In my town, taking a dog for a run behind your truck is called a "redneck run". This term has been expanded to taking your dog for a run behind any of your moterized vehicles (quad, dirtbike..) There is also the winter version: "sledneck run".

Having only one dog, I try to get exersise with my dog and run, walk or bike with him, but a "red neck run" sure can come in handy now and again. I have no experience here with the exception of a touch of sledneck running at work in the winter.

I am looking for advice, tips and guidlines from those that do this as part of their conditioning programs. Here are some of my concerns:

I have seen two GSD in my town blow knees running behind dirt bikes in the past year. I would like to attribute it to the "weekend warrior" syndrome of poorly exercised dogs who's owners all of a sudden take them rippin' full speed behind a dirt bike on the weekends. Could I be right?

I also know an alarming # of dog that have been hit by the quad or dirtbike due to the fact that they like to get in front of it. This causes the owners to go faster...

What times and speeds are we talking for good conditioning? (fit pet dog or working)

If doing this on country/logging roads how do you deal with it in the event another car is comming.

The roads here are dusty after one day of no rain. How bad is it for the dog to suck some dust wind?

Thanks,

Jennifer,

I run my dogs with a four wheeler and am fortunate enough to have 80 acres plus all kinds of "section line" roads (roads that split the sections of land) that are not really well traveled.
My dogs tend to stay either out front or to the side of me (rarely do I let them fall behind because that is telling me that they are tired and are having a hard time keeping up) and I run them between 5 to 15 mph. Coming back is a slow (under 5mph) jog or walk.
I also will wind sprint them up and down a hill on my property that works great. I usually work each dog at a run walk and jog for about 5 miles. (depends on conditioning of the dog) My dogs go longer sometimes and with the dogs that are here for training or boarding it is less and at lesser speeds as I am unsure of what shape the dog is really in. I don't really watch how long I am out, but I am usually getting ready for work by 6:30 or 7:00 am.

We take breaks and sometimes I will go up to 20 mph. The dogs pick and choose their pace a bit as I watch them carefully for them getting tired and what not. I make sure that I take water and that the dogs get 15 minutes of rest time. They usually go lay in the shade and I kick back and read a book or something.

During the Fall, Winter and Spring months I can pretty much do this any time during the day, but now with temps in the 100's already I get up at 4 am and run two dogs (separate) and then in the evening (8 pm or so) I run the other two. I do not run the pups yet, but rather take them on long walks and let them run as they see fit. They are only 6 months right now.

I would agree that more injuries would come from out of shape dogs being ran once in a while than dogs that are part of a conditioning program.

Hope this helps a bit.

I know of some people that have done this, but I never thought it was a good idea. There are way too many physical risks associated with this kind of exercise, IMO, and it can also stress the dog out mentally. Any benefits can be gained elsewhere, and I think the risks will always outweigh the benefits anyway.

If you don't think your dog is getting enough exercise through conventional means, then you could always increase duration or frequency. Running with a bike would be plenty fast enough for conditioning purposes, IMO.

I say this because I have personally witnessed a dog being killed through this method, and I suppose it traumatized me for life. I know some people would be careful, but you can't always account for every other person or situation you might encounter.

After reading Carol's post (who I have a great deal of respect for, btw) I would like to add that there are exceptions to my personal rule against that kind of conditioning...and Carol would be the exception.

She has 80 acres of her own to decrease risks involving other people or vehicles. She also has many, many dogs to exercise, as opposed to just one. She also has a four wheeler, as opposed to a closed-in car (which tends to prevent the dog from thinking they're being abandoned). She also has a ton of experience.

For her situation, it's probably a great alternative to having to work each dog seperately, and she has the means to greatly decrease the risks.

For me and my two dogs and my lack of private land, it is something I would never do. As I said, it was horrible the way the dog I saw died. Since I'm biased, maybe I shouldn't have posted, but I just wanted to make sure that you knew there are some horrible results to doing it on public land or roads (it was an quad I saw it happen with).

And I would never do it in a car or a truck. Could stress the dog that you're trying to leave him (for some dogs) and your blind spots are considerable.

I agree Amber and I should have said something like that, although I am so used to minimal or no traffic that I don't really think about it.
I would also NEVER do this in a closed in vehicle or on a dirt bike, or in a place where there was too much traffic. Being on a four wheeler is a lot more stable, visibility is great and you can manage your speed well. I have never come close to running over one of my dogs as if they get in front of me I tend to slow down for the fear OF hitting them. But they keep 10ft or more away from me. That is also why I do not run two at the same time......it is harder to watch two than one and also they will dink around and not pay attention.

