Biking with Canine Friends!

[mhanna]

I am dogsitting my son's greyhound/pit bull mix canine buddy for a couple of months. She is a super sweet, very athletic and well trained girl with allot of energy. I was considering taking her with me on some trail rides at FATS to let her burn off some of the stored up hyperness. I just wanted to see if anyone else takes their dogs with them to FATS and would welcome any comments. The only concern I had was with all the snakes this time of year. I'm not sure how she would respond to those. I've only come upon a couple of black snakes sunning over the last few months and I ride out there about three times a week. Reading some of the other posts about snake sightings makes me realize there are allot more out there though.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

[Angela]

I've never biked with a dog but I hope some of our riders who do will step up with some advice for you because one of the biggest concerns I have heard from those I know with dogs is that you can run them to death in the heat during the summer here. I know folks who only bring their dogs to the trail in sping, fall and winter or other days when the temps are below a certain threshold. Also of concern is the amount of control you have over the dog (riding a mountain trail a couple of weekends ago a guy and his dog were separated and I don't know if they ever were paired back up).

[JIMMYC]

the first things that come to mind, I would try a trail that's not as crowded as FATS and one near water. Maybe The lake trail or even Busey (sp) Point.

[seenvic]

That is going to be a fast dog with the greyhound in it.

I used to ride w/ a dog alot. I loved it only half as much as she did.

She learned how to be part of the group ride and knew all the shortcuts. She knew how to drop me on the climbs because I was going to drop her on the descents. She never learned to drink from a water bottle, but I have seen other dogs who can.

I'd be very aware of the heat. I'd take Jimmy C's advice on less crowed trails with water. Modoc is a good one. Water at pretty good intervals. Turkey has water along it as does Wine and Horn. Several good "watering hole" trail options. I'd say for water, FATS is probably the worst trail.

My dog knew the old Tower Trails so well, she once "led" a group of riders from Athens around about 2/3 of it. For those who know, the Tower was very disconnected. You had to know where to turn to find the next trail. At first the guys from Athens were waiting on us, then they got ahead of us and we wondered where they ended up. We finally caught them and they had ridden exactly what we would have showed them simply by following Sadie, my dog.

The greyhound can run fine. But I'd check into the history of pit bulls for hip displacia (sp?). If the pit bull breed historically has hip issues, trail running will bring them out in a hurry. This is what made me retire Sadie from the trails and she was a sad dog for years after that whenever I went to ride. Hell, I was sad too.

[Mark Y]

No worries with snakes. I'm sure there are a couple of Copperheads and Canebrake's out there somewhere, but the dog's instinct to follow you rather than hang around and mess with the snake is probably greater.

A note about the breed; I'm not sure whether the Greyhound part of the dog is a plus or minus for the trail. I have an Italian Greyhound (which is pure Greyhound, just bred down to a small size), and he has an abundance of energy, just no stamina. Ten minutes of chasing the ball at high speed and he is toast.
Do some reseach first as some breeds are more susceptible to heat related illness than others.

[jtaylor]

I ride with a lab-mix mutt. During the summer, I only do trails in the morning, and we stop for water several times- I carry a bottle and collapsible bowl for him. For FATS, I do the short trails, like DS, GW, or BR/T. In winter, he can do the full SK/BW no problem. Modoc has water stops only if it has been raining. Keg Creek and Hickory Knob have good water stops, though on Keg there is a short section of road where I use a leash. He is not good on flat and fast, so if I go to Bartram, I have to take it pretty easy and turn around early. I'm slow going uphill so Modoc is good. You have to build up his endurance just like yours. Some dogs have trouble with their foot pads getting raw. We've had rabbits/squirrels cross 2' in front of us and he doesn't look sideways because he is "on task". However, if I stop for very long or during a work party, his biggest joy is finding some bear poop to roll in!! Ticks are always an issue as well.

