Trail dogs

will2

Likes Dirt
What's your trail dog? I have a border collie and a kelpie. Bloody awesome hounds fast as hell.
 
I've got a border collie who comes along quite often.
Though a recent poll on another MTB forum suggested most MTB riders don't like seeing dogs out on the trails so it's made me a bit concerned taking her out.
 
Whippet. 25km+ rides and she's gagging for more still. Often rides with a group of 20 of us ,ad has great trail etiquette, never gets in anyone's way.:first:

 
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My pooches Rusty & Bella come with me on most rides, they are well behaved, do not get in other riders way, nor cause nuisance.

I pick up their poo if they dump, and they do not attack wildlife. They are awesome company. I'd rather ride with them than some other riders sometimes.

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Whippet. 25km+ rides and she's gagging for more still. Often rides with a group of 20 of us ,ad has great trail etiquette, never gets in anyone's way.:first:

Yeah my BC is like that, mind you only do 15km with her but at the end she looks like it's been a quiet walk in the park.. Impossible to wear out.
 
Yeah my BC is like that, mind you only do 15km with her but at the end she looks like it's been a quiet walk in the park.. Impossible to wear out.

I rode almost 90km's a few months over the course of 5ish hours, my 2 could have gone another 90, no way in hell i was :)
 
Are you guys concerned with snakes and your dogs
Snakes don't worry me, and my dog is too old and stupid to be a trail dog
but when she moves on, I'm thinking maybe a kelpie (?)
But the idea of snakes worries me
or is it just my current dog is a terrier and hassles animals
 
I've seen many snakes with my guys. My dogs avoid them, not sure how or why they do, they just do. Apart from a direct face bite they would be lucky to envenomate with all their fur, but its still likely.

I just say "leave it" and they just stick to me.
 
I haven't been faced with any snakes yet so not sure how that will go down.. She is pretty focused on the ride, unless i'm climbing a hill and gets bored at my slow pace and wonders around for bit more of a look.

Guess i'll find out if the dog has any self preservation or not one day..
 
I normally do less than 15km with him. Plenty of stops for water and swimming. He's probably on the heavier side for a BC. Don't call him fat though!
As far as snakes are concerned I do worry. He ignores the lizards and pythons, even ran straight over a stationary diamond python. Only brown I've seen when with him was walking and he was behind me. Again I don't think he noticed it.
Great company to have on the trail although he does make it hard to go riding without him. Carries on like a sook, howling and crying if I try to go without him.

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Another whippet - ours is still 'in training' though. He's great when we are moving but if we stop/pull over to let others pass he goes into statue mode right on the trail. We only take him out when its quiet at the moment until his trail manners improve.
He knows when we are going out for a ride and bolts straight out the front door and stands in front of the car (this is the only time he ever does this because he hates car rides) - gets very upset when we can't take him with us.

And he is much, much, much faster than anyone on the trail - except for maybe Mooreys whippet ;)
 

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This looks like a very happy dog!

unless i'm climbing a hill and gets bored at my slow pace and wonders around for bit more of a look...
Tip of the day: Attach dog lead to collar, hold onto lead for up hills.

I had a redsetter/golden retriever when I was a kid, he'd tow me home (About 10K) on my bmx bike. That dog ran ALL day and one hell of a hunter. Not sure if he'd of made a good trail dog or not. lol
 
BC FTW.

Mine passed away around 6 years ago at the age of 16.

Because they are so active and can run so bloody fast, when they get old all their joints are just about stuffed. Mine could hardly walk in the end - severe arthritis and bone spurs on the spine. A stroke carried him off in the end, which saved me from that terrible trip to the vet.

Took mine out once or twice but he was too much of a handful. No animal was safe lol. He used to try and shred anything small on legs. He even used to try and take on horses which would have ended badly. Snakes were a worry and in the end thats why I stopped taking him.
 
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My trail dumbs...that includes the wife too. Downhill they are all happy with, xc...yeah they are smarter than they look. Even they know its better to jump in the tray and hitch a ride back up. They get a bit too excited sometimes and a wee bit too drifty and shred their paws but still they want to go on so when that happens we gotta stop riding otherwise they just keep wanting to go with bloody feet and all
 
I don't take the stupids on bike rides, between them they almost have half a brain.

I have used them to tow me on my skateboard in the past.
 

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Grave dig.....

Took our pooch for his first trail ride today. He's a 10 month old german shorthaired pointer. He did pretty well for his first ride, stayed with us and didn't get in the way. I think we'll make a trail dog out of him yet!

Pics to come, can't get them uploaded from my phone.
 
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Ruby the corner cutting Pinner.
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Only taken me out once. She's had some great stacks in front of me, she usually rides behind but cuts corners, I have to yell at her if I know she's going to cut me off. There's a cool hip double jump at a local track where she runs underneath me while I jump her. Scared me the first few times, she doesn't seem to do it anymore which is a shame cause I'd love to have goproed it. She chucks up a shit load of roost.
Not sure if she's getting too old now she's fiveish, or if she's just unfit from not much riding the last six months.
Just while we're here, you apparently shouldn't run your dogs until they're over one year old, bad for their joints.
 
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