Bringing a furry friend cycle touring
 

I recently got my hip dysplasia fixed and I want to go bike touring. short weekend trips to start and working up to longer and longer trips.
I pretty much have everything figured out.
what to bring
camp kitchen (yup, I like to cook). Now when i go grocery shopping I am forever finding things I can bring touring with me.
equipment
right down to my 4-legged furry friend (sorry can't add a photo, as I joined yesterday)
Yes, bringing a furry friend along does have disadvantages ... But, if I don't he'd stage a coup! PLUS he is my assistance dog.. A whippet named Dobby
I do plan on buying a trailer so he does not have to jog next to me constantly (they aren't a heavy breed, males weigh about 40 lbs or so). so he'll be able to hang and enjoy the ride, take a nap and some take some scenery in too.

Does anyone bring their dog on touring trips? Breed? Age?
what do you bring for them? other than food.
what I plan to bring for him
a sleeping bag
a sleeping pad
a blanket
bowls
a harness and pack system from ruffwear, extra collar
clothes
boots
extra water
a tie out line
a screw in-ground tie-out
treats
shot records with a copy of rabies certificate.
and his assistance dog gear (vest, leash, head collar)
toys/chews
two dog cycle leashes
looking for an unbrella for him too

Whippets are the fastest accelerating mammal on earth and the 3rd fastest land mammal. For them, to achieve this they have no fat layer and very little hair. So, clothes and other things I have listed are a must. there is also a sport called bikejoring ( http://www.activedogsports.com/what-...t-best-breeds/ ), we are interested in.

anyways.. looking forward to reading about your dog adventures.

CGOAB has a lot of journals by people who had a non human companion for their rides.

Folks do it, but just be aware that you'll be schlepping a good 50lbs on top of stuff for you, so it's going to be physically very challenging and hard as heck going up hills. Your bike best have very low gearing.

doable but will limit distances that you can comfortably do and only trying it yourself will actually let you know how it is.

Congratulations on your recovery 😉.

I've seen it done.

Plan your routes and distances accordingly. You'll more than likely want to use a two wheeled trailer which will put you out farther into the path of cars. Use routes with less traffic and wider shoulders. Use rails to trails and MUPs when possible.

Some routes won't be safe with a two wheeled trailer.

I have a few cats to volunteer if someone would like to expose them to the world of bicycle touring : )

^Yours, Rowbow, or a neighbor's?

As a cyclotourist, that does bring his dog along all the time, in a cheap EBAY trailer( in a new one now), It is very doable. My boy Milo, is an Assistance dog as well. I do carry a lot of weight because of him, but would not have it any other way. The one main, thing that you cannot scrimp on is water. Dog's drink a lot of water, more then you would think. You notice it more when touring with them. So my trips I always have a min. of 20ltres on board, if it is a warm day, and more if it is hot. The most I carry in hot weather is 35 ltres. In cooler weather you can get away a smaller amount though. Another thing, is to think about, stopping every hour, so they can stretch their legs, and pee. They will hold but why make it unenjoyable for them.. You have the right Idea, in what to bring, as you have to make it comfortable for them. I also buy them the best food. It is not cheap, but I get the dog food satches- Royal Canin. Not sure if you can get it or similar in the US, but it is an alround food, that is easier and lighter to carry. I don't let my boy run beside me, as i am worried he would get run over, as well as he is scent driven, he took off once for a roo, and it took me a fair while to get him back. Even though he is trained against to do that , the roo, jumped out a foot in front of him, it, scared him a bit, then he took off after it, across the road against traffic, so I don't run him at all now.. Just get him a comfortable enclosed( with screening) trailer, then you wont need to have an umbrella, it will be much safer for him, due to traffic and other dog's animals . You still have to have a harness and an small lead linked to the trailer inside. It is just an added protection. I use the top of his trailer for a ten watt solar panel, with a small agm battery inside the trailer, to charge all my batteries. I have been doing it for 5 years, and would not tour without him ever. It would not be enjoyable.. Anymore questions just ask.

I love riding with my dogs, but longer than 5 or 10 km on the road doesn't seem like too much fun for them. I have heard people's concerns about dogs joints from running at a steady pace, but my dogs all remained spry into old age. The worst thing they have to deal with is occasional blisters on their feet. I have generally had retrievers, and I know sight hounds are born runners so maybe they'd like it more.