[oddcouple]

1st thing is a good blaze orange collar with name and number if dog runs off and gets lost alot of people that live out in the country will shoot cur dogs, they can see the blaze orange collar might keep it from getting shot, not saying that all are like that just a lot of dogs are dropped off out in the country, they don't want to deal with them.

2nd Take the dog to a trail that does not have busy roads, the trail head at FATS is not a good idea the 1st time ,busy road ,dogs from across the street can get bad in a hurry, take him down to the brown wave park at the cul de sac on gravel road.

3rd Its HOT be careful watch the dog close make him drink water every time you do yes make him drink stop until he does they sometimes are to excited to drink.

4th Be careful when next to water cottonmouths and alligators.

[mhanna]

Wow. Great advice everyone. I only thought of FATS as they is where I tend to ride most. I have been riding there for about 4 months and logged almost 300 miles total and I continue to be amazed at how few people I pass on the trails. Hardly ever more that 2-3 on a ride and sometimes none. I rode a few laps in both directions around deep step last Saturday morning. The lot was packed out when I got there about 8:00am and almost empty when I got back around 10:30. I only passed 2 folks on the trail and 2 more on the connector coming out. I was really suprised I didn't pass more people that day.

I will check into the hip and breed issue before I start. She definitely is much more greyhound than bulldog. I never considered the hips or breed endurance issue.

I will start her out with some of the other trails and she how she does. Maybe Lick Fork would be a good one. I was planning on taking a water bottle for her since I use a camelbak. I'll have to check and see if she'll drink out of one first.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Great help.

[brianW]

If the dog is not under voice control i would not bike with it. Also have a leash handy for when you are around other bikers/trail users. Not everyone likes dogs and some are extremly scared of them. You should be mindful of that.

Also be on the watch for other dogs. I have hiked a lot with my lab (never biked) and the only problem I have had has been around other dogs. Good luck.

[kingjr9]

i ride with my dog more in the fall winter and spring every one has good advice for riding with water but i have ridden pass snakes with my dog and he just ran over them or around them and never messed with them but if you do keep pedaling if you see a snake or a another pet if you think the two wont get along but i had a greyhound and i have a pit bull mix now neither of them like the water in there face or get in the water so see if they get in the water and drink first good luck hope to see you out there and my dad rides with his lab allot on fats

[mhanna]

STELLA'S FIRST RIDE!

Took everone's advice and took Stella out to Horn Creek last night for her first ride. We had the trail to ourselves and the weather was cool and perfect for riding. She hung right in there on my tail for about the first mile and then I noticed the jingle of her tags getting a bit more distant. Stopped at 1 1/2 mile and gave her a break for some water. Collapseible cup was a great idea as she didn't like to drink right of the bottle.

We did a little over two miles in and I decided to turn around and head back out so as not to push her too hard. She kept up pretty well but it was obvious she was not used to that kind of workout. I will continue to let her build up her stamina with rides like that through the summer and wait for FATS rides in the fall.

Thanks for all the ideas. They were a great help!

[Sasquatch]

My dog is a german shepherd/greyhound mix (about 90 lbs), She is great for about 8-10 miles keeping up with the bike. She's no stranger to trails though, she did the AT with me from Georgia to Parker's Ferry, WV. Here's my two cents...

Get a hunter orange dog-vest for her (most hunting supply places and Tractor Supply Company have them). On my dogs vest I wrote "I DON'T BITE" in really large letters (really won't bite, she's a service dog that visits the old folks homes) and then I also wrote her name, Smokie, and my phone number on it just in case we get seperated. Also, if you carry a camelbak, when you take the dog start packing in an extra bottle of water and a folding pack bowl... its pretty ridiculous when you have to fill your camelbak bladder full of air and then lean against a tree in order to squirt water out for the pup. The final thing I have learned about mountain biking and hiking with dogs is carry a bottle of children's benadryl, its almost like a doggy wonder drug, helps with sore paw-pads, insect bites, and all types of stuff