Biking With Your Dog - The "How To Video" - Dog Training and Safety 

Great video, thanks Robert! I would add another warning, and that is during the warm weather to make sure the pavement/road you are riding on is not too hot for the dog's paws. Black top can get to temperatures well over 100 degrees and dogs paws can blister in that kind of heat. Also, I understand that another way to help cool your pup is to wet their paws. Keep up the great work!

Instructions not clear, my dog is now riding my bike and somehow the harness is fitted on myself. Seriously though awesome video thanks for the advice!

awesome video. I have a shepherd and I am fixing to buy a bike.. It is freaking my son out since am 61 but I feel motivated to do this..

Thank you for this video. I mountain bike with my dog regularly and am appalled at how many people try to run their dogs too far and they havent been properly conditioned. Couple additional notes: YOUR DOG NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY HEEL BEFORE BIKING TOGETHER. If your dog does not have a good heel, your dog will be all over the place while biking. YOU should be wearing a helmet! Bring water for your dog but do not let them drink too much and run with a full stomach. Frequent short drinks are better than one long one. Save the long one for the end of the ride. Do NOT feed your dog then run them! Please warm up and cool down your dog. Dont sprint out of the gate, start your ride slowly and give them time to warm up and also the cool down at the end. Bring poop bags :)

Dog safety and owner on a bike safety. I can't jog long and keep up with my 20 month old gsd. So I am biking her. 70 y/o guy not too fit or bike hip. Works for me- fat tire 3 speed. Plain Jane bike. Seat positioned low so you can have feet close to ground (low center gravity) to help balance and break fall if your big dog pulls away and you loose balance. Try to anticipate dog distractions so you can smoothly master this activity. 👍😊

Thanks for this training video! I used to ride a bike with my previous dog, but she was attacked by another dog from behind while we were riding and I flew over the handlebars during the incident. My dog chased the other dog back to its' house down the street, and when I lifted my head, I could see them slowly circling each other about to fight, next to a 6 year old girl. I summoned every ounce of wherewithall and hauled butt down the street to retrieve my dog, not even sure if I was bleeding or broken any bones yet. Once I secured my dog and avoided further disaster, the other dog's owner came outside and thought my dog started the whole thing! Haha! His daughter filled him in as I limped away with my bent up bike, and then he quickly apologized. My dog's personality changed after this incident and would behave erratically every time we walked through this area after that. I wasn't learning about dog training then, so unfortunately I didn't help her as much as I could have. I've never considered trying bike-riding again until seeing your video. I have a different dog now and I'm interested in starting training him like you showed in this video and see how it goes. I've never seen that attachment you have on your bike, and I like knowing about having both the collar and harness.

I'm so glad he mentioned not pouring water along the back. I plan to do this sort of activity when I eventually get as German Shepherd. Very vital information.

Helps big time having one of the smartest, most highly adaptable breeds in the world! Love my GSD. Thanks for the wonderful advice. I had a few ideas of my own but it really helps to have your streamlined process.

You guys!!!!@! Seriously this works soooo wonderfully!!!! Do everything exactly as he says and be calm. My GSD got it withing a 10 minut training and then we were off! She ran her heart out!!! Ahhhh I'm so proud of my dog! I can't thank you enough for this tutorial. I hurt my knee and can't run right now and have been in rehab for a month. My 8 month old GSD (Rogue) needed to run badly. I got a bike and found your video and thank you so much!

Thank you so much!! My pitty and I took our first bike ride yesterday. Thanks to your instructions, you would have thought we’d been doing it forever 😊

What a nice responsible video. I worry big time about heat stroke as it happens so fast and most owners are totally unaware of the symptoms. Thank you Robert :)

Thank you sooooo much for sharing! I was able to train my german shepherd dog to my bicycle just as you did! I loop his leash around my waist then clip it to his harness and we also clip a collapsible bowl to the bike so I can share my water bottle with him. He runs for miles and wears himself out beautifully!!! Thank you again!

Well done, I have my Maia on the right side that way she is Not on the traffic side, a benefit of this is that she can also go on the grass when ever possible. Also use commands when turning left, right, stop etc...

