Dogs and Running

WickAndArtoo
WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
edited November 14 in Fitness and Exercise
I just recently started bringing one of my dogs on runs with me. His name is Artoo and he is a black and white border collie about three years old. I'm only just getting back into running so we are starting out small together 1/2 miles right now.

Mostly I just want to hear from others that run with their dogs! Tips and pictures are extra welcome. Also if you just give an idea of what kind of dog you have and how far you run together that would be fun!

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Replies

  • Ryokat
    Ryokat Posts: 168 Member
    I have been running with my 11 year old tri-colour border collie Echo. Our last run was 3 miles. I think we're done for the winter season though, or at least until the streets are no longer snowy/icy.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @Ryokat she is beautiful! Running at 11 years?! That's great, I hope Artoo is that healthy when he gets to that age! Have you always ran with her or is it a recent thing?
  • DublinDietitian
    DublinDietitian Posts: 14 Member
    edited December 2016
    Your pups are so pretty, @WickAndArtoo and @Ryokat !

    This is my "boonie dog," Kodama. She's a total mutt - wandered out of the jungle behind our house and refused to leave. She adopted us!

    My favorite hike with her is to the top of the "mountain" - about 45 minutes up with gorgeous views of the island! She's so great about getting her leash on -- I pat our porch railing and she props her front feet right on up and eagerly awaits the leash that she knows means "IT'S WALKING TIME!" :smiley:yv1q7ygxjjaz.jpg
  • Ryokat
    Ryokat Posts: 168 Member
    Us running together is relatively new, but she is not new to running. I used to take her on bike rides using an awesome attachment called the bike tow leash, she got to run a lot faster then! Now she has to run at my snail pace, I don't even think she gets tired, lol!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    Ryokat wrote: »
    Us running together is relatively new, but she is not new to running. I used to take her on bike rides using an awesome attachment called the bike tow leash, she got to run a lot faster then! Now she has to run at my snail pace, I don't even think she gets tired, lol!

    This is why I only now started running with Artoo, I felt bad because he is SO fast. In fact my fastest " run" right now is a swift walk for him haha! But I figured I got to get him used to going slow next to me eventually if we are ever going to run together so I finally just went for it. He did pretty well all things considered! No serious pulling or anything. Artoo never gets tired no matter what so I knew that going into it. When you rode your bike with echo did she ever accidentally cut in front of the bike?
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @QuestingKate Kodama has the best smile going on there!! She is gorgeous :) I love that she adopted you. We love to hike too, that's what we have always done before now but hopefully we can transition into trail running instead. Artoo was a stray in the GA boonies! We adopted him from a rescue, but apparently he had been a stray out in the wild for his his first few years, some lady just fed a bunch of free roamers in her back yard, but it became to be a problem... because they weren't fixed, so the rescue started catching them and adopting them out.
  • Ryokat
    Ryokat Posts: 168 Member
    edited December 2016
    When you rode your bike with echo did she ever accidentally cut in front of the bike?
    No, the bike attachment I have-- the bike tow leash (sorry, I don't know how to post links) is designed so that dogs can't reach either tire, and also can't pull you over if they lunge.There are a lot of different attachments for bikes for running with dogs, but when I was researching them, it looked like the bike tow leash was the safest and most idiot-proof one.
  • ajaysharma316
    ajaysharma316 Posts: 104 Member
    When I started my fitness journey way back in March, I use to take my Dog Zero for run every day for 3 kms. He is a biege coloured Labradour. Its always fun to jog with him. Now as I had to shift to a Gym training sessions, our jogs has been cut short to evening strolls.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @Asher_Ethan haha I have an Aussie that is too big of a pain to run with, he barks at other dogs so all of his walking sessions are actually training sessions... he was SUPPOSED to be my running partner, but that never really worked out since he has special needs! Hopefully someday :) I'm glad your boy is at least well behaved when he gets to run! Also, is that an Australian shepherd or Austrian that you have? I reread it and realized it said Austrian...mines Australian which is what I thought it said originally.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @Ryokat oh okay that sounds cool!
  • SLLeask
    SLLeask Posts: 489 Member
    I was fostering a 9 year old mutt for a while, he was brilliant for running with, well, most of the time I was running and he was barely trotting. He could go for miles. But the problem was, he'd be perfect for ages, just trotting along at the side of me and then he'd either stop dead to suddenly pee or sniff something or just randomly cut across me, tripping me up. I swear that dog knew exactly what he was doing, he had a great sense of humour!!
  • dogsarebears
    dogsarebears Posts: 85 Member
    @Ryokat can you post a link to the type of bike attachment you use? It sounds awesome
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Bike tow leash.

    https://goo.gl/images/cdn3mI

    My boss swears by this too.
  • genpopadopolous
    genpopadopolous Posts: 411 Member
    I can't figure out how to add a picture! Argh!

    I have an almost year old pointer/whippet mix who kicks my butt every day. I used to try to keep her to 2-3 miles because she was a puppy but she would come home and run crazy dog laps in the yard, so now she just does what I do. My longest run is 6.5 miles and she just trots right along with me.

    I need one of those bike things! She would love to go faster.

