haizum74

Your post regarding the bikejor for nathan im sure he will answer when he can:)

Haizum74Hope he sees this. I've just ordered a beginners bikejor kit and wondered if you have any hints/tips for getting started. I've read a bit on the commands etc but just wondering about food stuffs to give Nita and also training as in to start out, how far and for how long a session and do you do it daily or every other day, for example.

Hi mate,

Glad your enjoying it, First off good choice of kit. The Arctic wolf lines are fantastic and what I use myself. they are durable, strong and have the best bungie on the market IMO. They are also  meet IFFS standards so  that opens up alot of races for you should you wish to go down that route. The non stop harnesses are also top notch (my bro uses one to Canicross his Doberman so i can vouch for them). In reality you havent orderd a "beginers" kit you have all the pro stuff at a decent price so you wont need to upgrade anything at a later date.
The hardest thing for most people is to get the dog running out front and pulling. if your guys does this then thats great if not let me know and I have some tips to break the habbit of trying to heal while on a bike.
Commands, the basics and the essentials. the most essential is "on by" or Ignore and run on. directions come next. you can go hardcore and use Gee and haw for left and right or do as I do and use left and right (as my dogs only speak english )  training them is pretty easy but take a bit of time. best done while walking tracks with forks or dear trails with splits. its as simple as saying the dogs name and then the command of either left or right. Personally I found that saying "this way" before a direction command gives them a heads up on what you want them to do. you can try steady if you wish but mine have never masterd that one.
the most suprising thing that you will notice is the difference between walking and giving the commands and riding and giving the commands. My boy will choose how quick he responds when walking but when running with the bike and in work mode he gives instant results. you just have to be very clear so that they can understand what you want from them.
As for Training, Bikejor is a dog assisted sport not a dog pulling sport but try telling the dogs that. just start out steady and keep it short building gradually. carry water with you and a foldaway bowl and try and keep to  a track that either has shade or where shade is accessable. if you see froth on the tongue stop straight away and let the dog cool down and consider a walk back. as your dog gets fitter you will get a gut instinct of how far to go. I always err on the side of caution and turn for home at the first sign of flagging. They build up real quick though so dont be suprised when half a mile turns into a mile and then that turns into 3 and then they look at you as if to say is that it?
I run the guys three times a week, warm them up with a slight jog for 5 mins, attach to the bike and do the ride and then warm them down with a 5 min walk. something i recomend and the dogs love is a massage about three hours after a run. if you want to earn brownie points and have a very relaxed dog do this!
Food, mute point. what works best for your dog? people can try and tell you but only you and your dog knows this. I use purina active as it has high fat and protein, i also use vetzyme b+e plus zinc and selenium as a balanced diet. I suppliment two raw eggs a week and sardines and salmon as and when as a treat. for race days i dont feed for 12 hours prior and instead use kronch pemmikan an hour before which i Really recomend another top tip for when you get to running a few miles is water baiting. basicaly getting them to drink before a run by adding tasty treats to a bowl of water so they hydrate well.

Well I hope that has got you started and sorry for waffling on, please feel free to ask any other questions you have. best of luck and see you at the races next season... right now i bet your saying no way... 5 Quid you will be there once the bug has bitten

Fantastic, thanks Nathan that is excellent and also good to know I got some good kit for a good price too.

On the practice run, Nita lead the bike all the time (although she did also stop off to poop) and I made sure there was some slack in the extendable too as she was in a stop pulling harness and obviously didn't want to hurt her and as you rightly point out, its not the dog pulling you and the bike but a joint effort.. As it is I will wait for the kit to arrive before doing it proper but hopefully I can get it recorded so hopefully you could give me some pointers.

As for the racing, well, I need to upgrade the bike to a trail bike as the fixie has zero suspension, my hands were killing me after with all the shaking and bouncing coming through the solid forks lol but its a start. Whether I eventually enter any races........not sure but I'm willing to put a fiver on it lol.

Haizum74 wrote:Fantastic, thanks Nathan that is excellent and also good to know I got some good kit for a good price too.

On the practice run, Nita lead the bike all the time (although she did also stop off to poop) and I made sure there was some slack in the extendable too as she was in a stop pulling harness and obviously didn't want to hurt her and as you rightly point out, its not the dog pulling you and the bike but a joint effort.. As it is I will wait for the kit to arrive before doing it proper but hopefully I can get it recorded so hopefully you could give me some pointers.