I have never tried to carry a dog in a trailer except for one dog I had that got very old and found it more comfortable squeezing between the kids in the Chariot.

If riding on dirt or gravel or single track trails, the bike speed goes down and the interest for the dogs goes up so multiple hours on the mtb trails is preferable to me.

Source?

Thanks for the info
 

​​​​Thanks!
For the info ... Message me anytime.
What I plan to do is let him run beside me on a tether and if it's not safe or inclimate weather have him ride in the trailer. If I want to ride 40 miles , I'm not going to make him run all 40 miles.

Planning to take a bike trailer and he will be wearing a pack for small things he will be needing. Such as clothes, rain jacket bowls

Common dog knowledge.
 

do your OWN research..

Lol

I.am planning to train mine to boots. And have at least 2 sets with me.

I wonder if a cargo e-bike wouldn't be perfect for this?

Check out this guy's twitter feed, his dog's name is Raven. He lives not far from me. I don't think it's a e-bike, but I've seen loads of them, and would be useful for carrying so much stuff.

https://twitter.com/CitizenW0lf

What is CGOAB? I had no luck googling this acronym.

I have bought a couple pairs of boots but never found any where the dog finished a run with all four still on his feet.

LisaG71 CGOAB = Come Get Oak Acorns, Bud
Or it might be Crazy Guy On A Bike

I did. That is why I asked for your source. Every source I found lists the Springbok as No. 3 behind the cheetah and the pronghorn.

Top speed of a whippet is around 35 mph. 20 mph slower than the springbok.

https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/whippet/

Buh-bye.

so, umm,.......... recovering from hip medical problem (treatment unspecified) and your plan is to cycle long-distance, carrying camping gear, kitchen equipment, clothing, food, tools and spares, trailer, 40-pounds of dog, 40-pounds of doggie gear, 20+ pounds of water, and likely laptop and other electronics plus associated stuffs???

not a good plan. in fact, last time someone had this sort of idea...

"Let me get this straight. You think that your employer, one of the richest men in the world, is spending his nights running around the city beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands? And your plan is to blackmail him? Good luck."

.

A whippet has a TOP speed of 40-45 miles per hour. one of mine was CLOCKED by a police radar gun at 45.
they ARE the 3rd fastest land mammal. cheetah, greyhound, whippet. then everything else.
spring bucks don't run like a cheetah or a dog. they SPRING and HOP. that is not counted as SPEED!

A whippet has a TOP speed of 40-45 miles per hour. one of mine was CLOCKED by a police radar gun at 45.
they ARE the 3rd fastest land mammal. cheetah, greyhound, whippet. then everything else.
spring bucks don't run like a cheetah or a dog. they SPRING and HOP. that is not counted as SPEED!
I have OWNED whippets for a while now AND am an ANIMAL trainer.

I don't plan on going places he can't go. and as he will always need to go (assistance dog), I think I can work around this. there are LOTS of multi-use trails now. and if the road is narrower he can ride in the trailer instead of jogging beside me. Yes, it will be a two-wheeled kid trailer. the dog trailers don't have storage.

I actually weighed HIS gear and it's less than mine. gives me more room for water and kibble. Thankfully there are small towns everywhere I can buy water at if nessacery, plus my water filters. But, yes. I know I'll be lugging more weight.

The problem with a dog travelling along with a bike is that the dog will likely be able to go much faster on the climbs and the bike much faster on the descents. I found that for short climbs and mountain biking it was manageable for me and my dogs. I left her home when I toured. Trail running worked out better than biking for us and my current dog and I probably ran close to 20,000 trail miles together (I lost count at 10k miles but we ran for a long time after that). She has also been a great hiking/backpacking companion too.

In my case I am pretty sure my pooch was happier being home with my wife than she would have been cranking out long miles on the road for months at a time, so she stayed home when I toured.

On the road and in country with very long climbs and descents it gets logistically more difficult to deal with a dog. Not impossible just more difficult. I met a guy who was travelling full time with a greyhound saluki mix. He said the pooch rode in the trailer most of the day and got kicked out for the climbs to run along side. He said that worked well for them.

In case you do not know what CGOAB is, as mentioned earlier, here is a link to the forum. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/?o=1