The only problem about a forum is I don't get to meet the people I'm so fond of. Sometimes it's a bit frustrating. But I sure love seeing all your names, if not your faces

Maybe someone can help me with a problem. I had bought a bike a few months ago to help me give Lear the exercise he needs. All was going well, Lear at my side and not forging ahead ever - until a loose dog charged us, growling and barking. Lear charged back which pulled me down off the bike. I got pretty banged up, especially my knee which smacked onto the pavement, hurt badly for weeks.

The owner was right there in front of his house but did nothing even when I, from a prone position in the middle of the street, was yelling for him to get his dog. I called the idiot a name. I was ticked. When it was over he had the gall to tell me it wasn't his fault. To which I called him a name again and said of course it was his frigging fault, his dog was loose.

I know riding a bike around here is risky cause of loose dogs but I don't always have the energy to find a safer place to ride. Maybe that's the only answer but it's so nice to just take off from the house on the bike versus putting the rack on the car, the bike on the rack and driving somewhere everyday, thereby making a huge deal of biking everyday.

I'm now leery of riding around here. We still go biking, just not as much. Can I realistically expect Lear not to charge back when a dog is coming at us? If so, how do I train him to keep moving and ignore the dog? That sounds impossible when he's being charged by another dog cause of course he sees the dog as a threat, either to himself or to me so he's going to react.

So --- rack on car, bike on rack, drive somewhere everyday, a big deal everyday? Or what?

Edited to add: the owner didn't even MOVE to get his dog, just stood there like a moron.

Whether or not you can train him I think depends on what the other dog is doing! We have to have reasonable expectations. If Lear is looking to pick a fight w/a dog who is still ten feet away, that's a problem that you can work on in training. If he's simply defending himself (and you) from some jerk of a dog who is right up in his face, that's a whole different story. I would work him more under distractions to teach him to "leave it" under all but the most dire circumstances. Decide how much distance is reasonable and stick with it...if that's possible. Proof him on ignoring barking dogs as best you can. Charging and making you fall is inexcusable, if the dog wasn't already close enough to make contact. If the dog was inches away and clearly being aggressive, then Lear is excused. You'll never know what would've happened if Lear kept jogging and ignored the dog; it could've been uneventful or it could've been worse; what if the dog came after you instead?

Caleb is rock solid at ignoring things, but if a dog charges him and is right in his face, when he's on a leash with me, all bets are off. He would keep moving until a certain point, I bet. That has never happened to us, fortunately. I don't know what it is; maybe he gives dirty looks, lol, but no loose dog has ever done anything but run at him, then last second crawl or flop over on their backs. I've been lucky.

How on Earth can that idiot say it wasn't his fault??? He's lucky you aren't the type to sue.

Sandy, Lear is beautiful!! Don't really have any advice other than what Jenni said. Will say that you are brave and I admire anyone attempting to ride a bike with a large dog in tow!

It is so nice to see you and Jenni back on the forum!

Merry Christmas,
Debbie

Sandy, glad to read you again.

How do you have Lear attached to your bike? I think Steve's recommendation is great. I have something similar, and although my dog is little, I can tell how it would help.

I always leave my rack on my car, even when it's 2 degrees outside and there's no way I'd be biking, but I bike often so it's more hassle to take it off/put it back on, then to just leave it on. I just always make sure I keep that area of my car clean.

I don't know if I'd try to train Lear through ignoring a charge. I don't think that would be fair. If he does seem to instigate fights from a far, then yes, I think you can train him to ignore dogs in that case.

I looked up the device Steve mentioned. I think I'm going to try that. It's still scary cause if Lear does decide to react to a dog, it seems he could just pull me and the bike down. Currently I hold the leash, with the thought that if a dog comes at us, I would just let go of the leash. But clearly when it actually happened, I held onto the leash trying to avoid a dog fight instead of letting it go.

I think a combination of leaving the rack on the car and Steve's device would be the best way to go. Just go to some park everyday or at least every other day. I will have to rearrange my garage so I can fit the SUV with the rack on the back. I always park in the garage cause my last car was broken into when I parked in my driveway. Lots of theft of wheels, cars, and the stuff in them around here.

