I didn't use a dog attachment, i just use a regular leash. She is accustomed to walking next to me so it was easy to ride with her. Good luck!

Great thread, I tried biking with Mac before but the fear of him crossing in front of the bike keeps crossing my mind (I trapped the retractable leash on the handle), I had to go slow to make sure he is in the clear and it wasn't a comfortable ride. I may rig up an elbow attachment with PVC pipes and see if that works better. Mac's Action Adventure Stories

@McYogi Did the individuals in your pack all heel naturally, 'cause my shibas though generally well behaved, don't heel. Do you have any tips on heel training? Both my shibas are still young (11mos & 20 weeks), but the older one is giving me some adolesence issues from time to time.

I'd really like to bike with my shibas, but since I don't trust them not to cross in front of the bike all I've come up with is getting one of those kid trailers and seeing if I can get them both to lay down in it. Does anybody have any experience with those trailers?

I used to take Elwood biking with me all of the time. I taught him to run right beside the bike & used a loose leash attached to his harness. I loved biking with him, it was one of the highlights of my day. It was amazing to see him running full speed beside the bike.

One day we were biking in an area of our neighborhood with new construction. It's typically a good area to bike in because there isn't a lot of traffic. One of the construction workers started using a nail gun right beside us & Elwood freaked out. He ran in front of the bike & I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him. I dropped the leash & went head first over the bike, banging my knee up pretty good in the process. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet. I limped home & my husband had to go catch Elwood, who was gleefully running circles around our neighborhood. It took me a couple of weeks to be able to walk normally again.

We haven't gone biking since...

We don't have a car and go everywhere by bicycle, but there is no way in hell I would have Hayate run beside me... he stops to sniff or pee on something every ten seconds! We use a back pack type carrier for Kuri (it's a modified toddler one) but Hayate has outgrown it so we got a doggyride trailer. They can comfortably ride it together.
I just did a blog post about a cycling-camping holiday we took last year if anyone is interested: http://sopheliajapan.blogspot.com/2012/03/cycling-and-camping-with-dogs.html

@juni That basket is a really cool attachment. I wish someone made a 3-dog cart but I have a feeling I belong in an outlying demographic... :)

Naw, so cute! Is it safe to have them on a bicycle when they are so young though? Maybe it depends on the suspension and how flat your neighbourhood is.

Lindsay, I think you may have posted pics of the scooter at some point, but that is wildly cool. I'd love to know more about it! I did just look up some scooters and see they have special dog ones....I bet I know a big Akita who would love it! :)

Flat would make all the difference... If I tried to ride around here with one of mine in a basket I think it would have the same effect as shaking them violently! Japanese roads are less than pristine.
I, too, would like to hear more about this scooter :)

OMG, @Foxylover I wanna print that picture and look at it day and night!

So glad I found a thread about this. Holly is nearing 7 months now and I've gradually starting to bike with her using the "walky-dog" around the quieter parts of my neighborhood for 15-30 mins at a time. She generally likes running along side the bike and it's such a good energy released for her that I think I will keep it up at least a couple times a week.

I do have a question though about shibas nipping your leg while they run next to you. Do any of you have experiences with that? Holly does it to me when we start the ride and then towards the end. I can't figure out whether she's just being playful, wants me to speed up (if she has attention span to nip, then she can run faster, right?), or is annoyed and wants me to slow down. She generally will not stop nipping regardless of what I do once she gets it in her head that she wants to nip.

Any ideas? Thanks!

I want to train my pup to go in the front basket :D
Any tips on training them to sit there?

I am now looking on Amazon for these special baskets. What size do you guys use for your Shiba?

@poltergeist the basket I used in the front is from Trixie and the one I have now is the large wicker basket from Basil. I can fit a bag in too and a blanket if needed and Juni actually sits better if it's a tighter space. The brands are German and Dutch so I'm not sure if you can find them in your country.

I just created this today because I have been dying to go biking with Kobe. It is still a work in progress though. I am eventually going to buy a better crate.

This shiba rides in style . . .
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Our Yuka likes to run besides the bike, almost daily, sometimes twice a day.
We do like 3 to 6 km (2 to 4 miles) a day.

It is an extra responsibility: you not only have your own life to watch out for, but also that of the dog, and the others on the roads.

This is what we do:
His leach should never be too loose around his neck. He should not be able to pull out. At all. I use two fingers as spacers and strap the leach as tight as I can.
We watch traffic and roads and dog vigorously, all the time, but keep a relaxed attitude and confident route.
As soon as we see the dog does not know what way to go: we explain. We never leave the dog in doubt when he looks to us to ask directions, and inform him as soon as we take an uncommon path. He now understands 'left', 'right' and 'straight' like a charm.

On tarmac (where cars drive by) he is only allowed to walk exactly beside us, on the proper side (away from the cars).
When we stop (traffic light and such) he has to sit and stay, so he wont wander of.

