Anyone ever use dogs to pull?
#51
Now that's another thing to consider Jessy. What will you do when your dogs get too old to pull the sled? You're talking about living on the road and having your dogs pull your gear on a sled. At some point, you'll need younger dogs to pull the sled, yet you'll still have your older dogs to take along. Eventually your dogs will need be be riding in the sled with your gear...
God already has that covered for me I believe. As far as I can tell, I think I only have about 2 more years left to live, and my dogs are currently 6 1/2 years old, so they'll be just fine for that length o time. Thanks for the concern though. I would have already had that in mind if I were expecting to be living out on the road for very much longer.
#52
So many questions!
You planning on pulling the trailer with your bike and the dogs at the same time? (Not sure what that would look like.)
Is the trailer going to have brakes? (Probably, a requirement. Especially, going downhill.)
That's 100 lb for an empty trailer? What's the weight of the other stuff?
Crummy brakes on a cheap kid's bike designed for 80 (?) pounds holding back 250 pounds of trailer, possessions, and a person. Sounds like a great plan.
You planning on pulling the trailer with your bike and the dogs at the same time? (Not sure what that would look like.)
Is the trailer going to have brakes? (Probably, a requirement. Especially, going downhill.)
That's 100 lb for an empty trailer? What's the weight of the other stuff?
Crummy brakes on a cheap kid's bike designed for 80 (?) pounds holding back 250 pounds of trailer, possessions, and a person. Sounds like a great plan.
Yea thanks. I'm aware of the issue. My dad said he might be able to install automatic brakes into the camper. We haven't gotten that far on the build yet, so we'll see what happens when the time comes.
I don't really have pictures of the camper yet cuz we haven't built much of it yet. It will probably be about 80-100 pounds empty, and the gear will probably be at least another 100 pounds.
The setup will be my dogs out front, they'll be attached to my bike in the front by the handlebars, then my camper will be behind me on the bike attached to the bike. Camper won't hit the dogs because my bike will be there between it and them. It will be just like bikejoring except with a bicycle camper attached behind my bike, like you would with a camper for bike touring or with a kids riding cart.
#54
I'm doing this to serve God, to deliver His message to the people. And I figure my setup will attract people that I can talk to so I can share God's message with them, and on top of it if we can actually manage to pull this off it will be a sign and a wonder for those people to marvel at to see that God is real, and you can do all things with God's help if you just have faith and let Him guide you.
#55
Apparently you've never heard of the Iditarod or other dog sports like skijoring, bikejoring, and canicross, ect. Yea I know this sounds crazy, but I have no other option in this case. God gave me my dogs for a reason, and it wasn't just so they can be a showpiece or things for me to pet and cuddle. And God also gave me a very important job as His prophetess, and as I said I have no other way to do this job with my dogs. I don't have a car and can't get one now, I've tried the online thing for years and I've had enough of that, and God has called me to do my work for Him on the road now, and this is what He's led me to do. These ideas are not just random, nor are they fantasies of my own making, God guides my hand and has my entire life. If you don't want to believe me or you want to think this idea is crazy, that's fine, it wouldn't be the first time someone thought such things of me, but I'm also not the first person to do something a lot of people thought was crazy or impossible yet managed to pull it off. I don't really care if it works or not, all I know is I feel this is what God wants me to do and how, so I have to try, because I made Him a promise to serve Him however He asks me to. There's only one real way to know if this will work or not, and that's to try.
#56
Senior Member
I've carried heavy loads on my trailer. This was probably 300 or 400 lbs, and the cargo bike and trailer aren't light either.
The load really SLOWED ME DOWN. It was hard work even in relatively flat areas.
At some point I get to where it is very difficult for me to pull my trailer up a hill walking. I really needed lower gearing and a trike to allow riding slower than walking.
There are a lot of kid's bike trailers that are designed to connect to the bike, and some of them can do quite well. And, are even lightweight. I've seen some apparent nomadic individuals who adapted wheelchair wheels to their trailer (long wear no flat tires).
