Training With The Dog

I'm going to start taking my dog on my runs.  She's young and full of nervous energy and I think the exercise will be just as good for her as it is for me.  But here's the thing.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I have these images of people taking their dogs along on bike rides too.  But when I think about it, unless it's a really short ride or unless you take really a lot of breaks, isn't that sorta mean?  Isn't a 12 mile run an awful lot to ask of a dog?  Then again the Iditarod is a really long run for dogs too.  Oh well, I'm babbling.  My main question is does anyone out there ride with their dog?

I think a lot of dogs work up to longer distances with their people.  My dog is old and little so it would never work for him, but I know people who took dogs from the animal shelter on their lunch runs and sometimes their runs were pretty long (1.5-2 hr). My advice would be to talk to the vet to see how to work your dog up to the distances and times you want to do on the bike.  I think they get used to it and handle it well - they get in better shape as you do.  You just need to be sure they get the proper nutrition as well. Linn

After I came here and babbled I actually went and Googled the notion.  Seems lots of people do it.  They even had some good tips on how to help dogs get used to going on rides.  Nutrition is something I didn't look up though.  Thanks for mentioning that.  I will definitely call the vet.   This week we're starting out with runs only because I know she can handle my short distance and waddling pace (2.5 miles)!  I'll just walk her and the bike around the block a few times this week so she gets used to being next to it and she learns how to stay out of the way of the tires.  We'll work our way up to short rides together and maybe eventually she'll be able to do my real exercise rides with me too!