It is ok for him to walk ahead, but only if situation allowed it, that is: on dirt tracks or on dedicated biking paths, with no other people in sight. When I see a sideway or another bike or a man with a dog, I tell him to walk beside me, by giving a small thug on his leach. When we passed the man (dog, horse, whatever) he is allowed to roam ahead a little again. When he is tired from running, he is allowed to drop back a couple of meters. When he walks behind me I look with the corner of my eyes at him like two times a second, and drop speed if needed immediately.

We stay in control of the situation all the time.

Sometimes he defecates or urinates. You have to read him, and stop in time. This mostly happens at the very beginning.

When he does not want to go somewhere, because he thinks it is boring, he will sometimes try to pull back, sit on the ground even. We just stay calm and thug his leach to come besides the bike and drive on.

He has three walking modes, just like a horse.

The lowest mode we use to get started and loosen up or when really tired.
The middle mode is the favorite mode, he can run this from pretty slow (and hold this tempo for long times, like 5 to 10 minutes or longer) to pretty fast.
The really fast mode (like gallop), he can only hold for ten, twenty seconds at a time, when he has lots of energy. He will run as fast as he can. Mostly to impress my girlfriend.

He likes to jump in the water to cool down. We stop at all water we like. He does a quick pitstop, and on we go again. Total time of bike rides: 40 to 60 minutes, easy.

We dont ride hard at all most of the time. Just a slow jogging speed I would say. It is not 'just pure speed' we want, it is the experience of going 'fast': together.

Riding with two bikes and the dog is not a problem at all.

'but will he not run past the wrong side of roadlights?' Nope. Never. He understands. I think they do it wrong once, then never forget. He even understands zig-zag obstacles, where he would be able to just walk underneath: he doesnt. He zig-zags properly by himself.

He is very tired after 3 miles+. His condition is not very good yet. We dont push it. He loves it.

One of the favorite parts of the ride is when he notices we are heading back. He then 'finds' his way back (with some instructions when needed), and runs, as fast as he can: to his house. When he is in, he kills one of his stuffed animals, plays for a while very happy, then chills for hours.

Running is nice. But home... sweet home.

^ ps - I really like the basil basket that @Juni suggested to me before but I can't find it for sale online anywhere. :/ most I look at seem to be totally not weather proof materials or for <15 lbs.

I thought about that too but it seems quite a bit less convenient... I'd like for him to be able to have a place to rest if he eventually becomes comfortable with trotting alongside (that thought scares me so far but we'll see), and dragging an empty trailer everywhere wouldn't be that ideal. xD Might've found a local store than can order basil baskets of I'm lucky, will check it out tomorrow. :)

@niki82 - very true, I'm also worried about him wanting to chase after something or if I crashed or hit a bump. I've seen lots of baskets with safety straps, but hardly any that are for dogs more than like 15 lbs (Ozzy is currently 18 lbs). Some come with like mesh / wire covers to hook or zip on top to keep them from jumping out. I'd love to take Ozzy on jogs or beside the bike when he's older. While he's too young for it, I'll probably let him get used it by walking beside the bike with him sometimes. Being able to take Ozzy with me when biking would be so convenient cus I don't have my own car, so when my bf is working if I want to go anywhere I just walk. xD we'd much rather be doing stuff outside like riding bikes to our destination than riding in the car anyway.

Ive also tried to look into like front / back packs that I could strap to myself and put Ozzy in. But not sure if there are any ideal for full grown shibes...

@juni that would've been so scary! Glad you're both OK and thanks for posting the link. It's such a dilemma trying to figure out the best bike contraption to use for Sora. I am in a similar position as you @lilikoi in regards to not having a car to use at present only it will be happening for the next year. I have looked into public transport but if I go in a taxi with her she has to be in a dog carrier but where will I put it while we're out and about? I am ringing to speak to the northern rivers buslines boss on Monday but the employee I spoke to said I will likely have to use the carrier. It's just so frustrating because I miss taking Sora out to different places! I really want to make travelling on a bike with Sora to be fun and safe not turn into a big drama.

I think as long as you put something for Ozzy to sit on, so he won't risk getting claws stuck in the mesh, he'll be fine.

With my current Trixie basket there was an attached wire to put on top, like the Basil ones, but don't bother with trying to order something like it because I think they may all be too low to fit a shiba anyways. The Trixie one certainly was.

Great! Basil is a lot better quality. I had the bigger basket, but it was almost too big actually. It depends on Ozzy's size too of course and what you want. There was room enough to put some other small items in it but it also stuck out a bit too far back which affects the balance of the bike slightly.

The one I have now is roughly: floor dimensions 43 x 23 cm and height in front 18 cm and at the back 30 cm. Juni is pretty tall for a female and weighs around 8 kg. I'll upload some pics for you later today.

This is how we have made a safety belt for her, it is attached under her cushion


And in this picture the basket looks small but it really does fit well. (I had Juni pose for the pictures, she took it quite serious I think)