[SprocketDogs]

If you mountain bike with your dog checkout the Facebook Group for Sprocket Dogs and page.


It is an awesome experience hitting the trails with an athletic dog. I’ve been doing it since 1994. I currently have a stoked Australian Cattle Dog. Come check us out. It really is a cool group of people with awesome dogs. The photos and videos in the group are spectacular. ⚙🐾

 

[Jayem]

I love taking my dog out to poop on trails.

 

[3034]

I use the garmin astro collars for my Aussie boys (1 year old)
nothing better I keep the mileage to 5 or so with them

 

[Harold]

awesome spammy first post

 

[Cuyuna]

I love dogs. We have three high-energy Golden Retrievers. But dogs are vigorously prohibited on any of the mountain biking trails around here. Thankfully. They can walk the paved biking trails, but only on a 6-foot leash. I'm fine with that. I don't think they belong running free on the paved biking/hiking trails and not at all on purpose-built mountain bike trails.

I'm as opposed to dogs on the trails as I am to silly spam on internet forums.

 

[milehi]

My dog is my mountain bike partner. He's good for up to 15 miles but am slowly shortening his rides as he'll be turning eight this year. He's well traveled too.

 

[SprocketDogs]

That is awesome. That is still a good amount of miles. I live in Florida so we transition into water sports, hiking and short bike joring outings in the neighborhood during the summer. I can’t wait to leave this state.

 

[Sidewalk]

I'm not a fan of unleashed dogs on trail. It's like guys who play loud music while they ride. Fine for you, annoyance for everyone else.

 

[DIRTJUNKIE]

Nothing better than a good mannered off leash trail dog. Those that have never experienced one, wouldn’t understand.

 

[SprocketDogs]

My dog is highly trained. He wears an e-collar and retractable leash collar. I go during low use times, dawn or at night. I’ve never had a problem in 25 years.

 

[milehi]

I'm not a fan of unleashed dogs on trail. It's like guys who play loud music while they ride. Fine for you, annoyance for everyone else.

Mine is under voice command and all he wants to do is run...fast. I've had 99% positive comments, even hikers. We also only go on the trails on off times, mostly because I don't like slow trail traffic. His main loop is a little known trail system in the forest and rarely see anyone, even on weekends.

A couple years ago, I met up with some guys from Big Bear to ride Exploration Trail. I rode up and they shuttled. One of them grumbled about Axel, but they never saw him until the bottom because they were all chatting like a sewing circle.

 

[ColinL]

I'm not a fan of unleashed dogs on trail. It's like guys who play loud music while they ride. Fine for you, annoyance for everyone else.

Agreed, and nearly everywhere I ride it is specifically forbidden in writing for dogs to be off leash.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[PJJ205]

Had a trail dog break off from its owner and run alongside me for a solid 5 minutes as I climbed out at Greer recently. It didn't bother me one bit... I thought it was pretty cool, actually!

 

[mtnbikej]

Until you get bit by a dog on trail that was off leash....only to be told by the owner that their dog doesn't bite.....well my leg didn't start bleeding all by itself.

 

[milehi]

Until you get bit by a dog on trail that was off leash....only to be told by the owner that their dog doesn't bite.....well my leg didn't start bleeding all by itself.

Every trail dog I've had or encountered on the trail is concerned with one thing and that's the trail. My dog and I met another rider and dog going the other way on Prescott's 305 trail. The dogs ignored each other.

These aren't the same dogs that people let run off leash at a park and have no manners. I have a lot of time invested in training. I have another Weimaraner who doesn't trail run. He just doesn't have the focus. He'd pick up a scent and be gone.

 

[DIRTJUNKIE]

Every trail dog I've had or encountered on the trail is concerned with one thing and that's the trail. My dog and I met another rider and dog going the other way on Prescott's 305 trail. The dogs ignored each other.

These aren't the same dogs that people let run off leash at a park and have no manners. I have a lot of time invested in training. I have another Weimaraner who doesn't trail run. He just doesn't have the focus. He'd pick up a scent and be gone.

My late dog Bandit [who passed at 15.5 years] was also only concerned with the trail before him. I recall countless encounters of hikers with leashed dogs yanking their owners down the trail, the leashed dog focused on getting to Bandit. Some barking and growling, Bandit ignoring and staying out of leash length of the oncoming dog. Moving on without a care in the world. I even had a hiker where his dog was acting this way and commented for me to control my dog. His was the one with the leashed up out of control dog dragging him down the trail.

Nothing more rewarding than having your best buddy running along off leash totally in control and with manners towards other trail users. I understand that not all dogs are trained this way and for those the owners should be responsible enough to not to allow them off leash. An off leash well trained dog lives a longer happier life than a stressed out leashed up dog. Or one that's not trained and stressed from humans yelling at them constantly. They never learn commands because the cluless human owner never taught them any. They yell and scream as if it was a child who knows every word in the dictionary. The dog doesn't understand and it's behavior gets worse because of the stress. As you know, dogs learn commands that are drilled in and respond accordingly in time.

 

[Cuyuna]

Asking rangers or trail wardens to determine the level of training and obedience of every dog that bikers would like to let run free on the trail is impractical and imposes a level of liability that the agency isn't, and shouldn't, be willing to make in the event that people get bitten or knocked off their bike. Makes more sense to prohibit them all. Mountain bikes and dogs don't mix.

 

[ColinL]

Asking rangers or trail wardens to determine the level of training and obedience of every dog that bikers would like to let run free on the trail is impractical and imposes a level of liability that the agency isn't, and shouldn't, be willing to make in the event that people get bitten or knocked off their bike. Makes more sense to prohibit them all. Mountain bikes and dogs don't mix.

Well put. In areas that are not patrolled, asking owners to self-assess is an even greater folly. I'm glad that everyone who has posted in favor of MTB dogs off-leash has a perfectly trained dog. My own encounters with them are completely the opposite.

 

[d365]

I love dogs on the trail. No one is having more fun than them.

 

[Cuyuna]

Well put. In areas that are not patrolled, asking owners to self-assess is an even greater folly. I'm glad that everyone who has posted in favor of MTB dogs off-leash has a perfectly trained dog. My own encounters with them are completely the opposite.

Everyone thinks that they're dog is "under voice command and get 99% positive comments". Definitely not my experience. My 3 dogs are under voice command and get 99% positive comments too, but I would never subject mountain bikers to the possibility that my desire to have fun and ride with my dogs is more important than the inconvenience or worse that they might inflict on others on the trail that are not as enthusiastic about dogs as I am.