Biking Harness!

Running, catching, leaping; this is the forum to discuss dog sports and agility training with other active pups!

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I can't hear- you.

Barked: Sat Mar 24, '12 12:22pm PST


	Thanks all! Thank you all for all your experiences and help!!! I will wait for RuffWear's line up, and we'll probably end up getting a RuffWear harness for hiking anyway at some point. But for biking we decided on the G-Cel Harness as Fun on the Run suggested. I called the people who make them and they were really helpful and will customize the tie points for me and the size, etc. It made me feel better that the harness have been 'tested' and used on dogs that go long distances. I feel it gives me the best chance that it'll be the most comfortable harness. We also got his preliminary hip scores back and he is A/A elbows 0-0 so we are all good to go! But now I have another question, what shoes should I get? I live in LA and so we will be almost completely be working on concrete. At the distances we're aiming for, people have told me it's really tough on their paws. I'm thinking to get some shoes for it. We have RuffWear's GripTrex shoes but I'm wondering if I can go something more flexible and easier for foot flexing? Has anyone experience with the SkyLiner boots? Or what do the sleddies use? Edited by author Sat Mar 24, '12 12:34pm PST

Honorary Kelpie

Barked: Sat Mar 24, '12 2:10pm PST


	Cool- let us know how the G-cel works for you. The Santos seem like cool people who really understand canine athletes, so it should be well-made. I got nuthin' on booties though... My impulse would be to skip them, since you never want to run a dog in the heat of the day anyway. Go in the early morning or late evening. That would eliminate the hot pavement issue, but not the broken glass/other crud that might be on the roads. Bruno has never had a foot injury from trotting on pavement, though the most we ever do at a stretch is about an hour, around 6-10 miles (quick jogging pace).

'10 Junior- Iditarod, 6th- place!

Barked: Mon Mar 26, '12 12:34am PST


	Racing booties are usually made of either polar fleece (which is almost entirely out of use now) or cordura fabric because they're lightweight and still protect feet well. An easy place to buy booties if you don't want to make them yourself is dogbooties.com or coldspotfeeds.com I would suggest buying booties with stretch velcro closures, because it allows you to put the bootie on tight enough that it won't come off, and if you put it on too tight the stretch velcro will loosen up while they're walking/running.

The Flash

Barked: Tue Nov 20, '12 8:17am PST


	I just found this thread but the best harnesses for bikejoring or skijoring are the Manmat Long Distance Harness and Howling Dog Distance Harness. They're really similar and were made for pulling. The MM Pulka Harness is the best if you're pulling from the side, but they're very hard to get on and off. You shouldn't use a traditional sled dog (musher) harness because the attachment point is back at the dog's hips and on a bike side attachment device like Springer, dogs tend to pull out from the bike, so if the dog is on the right side you're making a constant left turn to go straight. It would take an extremely long or very low line to keep the harness from sliding off the side of the dog's back. The ones I mentioned have attachment rings at the back center and keep the hips completely free. Musher harnesses are as they are because you want your team attached to the sled near the runners so it doesn't tip up or down, putting the attachment point fairly low, so the hip location works OK. Even so, when the sled turns, the harnesses have to go over the dogs' backs. Some Mushers are going away from the traditional types the the one's I mentioned, in fact the second place Iditarod finisher this year used one of them.

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Dogster