I agree, this whole thing sounds tough on the dogs. But, 5 to 10 miles a days is also extremely short. Most bike tourists ride maybe 50 to 100 miles a day.
I'm not sure how you deal with a raw meat diet, or if it is even necessary. One of the differences between the typical domestic dog and wild dogs is the domestic dogs are adapted to metabolize carbohydrates. I don't know about your particular dogs.
Anyway, I'd encourage you to really consider economizing on weight. Perhaps 50 pounds max including the trailer.
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#58
Senior Member
I know. I'm one step ahead of you on that already. I have top body armor, kneepads, boots, dirtbikes gloves, and a helmet. I also have a small aluminum bat for stray dogs if they actually attack mine. Was also thinking about a loud whistle or something maybe to to try to scare them off, hopefully before I have to hit them with the bat. My dogs have very thick coats, so dog bites rarely get through to their skin unless it's on a lower leg part.
I'm doing this to serve God, to deliver His message to the people. .............
I'm doing this to serve God, to deliver His message to the people. .............
hmmm........when i read these batsoup crazy threads, i always axe myself..........WWSD?
(what would squeezebox do)
#59
Happy With My Bikes
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I have some friends that sold everything they owned to move to California and train to enter the mission field. They felt like the Lord called them to do this and I respect that. But no animals were harmed when the Lord spoke to them.
__________________
"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke
"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke
#60
Senior Member
Apparently you've never heard of the Iditarod or other dog sports like skijoring, bikejoring, and canicross, ect. Yea I know this sounds crazy, but I have no other option in this case. God gave me my dogs for a reason, and it wasn't just so they can be a showpiece or things for me to pet and cuddle. And God also gave me a very important job as His prophetess, and as I said I have no other way to do this job with my dogs. I don't have a car and can't get one now, I've tried the online thing for years and I've had enough of that, and God has called me to do my work for Him on the road now, and this is what He's led me to do. These ideas are not just random, nor are they fantasies of my own making, God guides my hand and has my entire life. If you don't want to believe me or you want to think this idea is crazy, that's fine, it wouldn't be the first time someone thought such things of me, but I'm also not the first person to do something a lot of people thought was crazy or impossible yet managed to pull it off. I don't really care if it works or not, all I know is I feel this is what God wants me to do and how, so I have to try, because I made Him a promise to serve Him however He asks me to. There's only one real way to know if this will work or not, and that's to try.
This sounds crazy because you came here asking for advice and suggestions and when given you simply blame god for your bad judgement.
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#61
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If you're fit enough to attempt this..I suspect you're fit enough to get a job so others won't have to "provide" for you.
I hope the dogs survive this nonsense.
I hope the dogs survive this nonsense.
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#63
Senior Member
The primary problem I see with the plan is the 100+lb trailer. Figure out how to get by with much less - a tent and sleeping pad for the ground weighs ~10-15lbs. Especially if you are enlisting the dogs to pull the weight, it is your responsibility to ensure you aren't overworking them. THe same goes for carrying multiple outfits of clothing so you can 'look nice' - this will contribute to the load for your dogs purely for your own vanity. Two sets of 'bike clothing' (one to wear, one to wash and dry), one off-bike outfit, a couple changes of underwear and some raingear are all you need. Anything else is pure vanity and sounds like it would go completely against the spirit of your trip.
Dogs love to run and love to pull but they don't understand that they have physical limits. They will gladly run themselves to exhaustion to please you, not realizing that you expect them to do the same the next day and they won't be able to manage, or will be suffering. As others have said, the head of midday will be bad for the dogs, so try to cover as much distance in the cool morning or evening.
Also, my experience with touring is that one of the primary obstacles is carrying enough water, and that problem is magnified if you have to bring water for dogs too, although dogs can drink from creeks and puddles if there are any. My experience is also based in Canada, so anything I say about heat and water supplies is at least double in the summer heat of Alabama.
Best of luck!
