thing you can do is not to forget to walk him because thats where jealousy starts. as long as he knows he's not being forgotten alls cool. does he swim? or even hide and seek games with food. if you get him mentally tired its better than physically tired. and he'll sleep longer which is great. i do weight pulling with one and the other sniffs out a ball in a ditch. (addicted!!!) and they both swim.

pitbull_fanatic

also what the hell are dogmatics???!!! never heard of them before

Cherry Blossom

pitbull_fanatic wrote: »

also what the hell are dogmatics???!!! never heard of them before

It's the canine equivilant of Monty Roberts' Dually halter

pitbull_fanatic

so its jus a halti so ya?

Cherry Blossom

Supposed to be a better fit and basically a better quality of product.

endabob1

Forgot to mention the harness, absolutely essential that if you're cycling with the dog you use a harness, he's wiggled out of it a couple of times but in general it's been great. Just need my physio to sort out my dodgy knees and hopefully I'll be back in the saddle with him

endabob1

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Aren't these puppies all a little bit young to doing such hard work? Running on a hard surface will be putting an awful lot of stress on their joints which are still growing. I don't think I'd be cycling with a beagle until they were a year and half old and I'd be building it up very slowly with very short bursts of running to start with.

I would assume the springer is similar but Beagles need lots of exercise, until I damaged my knee playing rugby a few weeks ago I would take our lad on a 3/4 km run or a 5km bike ride every day, he loves it. I take the point about hard surfaces but my route is mainly on grass as I'm on the path and he's on the grass or we go for a run on the beach so it definitely isn't all hard surface.

Cherry Blossom

endabob1 wrote: »

I would assume the springer is similar but Beagles need lots of exercise, until I damaged my knee playing rugby a few weeks ago I would take our lad on a 3/4 km run or a 5km bike ride every day, he loves it. I take the point about hard surfaces but my route is mainly on grass as I'm on the path and he's on the grass or we go for a run on the beach so it definitely isn't all hard surface.

I understand where you are comming from but that is still forced exercise, I'm well aware beagles are high energy, I have a fair bit of experience with working hounds. At that age they'd be much better with a lot of off lead time in a secure area and doing things like tracking games etc. which would also satify them better mentally.

endabob1

When he starts to complain I'll let you know It's far from forced, the dog loves getting out for a run, he gets super excited at the prospect. In winter we took him out beagling, he was a bit too young to get the hang of it but it was a good socialising experience for him. So I agree that there has to be more than just exercise to keep the dog stimulated but for a hunting dog who likes to eat and can be susceptible to weight gain exercise is the main game.