It took me a lot of practice and training, but I have mastered riding my road bike on paved trails with my weimaraner. I would like to share my vision of how I did just that. I will first start by admitting that I understand that all dogs, especially Weimaraners, have very different personalities and how they respond to activities. For example, my four year old weimaraner listens and responds when I call him outside and / or on the trails, but when we’re at the dog park it’s all about playing, not much to respond to my directions. Another thing about my four-legged friend that is different from other dogs I have had, is that when I enter the house, even though I have only been gone for ten minutes, his strong and nervous personality comes out due to the fact that he howls. and jumps so it is very difficult to calm down for at least five minutes. And lastly, before training, he got really nervous the first time I took my bike out of the year and rode it down the driveway around him. It seemed like he was always running in front of the tire. There was a point where I had to stop or slow down. Getting him to pay attention and listen to instructions was impossible while on the bike. With a lot of determination, I can hang onto his leash while he races alongside my bike.
I started slowly, walked with the bike to one side of me, my left hand holding the bike upright and its three-foot strap in my right hand, with him walking on my right side. We walked together for forty-five minutes three non-consecutive days a week. Within that same week, two of the other days I would do intervals with him of walking for two minutes and running for two minutes for an hour. For the last two non-consecutive days I took him to the dog park to work on getting back to my side when directed. The dog park is supposed to be a fun place, so I still let him run and play for five-minute intervals, causing him to come back to walk the trail next to me for the next five minutes, then run again and play for another five minutes. , all this with a duration of one hour. My dog responded well to this training and was not afraid to be next to the bicycle or did not get in front of it on our walks; therefore, I was not getting off balance. I was consistent with this training routine for two weeks.
My next step was to be a little more aggressive. I started riding my bike with his strap in my right hand for five minute intervals. For the next five minutes I got off the bike and walked as we had done with the first set of workouts. This type of interval training was also carried out for five non-consecutive days over the next two weeks. The other two days I took him to the dog park and continued his run and play training for five minutes and came back to my side for the next five minutes to walk on a leash, which lasted again for an hour.
My last step, which was the most aggressive tactic, was riding my bike for ten minutes with his strap on my right hand, getting off, and having the bike by my side as I walked with him on my right side. The bike would be between me and my Weimaraner for five non-consecutive days. The other two days would be our training at the dog park again, where I could get instructions for playing and walking, all in one hour. Breaking the training but being consistent, I think, kept him focused and assertive. Keeping his mind and body busy and thinking was also the way she could keep him interested and excited about doing the workout. I have learned from others that weimaraners need to be challenged most of the time. This was my challenge for him.
My Weimaraner is excellent with consistency, but needs to be strengthened at the same time. I admit it was very hard work and I didn’t really keep my mind and body in our routine every day. The progress we’ve made together is definitely about training. It’s amazing how wonderful it is to have my four year old Weimaraner burn off energy and enjoy our time together. There are still times when he’s eager to get over the speed I’m riding on the bike, but I’m just referring to him and his smooth ride.
Now she gets excited about putting the bike in the bike rack and getting in the vehicle, knowing that we are going down a trail to burn off some energy and have fun. I have been able to enjoy another physical activity with my favorite four-legged friend.