Dogs love to run and love to pull but they don't understand that they have physical limits. They will gladly run themselves to exhaustion to please you, not realizing that you expect them to do the same the next day and they won't be able to manage, or will be suffering. As others have said, the head of midday will be bad for the dogs, so try to cover as much distance in the cool morning or evening.
Also, my experience with touring is that one of the primary obstacles is carrying enough water, and that problem is magnified if you have to bring water for dogs too, although dogs can drink from creeks and puddles if there are any. My experience is also based in Canada, so anything I say about heat and water supplies is at least double in the summer heat of Alabama.
Best of luck!
#64
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Big dogs are like people, they need rest days, good nutrition and will need vet care along the way.
Hope you plan to have pet insurance for your canines working their asses off for you?
Hope you plan to have pet insurance for your canines working their asses off for you?
#65
I've carried heavy loads on my trailer. This was probably 300 or 400 lbs, and the cargo bike and trailer aren't light either.
The load really SLOWED ME DOWN. It was hard work even in relatively flat areas.
At some point I get to where it is very difficult for me to pull my trailer up a hill walking. I really needed lower gearing and a trike to allow riding slower than walking.
There are a lot of kid's bike trailers that are designed to connect to the bike, and some of them can do quite well. And, are even lightweight. I've seen some apparent nomadic individuals who adapted wheelchair wheels to their trailer (long wear no flat tires).
I agree, this whole thing sounds tough on the dogs. But, 5 to 10 miles a days is also extremely short. Most bike tourists ride maybe 50 to 100 miles a day.
I'm not sure how you deal with a raw meat diet, or if it is even necessary. One of the differences between the typical domestic dog and wild dogs is the domestic dogs are adapted to metabolize carbohydrates. I don't know about your particular dogs.
Anyway, I'd encourage you to really consider economizing on weight. Perhaps 50 pounds max including the trailer.
My wolfdogs do absolutely require raw meat, because my higher content (more wolf blood) CANNOT digest ANY cooked protein of any kind! It gives him diarrhea and he begins to lose muscle mass quickly if I don't keep him on raw. He was on kibble as a puppy, but when he hit about 6 months of age he started having the issue and by 7-8 months he was getting very thin and that was it, I put him on raw cuz I've studied wolves and wolfdogs for years and I knew what the issue was. Now, he can't even have a decent size snack with some cooked protein in it or he will get diarrhea for at least 1-3 days. My other wolfdog has allergies to every single kibble I've tried except a kangaroo diet, but then they took those bags off the shelf. He hasn't been on kibble since about 8-10 months old also. No need to switch them because I know now how much garbage and actual poison is also in the pet store dog foods. My dogs are extremely healthy, and when they've been to the vets their checkup always comes up perfect, and I don't even use flea or tick meds, dewormers, or vaccines. Everything I do for them is entirely natural given to me by God, and it works, and my dogs are extremely happy and healthy.
As for the weight, I'm expecting it to be heavy and honestly I want a decent amount of weight because my dogs are crazy. They are very strong and still young, and the more weight we have the safer we will be for the fact if they try to run after a cat or something they won't be able to. Only issue is downhills, so I'll figure something out for that. I'm sure we can handle at least 100-150 pound with little problems, but after that idk.
It's just... at the same time I do want us to be as light as possible because I want us to enjoy the scenery and the travelling, as if we were just walking, I want it to be nearly that easy and comfortable. But I understand this is a mission for God, and it's a job, and hardly ever will any job be easy or always fun. I'm just trying to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be, cuz it won't just be my life at risk, but my dogs too.
#67
awesome............gonna ride all day in body armour, cause the random strays won't wait for you to don your knightly apparel. cool beans, and so much more weight for the dawgs to pull. cause jeebus.
hmmm........when i read these batsoup crazy threads, i always axe myself..........WWSD?
(what would squeezebox do)
hmmm........when i read these batsoup crazy threads, i always axe myself..........WWSD?