This was such a great video! Since first watching I've taken my rescue dog and bike out 4 times now. He was so flighty and unsure around my bike our first trip out - but your tips about getting comfortable around the bike, using a harness, practicing left turns, and slowly building up with positive reinforcement have really worked for us! If my dog could smooch you I'm sure he would, but he's currently tuckered out from our most recent adventure and sleeping 😊 Many thanks!

I used an e - collar, my leash is loose in my left hand, so if they do pull the leash falls out and a correction if needed from the e-collar... I also mountain bike and my lab pit mix loves to run the trails, my gsd had his first experience on the trail, he did great even with many distractions and other dogs... I suggest trails as they are not scorching hot and if u have a good bond they can come off lead. Most mountain bikers are into trail dogs...and often love to ride with them.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

My Aussie Cattle Dog runs off leash on the right side of my trike. We navigate heavy traffic smoothly. No problems! Took years, though. I started him on leash. I could do it in 6 months now that I figured out how. We do three miles almost every morning. He is impervious to animals and people.

So excited to do this over the spring. Not gonna do anything crazy long but I think hell really enjoy it. I'm gonna get him used to the bike over the winter!

Great video. Thank you. I have one of those bar things. My lokita and I do a ride every evening. I slightly turn the wheel left or right and she goes in that direction. Took her one ride to master the bike. From 5:00 on she stares at me until I take her rain or snow for her ride. We are both older. Me 69 she is 13. I picked her “Lokita “ on a road trip to Mexico 12 years ago. Didn’t know it but she was pregnant. She is a 22 lb terrier of some sort.

Great video but...More advice...Teach your dog to heel! Hero is so used to being on my right side...he will follow same rules when I'm on my bike. I do not have an easy trainable dog...at all! I'll start posting videos when it gets warmer. Dogs love to run so have fun with your dog anyway possible.

This is super helpful! Just purchased a new bike today and will start training my dog like this as soon as I get it home. Can't wait to start training her to get used to the bike! :)

Another great video. I’m getting great results out of my dog following your techniques and he is really enjoying the training. I’ve had dogs all my life but I love learning new and better techniques almost as much as my dog. Also, I didn’t know about the risk of shock with pouring water on a hot dog. Thanks Robert.

This is an awesome video. I just ordered the spring so I’m super excited to get my boy started 😁 hopefully he learns well.

Thankyou for your video , I am looking at getting a Dutch GSD this year . I like the idea of a bike ride before work then a more relaxing long walk after work. I would like to offer a few other suggestions for harness's as sometimes they are difficult to find. Ruffwear brand and Hurtta are exceptional brands . Hurtta has many styles for different activities. Also a gentle reminder for dog breeds with barrel chests please give water in small increments to avoid gastric torsion from gulping in air. Sorry I cant leave work at work after hours lol . ( Vet Tech) I really enjoy your informative videos and subscribed :)

Hi Robert cool video great training tips. My 96 year old mum use take her horse for a bike. Don't know she did take

I am a just say it: you are the best dog trainer on RU-vid. That was immensely helpful and pragmatic.

U make that look so dam easy lol. My dog yanks at anything and everything. We haven't wrecked but been close to falling. We go slow but he gets to excited and jumps on the bike and jumps at people. The reason I do it is because I'm on the road for weeks to months at a time and usually not able to park at a dog park so I figured a bike and my dog would he way better plus we don't ay very long at the truck stops. To many people and can't get the training in

Have a 3 year old Belgian malinois, has been leash trained. Took him to an open parking lot and it was sink or swim, first time around he did amazing. It’s all leash work signals on the leash helps turn left and right. He was also taught to walk in heal so he does not pull. When other dogs are near or I can feel his excitement I will stop and put him place position. Until all is clear and safe for me and him.

Awesome I will have to remember this when I get a recumbent trike.

Punched the bike attachment into Amazon and thought, maybe I should watch a video first. Stoked I found this one. Great tips I'll definitely try. Thanks for this video!!