As for the racing, well, I need to upgrade the bike to a trail bike as the fixie has zero suspension, my hands were killing me after with all the shaking and bouncing coming through the solid forks lol but its a start. Whether I eventually enter any races........not sure but I'm willing to put a fiver on it lol.

Wow fantastic mate! sounds like you are doing everything perfect. if/when you upgrade bike go hard tail with best brakes you can afford. dont let them talk you into a mad priced bike as the dynamics are so so much different with dogs pulling so they dont know what they are talking about. i have a very nice trophey cabinet on a cheap bike.

btw laska stopped for a dump 200 yards from the race finish at stowe... just had to wait for her to finish and then bag it.. over the line i wennt with a poo bag swinging from the bars lol

Looking forward to hearing both your antics

Nathan wrote:btw laska stopped for a dump 200 yards from the race finish at stowe... just had to wait for her to finish and then bag it.. over the line i wennt with a poo bag swinging from the bars lol

Ha ha ha fantastic.

Haizum74 wrote:

Nathan wrote:btw laska stopped for a dump 200 yards from the race finish at stowe... just had to wait for her to finish and then bag it.. over the line i wennt with a poo bag swinging from the bars lol

Ha ha ha fantastic.

LOL i got overtaken by three people becuase of that! bless her heart though she held it that long. gave her a hug and off we went. thats the reason I dont feed 12 hours before a race and always do  a poo/pee walk before a ride as it can be uncomfortable for the guys. its good to place but thats nothing compared to a happy dog face looking back at you one thing I forgot to mention as its second nature is praise, praise and praise. if you watch my vids you will hear alot of it. letting them know they are doing good gee's them up no end and some days things just go wrong with tangles etc, just accept it and keep the praise comming. happy dogs make the best dogs

Look forward to more videos

Well, I'm still awaiting delivery of the kit, phoned last week and they didn't have any in stock. Bit annoyed as they could have emailed to say so, said it would be a couple of days but still no email. I'm itching at the bit to get going lol

Sorry, video is terrible. DIY job but she seems to enjoy it and she went left despite her not doing that before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08VEYWaK-hU

Great vid... I thought she was gonna have you off the bike to begin with she really seemed to enjoy that but the best bit was last when you said "Let's go for a drink now"

Yeh I did too at one point but thankfully I sorted the brakes before I went out. I really can't wait to get the kit and get going properly. I took a few videos and this was the best one but at one point when we stopped she was barking like mad to get going again. I also ended up dropping the phone too but thankfully I didn't run over it.

As for the drink, alas it wasn't a beer for me, just water for us both

Great video

Well after nearly a month I finally got an email to say the kit has been dispatched.

I've just been out for a ride on the new push rod with Nita off lead running in front. Suffice to say 8 months off work and I am seriously unfit. I got about 100m and my legs were burning with lactic acid and out of breath. Nita on the other hand was fine. This is going to take some time lol

Mia05 wrote:

I'm glad your smiling, I was mortified

So.... Who's gonna be training who here

-Ian- wrote:So.... Who's gonna be training who here

Heh, I think Nita is going to be training me the way its going.

Typical, missed the postie.


EDIT - Nope that was Nita's b'day pressies. It finally arrived. Yay. Happy as a fat kid in a sweet shop

Ah so nitas 3 happy birthday nita .

Yeh she will be on May 4th. Going camping this weekend so having a little birthday 'do' there.

Aww early Happy Birthday Nita

Enjoy the camping and have a great Birthday Nita

hope she has a cake

Mia05 wrote:hope she has a cake  

Thanks for reminding me. Forgot about it

oh dear

Mia05 wrote:oh dear

I know, bad Dad.

Plenty of treats and all will be forgiven

I've got her some doggy 'beer' to celebrate. Yeh surprising what you find in the pet shop lol

Doggy beer or dodgy beer

Doggy beer. Beer

Eww sounds delightful my local pet shop now sells dog ice cream

Yeh, I got one for Nita, a week or so back. Whatever next?

I know

Our first proper session.

oh nita ur such a clever staffy