(what would squeezebox do)
My body armor is not for stray dogs, it's for if I get in a wreck. 🤦 I'm also working on making sun armor out of aluminum cans and making scalemaile for my dogs, to reflect the sun off of them as we're running; so that gear will protect them a bit also from stray dogs attacking them. It's very lightweight obviously. And my armor is also not that heavy if I can comfortably wear it around. It's maybe 3 pounds. And my dogs aren't the only ones doing all the work, I'll be pedalling too, haven't you been reading my stuff?
Oh... and we also won't be "riding all day". Try more like from 4am til about 9-10am or until we're tired, find a good camping spot, it's too hot, or traffic is bad. I said we will probably only get about 5-10 miles in a day, depending on the terrain, weather, traffic, ect.
#68
Apparently you have never heard of elevation, physics, or geography. the world is not flat or protected like most of those events. You cant stop the load on a steep downhill before running over your dogs, you mention the bike being in between the trailer and dogs what do you thing will happen when you pass the dogs on a downhill? I can tell you right now going down any steep hill with a loaded bike walking is equally as hard as up your plan is a bike and a trailer, good luck with that. You should probably google the average distance between city centers in the USA. You will need a constant resupply of food with a raw diet. On a average a threw walker will do 20-30 miles a day. Your current planned mileage will not keep you supplied with food.
This sounds crazy because you came here asking for advice and suggestions and when given you simply blame god for your bad judgement.
This sounds crazy because you came here asking for advice and suggestions and when given you simply blame god for your bad judgement.
Blame God? Bad judgement? I haven't done either of those things and never would! God just told me what He wants me to do, and He has been providing things for me that I'll need and guiding me at what to do and buy ect. But I'm just asking for any holes to be filled, because one way God guides me and helps me is through the wisdom of others. He led me to this page for a reason.
Also, don't belittle my wisdom or common sense! I know all about elevation, geography, ect very well thank you. I'm not a fool. I've went to school and had straight A's, and I've been living off the land for 5 years and studying the lifestyle and about survival for about 10 years. But that doesn't mean I know everything or have enough experience for something like this, so I'm just trying my best to prepare the best I can for this so I don't screw it up or get anyone injured or killed. God won't do everything for us all the time, sometimes when we ask for His help He provides it with a finger pointing us to somewhere to go, someone to talk to, or something to do; and if we don't do those things, then it's our own fault and we cannot blame God and say He never helped us. The best way to raise a child is to teach them, show them, then let them do it for theirselves, otherwise they'll just get lazy and spiled if you do it all for them.
As for downhills, I have brakes, and I never let my bike go past the dogs because their lines could get caught in my wheel and honestly there's no real point for me to ever do that for any reason. So if you're going slow I go slower to keep tension on the line or a barely slack line. You might need to research bikejoring ect a little more before thinking you can advise me about something like this involving dogs.
As for food, I plan on feeding my dogs at the end of the run right at the store, or at a camping spot close to the store; that way we don't have to lug the food and worry about keeping it cold if I can help it. If we are in a spot where we can't make it to a store for food, I trust God will provide for us with roadkill, a passerby who can give us something, or a house ect I could go ask to buy or trade some meat from them for my dogs.
I'm pretty sure I already answered like all of these questions you had in my original post and in the other comments, but whatever.
#69
And this isn't nonsense, this is the will of God. And similar things have been done before, this dog breed is actually bred for doing pulling work! So chill out.
#70
Senior Member
by the power of greyskull!!!!!!!!!!!!
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#71
The primary problem I see with the plan is the 100+lb trailer. Figure out how to get by with much less - a tent and sleeping pad for the ground weighs ~10-15lbs. Especially if you are enlisting the dogs to pull the weight, it is your responsibility to ensure you aren't overworking them. THe same goes for carrying multiple outfits of clothing so you can 'look nice' - this will contribute to the load for your dogs purely for your own vanity. Two sets of 'bike clothing' (one to wear, one to wash and dry), one off-bike outfit, a couple changes of underwear and some raingear are all you need. Anything else is pure vanity and sounds like it would go completely against the spirit of your trip.
