# Harness for Biking



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Yesterday I purchased an attachment to hook onto my bike so I can bike with one of the dogs. I am looking for advice from someone who bikes with their dog. Do you use a harness or a collar? If you use a harness, what kind?


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

we use a walky dog with an ez dog harness from the dog outdoors. They also sell a surfdog leash, which I LOVE, and a bungee leash that's fabulous for adjusting the length, or multiple dogs...

sarah


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## pap2labc (Jun 25, 2010)

I think it depends on whether or not you want them to pull. I've used both collars and harnesses; collars when I want them to move out without pulling and harnesses when I want to encourage them to pull. My favorite harnesses are the urban trail harness from alpine outfitters. They are made for dogs to pull when the gangline is attached to an object higher than the dog's back (biking, scootering, skijoring). I use them mostly when scootering, but have used them with biking, too.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I use an easywalk harness for Maddy and the cheaper knockoff of the easywalk harness for Indy. I don't like them to pull and they learned that, but they just LOVE running alongside the bike! For a high energy dog like Maddy, it really lets her blow off some steam, although I am always cautious about running her too far or too fast; but if she were to have her way it would be 30 km/h the whole way!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks! Well, initially I think I'd like him (or her) to run beside me. Eventually it would be fun for them to pull me and in that case an Easy Walk probably isn't the best choice. But just for running alongside, just to see how we like it, maybe a regular collar or easy walk will work?


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

CharismaticMillie said:


> Yesterday I purchased an attachment to hook onto my bike so I can bike with one of the dogs. I am looking for advice from someone who bikes with their dog. Do you use a harness or a collar? If you use a harness, what kind?


You need a harness with a chest plate. A harness with a chest strap is likely to injure the shoulder muscles.

There are a couple different styles. A "racing" or skijoring harness is a sled dog harness with the ring near the base of the dog's tail. Another style does not have a cross back, and has the ring on a girth strap. This is sold under several names, as a tracking harness typically.

skijor / racing style:
Recent image by nikelodeon79 on Photobucket

multipurpose / tracking style:
http://www.all-about-german-shepher...e/German-shepherd-leather-dog-harness_LRG.jpg

BAD:
http://www.fordogtrainers.com/produ...harness/nylon-dog-harness-pitt-bull-reddy.jpg

If a chest strap is high enough to protect the shoulder muscle it will choke the dog as it drops it's head to break weight or from exersion.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

CharismaticMillie said:


> Thanks! Well, initially I think I'd like him (or her) to run beside me. Eventually it would be fun for them to pull me and in that case an Easy Walk probably isn't the best choice. But just for running alongside, just to see how we like it, maybe a regular collar or easy walk will work?


EasyWalk harness will likely cause injury. My vet flipped out when I got one for Jet for a harness to slip under his backpack that doesn't have a leash ring on it.

If you train running alongside first, you will probably never succeed in teaching your dog to lead out or pull. Train the leading out / pulling first. Then you can add in the running allongside as an "easy" (stop pulling) and return to heel command


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## Yaddaluvpoodles (Mar 20, 2010)

*Nordkyn Outfitters*

Check out Nordkyn Outfitters. I have purchased the majority of my harnesses for all sorts of uses from them. Many harnesses are not made for poodles. Nordkyn will custom make one specifically for your dogs measurements. You can have them padded or plain. I have used harnesses with both fleece and neoprene padding, prefer neoprene (closed cell foam).

Can get all sorts of stylin' color too. Super nice lady.

Nordkyn Outfitters -- Harnesses

Darla


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

tortoise said:


> EasyWalk harness will likely cause injury. My vet flipped out when I got one for Jet for a harness to slip under his backpack that doesn't have a leash ring on it.
> 
> If you train running alongside first, you will probably never succeed in teaching your dog to lead out or pull. Train the leading out / pulling first. Then you can add in the running allongside as an "easy" (stop pulling) and return to heel command


I don't really need them to pull, alongside is probably what I want,


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

EzyDog Padded Dog Chest Harnesses | Dog Bike Harness | Comfortable Padded Dog Harness

This is the harness we have - it has a padded chest plate and sits not around the neck. we did actually try a few, and picked up the dog by the d ring portion of the harness before rejecting them. I can pick up the dog (40 lbs) by the d ring portion of the strapping and he turns his head to look at me like - "Yeah, feet off the ground... you done?" 

I think if we were doing serious biking with him, rather than beach biking, we'd definitely go for a harness that would allow us to really rescue a situation - one with a handle, etc - RuffWear Web Master Harness 2012 Edition
at a minimum - I'd probably not take the dog on a rough terrain ride without a lot more specialized equipment... given the fact that I tow the baby bike trailer in case the pavement gets too hot, I'd say we are not seriously biking our dog.

sarah


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

My WalkyDog arrived today and I took T for a bike ride! I thought of you and Sawyer the first few times we attempted. T slipped out of his harness (a regular, cheapie Nylon one from Petco) about 5 times in attempt to escape from the big scary bike. This was while I was hand walking the bike around the driveway and sidewalk. He was hooked by the harness to the WalkyDog attachment. Finally I decided to put on his EasyWalk Harness because I knew he would not be able to slip out of it as easily due to the way it fits. This worked great! He resisted again of course, but he wasn't able to slip out. As I picked up some speed, he reluctantly followed, though angled sort of sideways. As I picked up some speed, jumping on the bike and peddling, he started to jog and seemed to enjoy it! Of course we did all of this very slowly, with lots of happy voices and praise. 

I don't see him pulling anytime soon, but maybe in the future as he gets more comfortable with it. For now, the EasyWalk is good because if he tries to lean back while the bike moves to escape, it gives him a tug from the front and he automatically moves forward, and moves out into a trot. He really enjoys running, so I know he will like this! We did just a short jaunt around the subdivision.

The EasyWalk worked fine because he did not pull in any way. Not away from the bike, not into the bike, etc. Just jogged loosely beside. Still, I'd like to use a legit multi-purpose harness once I get one that actually fits!


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