I've been riding my doberman from around 7 months, I use a collar and a chain. I connect my chain just under the steerer tube, using that he stays on my right side 80% of the time. My main issue is other dogs, he is desperate to say hello. Nice tips, I'll try a mid mount instead of the neck. One important thing you didn't mention was, if like me one uses a bike from an early age. Then it's difficult to walk at a lower pace, or on foot. My dobe trots at around 10 mph, even 15 mph is just a brisk trot for him. I've used the bike from 7 months to 4 years old missing maybe 5 days in that period due to bad weather. I've taken him in all kinds of bad weather, for around 90 minutes or 11 miles. Around 30mins/

First time out on the bike my doodles feet were extremely raw. Needed to know more about that.

Just bought a bike leash for my dog and this hopefully really helps with teaching her to ride with me... Shes a German shepherd too so seeing a gsd use it really helped me out with seeing how they would react as opposed to a different dog breed that would react differently

This is an amazing video! The step by step if you have never done this with your dog 👌🏻

Interesting. Thanks for the knowledge

I ride with my 14 month old old golden doodle at be least 4 days a week. I bought a e-bike 99% for this activity. 5 laps around the block equals 1.8 miles. I also trot my 14 year old terrier 1 lap. She rides in the basket waiting her turn. Had an older e-bike that she ran with for 5 years prior. I use a CD Walky dog attachment with a 18 inch stretchy extension. Thats a must for this device.

Great video! Never seen a bike attachment, I've always just held my dogs lead. Will look into getting one I think. 🙂🇬🇧

That was informative thanks. My labrador of 11 months got into this little sport together. She loves it and goes like the dickens. She also took me for a few tumbles. So I think I will go with that setup. Thanks.

Wow! Thank you so much.

Great video! 👍🏻 Also, don’t forget your helmet and water for you and your dog. 🙋🏼‍♀️

Absolutely amazing video! Exactly what I was looking for. This will be very handy for me!

Great tips. Thank you so much for your information. I'm working on training my German Shepherd to go on bike rides with me.

Great video Robert we've a 6 month old cocker spaniel and going to start gentle training with our bikes along footpaths and in the long term hoping she will become a trail dog so we can take milly mountain biking

Great video! It is great to see you and the dogs in a public setting.

Never attached a dog to a bike .use the left hand to hold the leash Incase something happens u cut them lose.i felt once because of the ice so i let the dog off my hand or he will get hurt

We're "dane" people but we've been sitting our neighbor's husky for the past couple of years. (They got in way over their head so we help out). This looks like a great way to burn of some of that husky energy!

That was amazing! Great dog, great trainer

Great video! Thank you. Me and my Shadow will be doing this soon.

Great Video

best way to tell if the pavement is too hot for the dog? Take your shoe and sock off and touch the pavement or use your palm, if it's uncomfortable for you, it is uncomfortable for them. Boots are important

Can you do puppy series. Focus on relation building , introducing the pup to work (ipo etc) , obedience

AWESOME VID!! Exactly what I needed. Subscribed!🤠

every time i think "how do i teach my dog X", voila, there's RC in my youtube suggestions. my first 2 cattle dogs were avid mountain bike trail dogs. I just adopted ACD # 3. he's 9 months old. i got lucky with a young one this time . this new guy has very high prey drive, more than the previous 2. so here i am , back to school. thanks for the great instruction

Fantastic video like always! Have 16 week old longcoat gsd, ur program is working excellent! Wish i found u earlier when I adopted two old shelter gsds. They would have benefited immensely from ur coaching ways! You are the Athleanx/Jeff Cavalier of dog training which is the highest compliment I can give!