Dogs love to run and love to pull but they don't understand that they have physical limits. They will gladly run themselves to exhaustion to please you, not realizing that you expect them to do the same the next day and they won't be able to manage, or will be suffering. As others have said, the head of midday will be bad for the dogs, so try to cover as much distance in the cool morning or evening.
Also, my experience with touring is that one of the primary obstacles is carrying enough water, and that problem is magnified if you have to bring water for dogs too, although dogs can drink from creeks and puddles if there are any. My experience is also based in Canada, so anything I say about heat and water supplies is at least double in the summer heat of Alabama.
Best of luck!
Dogs love to run and love to pull but they don't understand that they have physical limits. They will gladly run themselves to exhaustion to please you, not realizing that you expect them to do the same the next day and they won't be able to manage, or will be suffering. As others have said, the head of midday will be bad for the dogs, so try to cover as much distance in the cool morning or evening.
Also, my experience with touring is that one of the primary obstacles is carrying enough water, and that problem is magnified if you have to bring water for dogs too, although dogs can drink from creeks and puddles if there are any. My experience is also based in Canada, so anything I say about heat and water supplies is at least double in the summer heat of Alabama.
Best of luck!
Thank you!
I thought about a tent, but I know tents usually leak through the bottom, and even the roof sometimes, and I'd have to set it up and take it down all the time. Plus I'd like to have a bathroom inside a camper, because I have the dogs and I doubt most people would allow me to bring my dogs in their house to use their bathroom. And even if I brought a tent instead of still want a trailer of some kind, because there are 3 of us and we require too much stuff to just pack on a bike or something. Plus I don't have any panniers, and I'm not gonna try to spend the money on any, or have a hard time finding the right size to fit a kids fat tire Mongoose. This is the only option I've found so far, but I'm considering a tent to just set up on top of a flat trailer, to keep us off the wet ground in the rain at least.
I am also very well aware my dogs are in my care and responsibility. I've studied animals and owned them my entire life, even went to school for it, and many other things. I also read the Bible and I know the responsibility God put the animals and Earth in the hands of mankind, and made in His image, He expects us to care for them responsibility the way He cares for us. We are not to abuse the animals and the Earth, we are to care for them and love them as God does for us.
Also, my dogs having wolf blood in them, they do not allow me to overwork them, and they are well aware of their own physical limits. Most days it's hard for me to even get them harnesses up because when they were younger they would pull at full force and speed and not stop til we got back home, and then they learned the hard way doing that HURTS. So they basically traumatized themselves, but I never ran them very far before cuz I knew they could hurt theirselves, but they probably just don't realize the "no pain, no gain" things, cuz they're couch potatoes, lol. They love to mush, but they fear the pain of the workout; so I've been taking it really easy on them to get them back into being super excited for it again like they were when they were little. It's not hard to harness them, they just try to avoid it a little.
#72
awesome.......so you're now a cosplayer, too?
by the power of greyskull!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsNwc7OjB1I
by the power of greyskull!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsNwc7OjB1I
#73
Senior Member
and the hot tub.
don't forget the hot tub.
dogs'll need to relax after a day of pulling a six-ton camper in chain-mail.
#74
Senior Member
There are some very remote places that would be fun to tour at a slow rate. However, I don't believe either the Appalachian trail, nor the Pacific Crest Trail allow bicycles. Possibly a dog trailer could be used.
There are some long off-street bike path projects. Some might be remote enough where you would feel comfortable camping.
Perhaps look at some of the gravel road/trail adventures.
The West Coast has more public land than the East Coast, and thus more places for camping by the road. You would still have to deal with dog food.
There are some long off-street bike path projects. Some might be remote enough where you would feel comfortable camping.
Perhaps look at some of the gravel road/trail adventures.
The West Coast has more public land than the East Coast, and thus more places for camping by the road. You would still have to deal with dog food.