    No real tips, but we don't go far or fast enough yo need any extra gear. Some music, her leash, and a couple poop bags and we are good to go!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @SLLeask lol my friend used to ride her bike with her dog until one day he just stopped mid run to poop and she wrecked :)
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
    I had a huge Aussie that I ran with, but as much as he loved cold, blustery weather, he could not tolerate anything remotely warm. Fortunately for him, I live in Québec! Once when we was about 10 yrs old, we were running in summer and he just stopped, lay down and could hardly walk. He recovered - he was dehydrated - but we kept it to daily hikes in the forest afterwards. So be attentive because your dog will do anything to make you happy, even if he's not feeling great. Also, they age faster than us. Simply be aware.

    My big Aussi died this summer of old age and just last night we adopted a 6-yr old lab cross. I think she'll be a good runner based on our winter hike this morning. The timing of this post is perfect!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    @spzjlb I am so sorry for your loss, it sounds like he had a long wonderful life with you.

    Thank you so much for touching on the risks, Artoo is totally the kind of dog that would just do anything to please us so I definitely have to be careful. He handles he great but that's almost more worrisome because it's harder to tell when it's too much.

    That is so exciting you adopted a new family member!! She is going to have so much fun running and hiking with you :) rescuing is so much fun.

    Also: our Aussie Wick is also huge. He is a total goofball. He has this thick long black fur so he also loves the freezing temps and snow! They are really special dogs, yours must be missed dearly.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    @Asher_Ethan haha I have an Aussie that is too big of a pain to run with, he barks at other dogs so all of his walking sessions are actually training sessions... he was SUPPOSED to be my running partner, but that never really worked out since he has special needs! Hopefully someday :) I'm glad your boy is at least well behaved when he gets to run! Also, is that an Australian shepherd or Austrian that you have? I reread it and realized it said Austrian...mines Australian which is what I thought it said originally.

    Australian Shepard is correct, stupid auto correct. How did you find out your aussie had special needs? My boy will bark at other dogs and be real annoying when he hasn't had a run in awhile because of all his pent up energy.
    I hope you can run with your aussie soon!
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    Running is not great for me, and walking is generally boring, so I found cycling as something that worked for me and my malinois mix. He took 0 seconds to figure out what was going on, and repetition made it simple, such as he was on my right for the first run down our dirt road, then onto pavement where he got the sidewalk and I stayed in the road, then to the first left where I'd pause and have him switch to the left of the sidewalk where the road was then on the right.

    He loved it. Unfortunately some jerks with intact pitbulls moved in at the entrance to our road (we're on a dead end) and since my dog will attack any intact male dog, even though he's neutered himself, we've had to stop walks and bike runs for safety, the dogs have already come down the road once and killed 9 of my neighbors chickens.

    Have to keep all of the dogs home now, 5 of them, At least until I find my pepper spray and a comfortable holster for my protection.
  • Ryokat
    Ryokat Posts: 168 Member
    edited December 2016
    @SLLeask lol my friend used to ride her bike with her dog until one day he just stopped mid run to poop and she wrecked :)
    My dog Echo has stopped to poop before too, but with the bike tow leash attachment, all that happens is the bike slows down, it's like putting on the brakes. Echo doesn't even try to stop anymore, she just sqats and poops as she runs. She's very talented, lol.

  • cncolligan
    cncolligan Posts: 15 Member
    I run with my 2 year old German Shepherd Zöe and we both love it! We usually go about 5km but have gone as far as 8km. Its more of a jog than a run lol and its either on trails in the woods or dirt roads. I loop her leash through my running belt that holds my phone etc and it did take a lot of training, but she doesn't pull anymore. Its super cold and snowy here now, so I don't think we can run outside for a couple months, but maybe I'll take her x country skiing :)
  • dn0pes
    dn0pes Posts: 99 Member
    I take my dog once in awhile. I used to take her always, until I started running greater than 6 miles on my daily runs. She was having a hard time keeping up. Any runs of a lesser amount she does well. When I do take her she seems to enjoy the run and she is delightful.
  • Gimsteinn
    Gimsteinn Posts: 7,678 Member
    I run with my Silky terrier and my Labradors.. I just started running and only recently started to take them with me but it's awesome. We're currently doing 3 km at a time.. But working our way up to 5
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
    @WickAndArtoo If your profile photo is Wick - what a beauty!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    spzjlb wrote: »
    @WickAndArtoo If your profile photo is Wick - what a beauty!

    Yes, that is Wick :) Thank you!
  • EauRouge1
    EauRouge1 Posts: 265 Member
    Hello :) I run with my 18 month old lab. She is so full of energy! We've got all the canicross gear and she pulls out in front. She knows all the commands now- faster, slower, stop, go left, go right etc. She absolutely loves to run. We are lucky to live near loads of beautiful woodland trails. This morning we got a new 5k PB! 27:43. I was pretty pleased with that.

    Think we'll brave a Parkrun on Saturday and see how we do! Hoping to enter some canicross races next year.

  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
    edited December 2016
    This is Stella - she's a terrier mystery mix. I adopted her from rescue in October, and she's is about 2 years old (best guess). She is turning into a great running buddy! (We're not actually running in the second picture - just a walk, but I didn't have any picture of our running gear set up).

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    @EauRouge1 I wasn't familiar with canicross but I just looked it up. Cool! I use the waist belt with bungee leash already anyway, so we are basically doing that. I'd love to teach her some more commands - but she is pretty much all about pulling hard and going fast!
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    Seeing this cool pics makes me want a dog to run with.

    I wonder if I could teach my cat to run with me? :D
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