Good idea, poor execution

So Frankie has decided that long walks are no longer sufficient exercise and that we need more. I don't mind running, but I even jogging has not really tired her out too much. So I had a genius idea! I'd get out my roller blades and let her pull me. She loves to run; I don't mind rolling...perfect!

Not so much. Turns out the last few months of training with a no pull harness and rewarding good walking has taken the pull out of her routine. I put her regular harness on, that she used to pull on like crazy, and waited for the forward motion… all that I got was her staring at me. Oh well, I'll skate alongside her and we'll both get exercise. Nope, did I mention that the only skates that I have left are my goalie skates for roller hockey? They have no ankle support by design, and don't do well outside on street/sidewalk; they're built for indoor rinks with fast smooth surfaces.

Oh well, I'll think of something.. maybe bikejoring.

Here's the failed set up:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...b/ec544d7b.jpg

Reminds me of walking a puppy ( Zubin at the time) in the wet grass on a flexi- yea well- I ended up with a metal plate in my leg and 14 screws to hold it.. lol.. I broke my tibula..

Get a Springer or other attachment for your bike. I use a Springer. LOVE it! Dog can't pull me over, can't attack other dogs(an issue with one of mine), can't chase squirrels and still gets a great, tiring workout!

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Originally Posted by borzoimom

Reminds me of walking a puppy ( Zubin at the time) in the wet grass on a flexi- yea well- I ended up with a metal plate in my leg and 14 screws to hold it.. lol.. I broke my tibula..

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Ouch! Maybe I was lucky she didn't just take off at full speed, although luckily she would have hit a hill sooner of later and slowed down.

I remember when the entertaining thing to do at elementary school was see who could slide down the huge hill, covered in wet grass, and stay on their feet. :eek:

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Originally Posted by Glacier

Get a Springer or other attachment for your bike. I use a Springer. LOVE it! Dog can't pull me over, can't attack other dogs(an issue with one of mine), can't chase squirrels and still gets a great, tiring workout!

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I've looked at the springer a lot, but I'm not sure it'll work close to home. Our bike lanes are really narrow and the streets are very busy. Even the dirt areas are mostly single track, and it looks like the spring holds them out to the side enough that it might get tight. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a used one to test it out.

Do you use the safety release that the springer comes with? If Frankie got loose because of it she would be gone; zero recall.

Bring 'em to a dog park (fully fenced in ) and let em loose. They'll get planty of excersise chasing/running from other dogs. :p

Another thing is (if they are come-trustworthy ) go to farm fields or forest and let them run till their hearts content. :p I'm lucky, I can do this everyday.

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Originally Posted by GreyhoundGirl

Bring 'em to a dog park (fully fenced in ) and let em loose. They'll get planty of excersise chasing/running from other dogs. :p

Another thing is (if they are come-trustworthy ) go to farm fields or forest and let them run till their hearts content. :p I'm lucky, I can do this everyday.

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She loves the dog park, but we've had some not so good experiances there. She's very submissive to other dogs and has been beat up a bit while playing. She's love to run free, but she loves it so much that she won't come back. She listens while on lead, in the house, out back... but once loose outside a fenced yard she is full sprint.

Oh... Well I'll think of something. I have lots of experience with excersizing energetic/ CRAZY dogs. :p

Wow, good job to Frankie for learning not to pull!

I've tried a lot of different things with Adele, it's one thing that just won't "stick." She pulls no matter what. I'll tell you what- you can borrow her for a few weeks and either you will get to try out your rollerskating idea with her or you can train her not to pull! :D

pulling is such great exersize lol Misty and Ripley are trained to pull me on my bike, Happy wont pull so she just runs beside, though I really wish I could get her to pull because Ripley is half Mistys size and doesnt last near as long as her, and Misty does not pull well without the weight spread between 2 dogs until later in the biking season. I am hoping Electra will pull when she is old enugh, so far she is sort of a stop and go puller, I dont want to teach her that pulling is always bad, but I gotta be able to walk her in the winter too lol

I bet she'd love one of the biker dog hook ups!

Oh I'll lend you Nebo, he'll pull you for sure. :rolleyes: He knows HOW to heel, but so far he'll only do that when there's not anything interesting around (people and dogs) otherwise he puts on his "husky selective hearing."

Kay has a good idea, I have a bikerdog (www.bikerdog.com) and it works great. Nebo would very likely run off as well and he's never managed to escape it. I do have a couple of added measures...and no safety release...I figure we'd be better off crashing than him taking off, so I just don't go very fast. :o I don't get much exercise with it that way, but it wears him out much faster than a walk.

I can't belive that I missed that I was offered a chance to play with Adele and Nebo? How could I say no to that ;) Actually, I know why it would be a bad idea, because I'd never want to give either one back, lol.

The biggest thing that helped with with Frankie was a Gentle Leader® easy walk harness . Frankie will not tolerate a head harness at all, she goes straight insane. The easy pull harness has become her regular walk harness and she doesn't mind one bit, but she stopped pulling after a few times using it. I might have gotten lucky, who knows.

Well I'm sure Nebo would love to play with you but you'd definitely have to give him back. :p

I'm going to have to look into that harness.....Nebo has a "halti" head harness and he goes crazy with that thing on, so I stopped using it a long time ago. I'll check my work tomorrow to see if they sell it, thanks for the tip.