Have you thought about a treadmill?


Thanks for the kind words Amber, I have TONS of respect for you also.

 Quote: Carol Boche

Have you thought about a treadmill?

That is an EXCELLENT idea! I was just going to say that. I, myself run with my dog, but I am an excercise freak. I'd feel like I'm being cheated if I didn't run with my dog . I think biking with your dog is second best. JMO

Thanks so far guys, was hoping Carol would chime in. I appreciate the descriptions on speeds, rest times, variations...

I do only have one dog and like to exersise so this is not an often thing for me. I have a tonne of quadable roads, cut lines skid roads here where I would rarely see a human (animals are another story), but I do not have a fourwheeler. We bike, run and walk on them though.

I very occasionally use an ATV at work, and I ran my dog 1/2 way up my work road with it yesterday (rides on it with me on the way down). He is good staying close, just a few meters behind and to one side or the other. I vary the speed and he adjusts but basically stays in the same spot. I taught him not to run in front at winter work with the snowmobile. Too dangerous to run in front of things here b/c of the downhills (don't want him to decide to sniff then hit him with the mountain bike, skis, sled...you get the idea). It would be nice on flats though, then the dog can avoid the dust/exaust.

I would like to occasionally run him behind my car on the same road (uphill only) in the mornings. There is the small possibility of meeting another car on the road, but I haven't seen one yet (I go early). It is winding so people are going pretty slow.

I work phsycally for a living and my dog can come with me sometimes hiking and trail building, but not always depending on clients and locations. It would be nice to put him in his work kennel with a run in him, without me having to have gone for a run or bike ride before I work all day. Many days he gets at least a half day of hiking in while I am on the clock. If he gets less, he will get an evening bike ride/walk as well. The property I work summers on is over 7000 acres.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/farwesttoller/tameracktrail017.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/farwesttoller/spinebackfar.jpg

I don't want to seem lazy, but I sure feel like it when I see Carol's posts I will have to do some risk/benefit analysis on the running up the road issue. I think the risks are managable, but they are still there. The biggest issue would be a car comming down when we are going up.

Treadmills are a no for me. I would NEVER use it myself, and, I just can't do it for the dog. I think he would not like it anyways. He gets bored easily. I can just see him jumping off,yawning a big stress yawn and then staring at me with laser beam eyes willing me to do something a little more stimulating
Would be conveinient though!

Thanks,

i've done this before, but don't like doing it with only one person. I did it on a gravel road with very little traffic. One person driving, the other person holding leashes out the passenger window so the dogs could run on the softer shoulder, constant communication with the driver. Some dogs love this, a few hate it. You can't make them do it, so only the ones who love it would go along. I'd do it for 4-5 miles, speed depended on the dog- I liked them slinging along at an easy gallop- if they start pounding or working too hard I'd have the driver slow down. I would do 2-3 dogs like this. A golf cart is another neat way, nice and quiet and the dog can run along in the grass beside the cart trail if you are in a golf course.
A bike with a springer is another way I like to roadwork. I did teach the dogs to walk on the treadmill, the downside to this is now I have to either let them walk on it with me, or lock them away in another room- for some reason they LIKE it.
vickie

Yikes .....not anything personal Vicki but running a dog on-lead next to a vehicle no matter how many people were in the car would be something I would never attempt. Being on lead means the dog really cannot move freely or get out of the way in case something were to happen.

Too many instances for a correction, speeding up, slowing down, having to hit the brakes unexpectedly and so on.

Just my two cents.....not something I would recommend at all.

It was about 15 years ago in eastern colorado- long straight stretches of sandy gravel roads. I never thought of it as dangerous- although the road didn't have much traffic, I just felt better with them on leash.
SLow speeds, no traffic, long straight roads with one person focusing on driving and the other person focusing on the dogs. The only time I had a problem is if one would stop suddenly- I'd let the leash slide through my hand, drop the leash and have the driver stop, then I'd get out and get the dog. We were going slow enough that it wasn't much distance to get stopped, and I'd cue the others that we were going to stop.
One of the purposes of having someone else drive was for the person with the leashes to watch the dogs constantly- 6 foot leashes and they ran right outside the window, about 3 feet from the car.
Although I don't have a place to roadwork right now, I'd do it again if I found a place, so I am interested in what dangers there are to this, or injuries people have had from it (won't do it if it's dangerous). Roadworking from a car without a leash is out of the question for me, that's something I do feel is too dangerous.
vickie