This was a good guideline video. I watched this to figure out what to do to train my dog how to ride with me. It was really hard at first and I really wanted to give up because the dog was not understanding what we were suppose to accomplish. After 6 months of training to do this, I am actually enjoying this training. I just wanted to add that be mindful of what breed of dog you have ,what type of bike to are on and what type of leash/collar you have. I have tried the harness attachment and it does not work for my dog and I. Instead, we use a chained- collar combo and a sturdy leash. I used to attach her to the handle bar but found it troublesome as she has greater control and power over the bike and has a greater advantage at trying to run up to another dog/ barking excitedly or aggressively at another dog or human not in her party. Instead she is attach to a 6ft leash and is connected to the bike at the seat base of the frame. That give me more control of the bike, she is located next to the front wheel area and not poking out into traffic when we come to a stop. Biggest thing, if you know how to whistle, start using different whistle tones as a way to communicate with your dog so she can be alerted when you move about or change position. Through this training, I found that my dog does not like to ride next to traffic so I aways have to have her on my right side to avoid her putting on the instant brakes when a stupid car tries to speed right by us and can cause great harm to the owner, even with all the possible ways to make oneself more visible on the road. Thanks for sharing the knowledge of learning how to ride with dogs 👍🤜👌💪🐶. Happy dog makes happier owners.

This was an awesome video. Such a great instructor! Nicely done sir

Great video! Thank you.

Maya!! That’s my dogs name. I bike her quite regularly. 10 - 20 minutes based on the temperature. Gets all her penned up energy out.

I’ve always wanted to try this with my border collie. Will definitely be starting just got to get the right things like in the video. First I gotta get her fear of bikes out of the way. I’ll walk around my back yard with my bike and with Bonnie and reward her to keep her calm and happy. She got the fear from a bad experience when she was a puppy. She’s 8 now.

Thank you from Camira 4300 Queensland Australia.Liked the ending .

I go riding with my husky and I just hold the lead with one hand,i find this much easier to control him if he sees other dogs or if he sees a cat ..but there’s nothing like riding with your dog,they love it so much

Great video dude please make more great stuff

Also acclimate your dog to the weather, take it slow, give them water and rest, especially on those long rides...

I have a recumbent trike with 3 dogs. A Lab/Rott on one side, A Belgian Malinois on the other and a Spaniel mix in a basket above my rear wheel. Wish I could send you a photo or video I think you would like it. I LOVE all your videos, thank you.

Very helpfull

Great instructional video Robert. I met you back some 15 years ago at your school in California. What a coincidence, I also have a GSD named Maya. 😊

Great tutorial! People ask me all the time how I taught my dog to run with my bike. I’m going to start directing them to this video because I’m tired of explaining it 😂 Mine does it fully off leash though, expert level. Safer to be able to have dog switch sides to protect them from traffic, grabby children and (most commonly)lunging dogs. Do not try this at home 😉

Well said, thank you!

WOW... great vid and tips... gonna try this at home ;)

Oh this will be great for my husky

I am really enjoying your videos! You seem to hit the "sweet spot" between "trainer" and "dog behaviorist". I have a 10 month old German Shepherd puppy, short hair coat like Goofy's. We aren't doing any sustained exercise like biking or running at this point (due to age), but we do run around the dog park, kick balls, very short roller skating runs. This spring, I was surprised to see how quickly he seemed to overheat/get tired at a shady dog park in 70-75° weather! My dog park has kiddie pools out when it's hot, I'm fine with him flopping down in them. Before they turned the water back on, I started bringing 2 liter bottles of water to pour on him to cool him off. I also anticipated doing this at dog parks that don't have water. Of course, I give him lots of water to drink. I AM NOT taking him out to run & play in the middle of the day, and we will be limiting our play/exercise to early morning/evening as summer approaches (it's May, still spring). I HAD NO IDEA POURING WATER ON MY BOY MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA. I thought I could give him a splash with the hose this summer in the back yard? Wet him down routinely for comfort? Can I ONLY direct water at his belly? I do have a kiddie pool for him in my small back yard. Do you like the cooling vests that you dampen (wet & ring out)? Could you tell me a little more about the risk of shock & how to avoid while still keeping my guy cool? He's safe on a hot day jumping into my Dad's swimming pool, isn't he? PLEASE ADVISE. Your comment about not pouring water on your dog's back in this video because of risk for putting him into shock really concerns me. Thanks a bunch! I think you are awesome!

Heya! Love this video! It inspired me to start bikejouring with my husky as soon as she was old enough. Now we're starting a youtube channel of our adventures. Thanks for the initial inspiration to get out there. Best of luck to you and yours. xx

I hope I can train my dog like you sir!