It's hard to say how close the dog was when he charged. All I remember is he came out from behind a truck parked in front of the guy's house, right near the street. So don't know if all of it could have been avoided if I had just kept going. The dog looked pretty close to us when I first spotted him. Of course after that incident, Lear was constantly on the alert on other rides, looking everywhere, waiting for trouble. So was I. We fed off each other for a while. Such a drag.

The accommodations I make for this dog and of course for idiot owners of other dogs.

I'm going to take Jenni's advice too. I'm going to start by taking Lear outside of a dog park (with a chain link fence in between him and the dogs) and work on him ignoring the dogs and paying attention to me.

I think my brave days are pretty much over. I'm too old to fall . It takes forever to heal

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Hello Sandy,

I'm not sure that I have much to add to the (good) advice that you've already been given wrt to biking with Lear, but I wanted to mention that what you are asking about is something that mushers and ski-jorers commonly have to deal with (i.e head on passes of other teams on narrow trails). I know the situation you described is a little different, but the command generally trained for is an "On b'y". It's a little bit different than a 'leave it' in the sense that you are asking the team (lead dogs, really) to keep moving and ignore the distraction, rather than simply to 'leave it'. For sledding you can train it using other trained leaders (not a possibility in your case, obviously!) or by having the team follow something exciting, while passing by the distraction. I use the same command while biking or ski-joring with my single dog and it works well under most conditions.

I own the 'walky dog' and have to admit that I'm not a big fan, though it serves its' purpose. The placement of the rod that attaches to the dog always seems to be in the way of my leg, and the placement of the dog right next to me is good for large roads but requires a wide trail/road otherwise. I also use this:
http://www.nooksackracing.com/bikejoring.html It has a stretchy insert on the line which absorbs shock, and is long enough that you can still ask the dog to run next to you.
I strongly advise against hanging on to a leash-it can get tangled in the tire (done that...) and if your dog bolts for whatever reason all the force is exerted on the handle bars and you will definitely crash.
Happy cycling!

 Quote: Sandy Moore

I'm going to start by taking Lear outside of a dog park (with a chain link fence in between him and the dogs) and work on him ignoring the dogs and paying attention to me.

Just make sure people obey the leash laws. I know of many parks where people just open their car doors and let the dogs run off leash to the off leash area. They don't even bring a leash with them! Also, go at a time of day when there won't be 50 dogs barking at him, but just 2 or 3, if you can.

What my friend did when biking with my dog-reactive dog was use a large open park, so you could see if someone had a dog from a mile away, giving him ample opportunity to turn around and go the other way. (Advantage of living in a flat area )

Thank you Isabelle, for the additional info. I looked at the device you mentioned but have to say that I can envision disaster. Either my dog will begin to want to forge ahead or if he pulls to the side it will take the front wheel right out from under me.

When I ride holding the leash, I very rarely keep that hand on the handle bars. It's always at my (left) side and kept short enough that there's no slack to get caught up in the wheels.

But I do like the idea of teaching "on by". If you have any info about how to train that, I would appreciate it. I started training my dog on the bike just by walking the bike with him at my left side. I taught him from the beginning that when we were with the bike, he was not to stop for ANYTHING. No sniffing, no peeing, nothing. Did that for a couple of walks then went right to biking and he did well. So would I take the same approach teaching the "on by" - walking by the bike first?

Isabelle, I like that one. I actually use something else before going to "leave it." "Leave it" is more of a final command if "It's ok, I see it" doesn't get him to ignore whatever he alerted on or is focused on. I say this a lot-just about every time I notice him look at something, flick an ear, etc. I let him know I see it, it's no big deal, I'm handling the situation, etc. If he continues to stare/growl, approach, stop and focus, etc. THEN I say "LEAVE IT!".

I think in Sandy's case, an alternative to straight out "leave it" would be helpful; let Lear know it's no big deal and to keep walking. "Leave it" is great for avoiding a dog fight though, once proofed.