Walkydog and the greyhound

One of the key factors that encouraged me to get a greyhound was reading Jen's blogs at Never Say Never Greyhounds. The other was a colleague at work ( thanks Paula). Anyway Jen recently posted about a bike attachment called the springer. I decided to go a different way and try the walkydog. I picked mine up on amazon.

So I dusted of our old old bike, used some wd-40 where necessary, replaced the back tube and tire and was ready to go. The walkydog has a spring loaded system built into the shaft which provides forgiveness for unexpected motions from the bike or from Kassa. I did some short trips at first up and down the street. Kassa loved it. We didn't go too fast but definitely faster than jogging speed. Now I take him on routes that would have taken an hour walking and we get through in 20 min. On the way out he is usually trying to pull the bike a bit, but when we turn around he often tries to hang back. I slow right down to keep him right beside me. I will say its a good idea to know your route well ahead of time. When we encounter dogs in the yard (especially if they can ignore the invisible fence) I slow to a walk/stop. Although Kassa has more power over the bike when we aren't moving, I can always put my feet down and it is better then him getting chased and riled up by the other dogs.

I think the best experience I have had is at a city park where they have strict dog leash requirements. Since he is going to be leashed anyway it is better that other owners have tight control over their pups.

If you want to try this I would recommend you build distance slowly. Try to go at a cooler time of day. Plan a water break. Lastly pay attention to his feet. You don't want to run him over sewer drains and you don't want to ware his pads down on the asphalt.

I think this is a great option for when you can't meet friends at the dog park. In this case I could. Kassa and I had a lot of fun. I hope Tequila did too.