Rob thank you again for your video. I am considering to aquire a Dog.

Just learning

Awesome video!

When I had my husky I would bike and skate board with him, and I feel like he would do a good 10-15 miles average.

Thanks

Thanks for the information.

Great info. Why did you choose the left instead of the right since traffic would be on the left?

Thanks for your vid

I trained my shepherd less than 10 min thank you for this!!!!

I only keep my two dogs on the leashes next to my bike for about 1km because there’s this park/bush land close to my house where I let them off the lead and then they just run through the bush and down the paths. One is a female ridgeback one is a cross breed

Congratulations Robert, Even I have taught my dog to ride alongside my MTB, certainly your tips will improve on safety and few exercises to practice, improving substantially in case of an emergency. I noticed you have a the walky dog and a simple dog walker. The second one who manufactures it? Best Regards

I know he said why you shouldn't do it with a collar but i want to emphasize on why you definitely shouldn't i didnt have harness the first time i tried riding with my dog and when i was riding through a grass patch she stopped too poop and didnt realize cus we had been riding for a bit and i wasnt really paying that much attention anymore and when she did i didnt stop and the collar came right over her ears and off her neck which basically meant that i didnt have control on the dog any more and she could run away i ended up getting her because my dog takes big dumps that take lots of time so she didnt have time to run away.

safety 1 For England this is the right side, but the dog should walk on the other side in this case. So that the bike shields the dog from traffic, the dog could fall out and get on the roadway. safety 2 The bike's brake may need to be changed so that the left side is the rear brake, not the front brake. An emergency stop could cause you to flip over. safety 3 Where is the bicycle helmet, especially with a dog attached to the bicycle safety 4 Cycling is an intense exercise and when the outside temperature rises above 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), your dog is at risk of overheating safety 5 Dutch granny bike with coaster brake is the best for it, no bar, easy to get on and off, and a rear brake with both hands free, it is best to control the bike when you ride with a dog .

This will help me with pram training... walking dog with a pram :)

I'm watching this at 3am in Wales UK , and thinking,,, looks a lot like Zuma Beach was when I was on vacation back in 1990 !?

My husky Zelda and I crashed today.. It was only our 2nd time attempting to go biking together..I really want to do this with my doggy I should have watched this video before.. 😂

Well done. Thanks for the upload.

This is a walky dog pole. Others recommended springer for dogs who pull and chase. I love the dog walk leash you just pulled. Not sure ideal for my dogs?

So helpful, thanks. 👍

my dog has to be like some sort of genius. i brought him out on the bike today for the first time ever, no previous traning or anything, just for like 10 minutes. he absolutely hated being on the harness but it was a no pull harness so i think thats why so i had to use his collar which he preffered. he usually pulls and chokes himself when i walk him even with a harness but when i was cyling with him he was so good. he didnt go infront of the bike he stayed beside me the whole time. and hes dog reactive and he only growled at one dog (we seen 5 ) because it was off leash and was chasing us up the road. ill definitely be doing it more because we both prefer it. i need to build up his pads though so they dont tear since i usually run him on grass not on the pathway.

My 17 lb puppy has Soooo much energy I've started to binge with him. He's almost 11 months but he's healthy and he's ok so this is what I'm doing to "exercise" him. He took to it right away thankfully! So definitely going well so far the DOWN side is he's reactive to dogs so i have completely stop or he'll pull me to try to attack if he sees a dog too bad there's not a video for that! 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️☹️☹️☹️☹️😭😭😭😭

Yeha until my guys saw a fucking bunny and I went flying and hit a mail box🤣🤦🏽‍♀️

BS"D Thank you again, you are giving very important and very clear explanation

I bike handle mirror is great so u can check behind you

awesome video 😀😀😀

The leash I have. But, I wish you had provided links to the harness, handle bar accessories and the spring loaded walker. I was surprised that you didn't mention your recommendations.

Just tried biking with my great pyr mix! Let's just say we did some basic figure 8s to practice those turns for less than 5mins and he's pooped lol!!