Dogs are barefoot, too! And they're better runners than any of us.

[NotSoDoomedRunner]

BFwillie_g

So I don't think some bread on her run is a bad thing.

Oh, I see what you mean now. I think, when I read your post, my thoughts were something like you were giving your dog carbs for energy, which really makes no sense. Sorry about getting so pedantic about it!

No harm. This god is nuts. We have to put the bread in the pantry on a shelf higher than she can reach because she will open it and get it out and eat the entire loaf while we are at work. And she is a really long dog...



I feel like she is regressing on running discipline lately... really going off to the side and sniffing around and jerking me around more... probably because I am going slower. I was running real slow and she was all the way out on the leash the other day and just stopped, turned around, and gave me a real WTF? look, haha.

 

[dutchie53]

One day while out for a 15km

One day while out for a 15km run I was so in the groove that I would have run right past my turn, he bugged me untill he my attention as if to say"where the hell are going". He knows all my running routes and keeps me on track.

My dog runs off leash 100% of the time. When I first got him he was on a leash and I just about broke his neck as he went on side of a stop sign and I went on the other. I trained him to run within 3 meters of me. He will run right past a rabbit that is sitting within a meter while we are on a run, but god help that rabbit when we are just playing around in a field some where. The only thing I take with me for hime when I am out longer than 2 hours is water, no food, well maybe one small treat as I tend to be a bit of a softie.

 

[BFwillie_g]

Im gonna re-title this thread

Im gonna re-title this thread when im on the pc next time, make it a (the) general dog running thread. Sound good? Running for me has really taken on a whole new perspective since we adopted Leni, more fun than ever and thats saying something!

She's well-trained but because she spent the very important first few months of her life on the streets, with no help, she'll never give up her independence 100%, she knows she can get by w/o me. But she's developed into quite a great family dog anyway.

 

[BFwillie_g]

Ok, I changed the thread

Ok, I changed the thread title and I think this is a good idea!

Had a great day with Leni today. Went for a power walk with the DW in the wood, about 90 minutes. Leni der Wunderhund was off the leash, sprinting, jumping, digging, disappearing into the forest for long stretches, coming bach filthier and filthier each time... amazing. I estimate conservatively that she covered around twelve miles to my wife and my six. At least. And when we got home, did about a dozen 50 meter full-speed sprints chasing the big hard-rubber super ball that I throw for her. And she's as fresh as a daisy, and would be happy to go out and do it again tomorrow... Good God.

Anyway, planning a four-hour run for Sunday. She'll be bored, I know it.

Thinking about buying/making a carry-pouch for her. Any ideas about that? Experience? I mean, a kind of 'saddle bag' that would allow her to carry some supplies, not a pouch to carry her in, LOL.

 

[BFwillie_g]

Here she is, btw. Proud

Here she is, btw. Proud little girl:

After a race:

Stopping for a breather after a hard hill with the running club:

 

[palouserider]

Ok, I have a few thoughts,

Ok, I have a few thoughts, but it's going to be more than 3 lines.

Backpacking with dogs is best done on leash since dogs can easily get hung up in the woods wearing a pack and you may not be able to find them if they go far away as well as making them an easy target for predators.

I've done some backpacking with dogs. If you want to try it find a pack with 3 fairly wide straps to better distribute the pressure, one around the chest, one around the belly and one across the front, the latter ideally in a V-shape to not interfere with the movement of the front legs. The one around the chest should have some elastic built in to keep it from interfering with normal breathing.

The easiest for dogs to carry is water because water bladders are soft and don't put pressure on the rib cage. Packs that have some foam padding on the inside (that touches the rib cage) are best.

You may want to start with no more than 10% of the dog's body weight, maybe even less, for very short distances. With any backpacking keep in mind that dogs carry about 60% of their weight on their front legs, so when adding extra weight in form of a pack you will disproportionately add weight for the front legs of the dog to carry. Additional weight means extra load for the joints and a higher risk of arthritis developing later in the dog's life. This is especially true with less than perfect conformation. Your dog has very strong and straight haunches but is overall very lightly built (great for running) and built fairly narrow in the pastern joints in front, making any extra weight on those joints more of a concern. This is why I would keep the weight as low as possible.

The other concern is the pressure on the dog's back. If you've carried a heavy backpack before you know that the straps from it can really cut into your shoulders and it helps to shift the pack around a little bit. Dogs can't do this for themselves and once an area is numb from lack of circulation (in as little as 15 minutes) will not feel any pain any more which can lead to tissue damage. For this reason I would find a pack that distributes the weight as evenly as possible along the dog's spine, ideally padded with natural sheepskin.

Hope that helps.

 

[BFwillie_g]

palouserider wrote:Hope that

Hope that helps.

sure did, PR, thank you

So, bottom line, 10% of body weight, well-distributed in a sensible, comfortable pack. We'll probably put together a custom pack, based on designs from comercial harnesses. My wife already made a great night-time reflector vest for Leni, custom fitted to her form.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Oh, I see, Willie.  You'll

Oh, I see, Willie. You'll read these long posts as long as they are about your precious little girl. ;-)

She is beautiful, BTW. She should be proud, and so should Daddy! BTW, I haven't read all of the very long winded posts in this thread (teasing everyone, teasing), but I just had to comment on her. She's precious. Now, if this was a thread about cats, we'd talk!

 

[palouserider]

TJ, I have cats that go for

TJ, I have cats that go for walks when I walk the dogs, I think the running part would be harder though, maybe 50 yard sprints, but not much more.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

While running a couple of

While running a couple of times, there was this lady walking her dog, and her cat follows them everywhere. Whenever I approach to say hi to the kitty and pet it, it runs wide of me. She says it's afraid I am going to grab it and take it back to its home. Funny.

I had a neighbor who used to walk her cat with a harness and leash. It was hysterical.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

A little off topic.My

A little off topic.

My sister-in-law used to take her pet rabbit for a walk, and my mother used to walk an iguana. It was quite the sight to see a 60 year old women with a 6 foot long long iguana out for a walk on a harness and leash.

Back on topic,

Used to run with my two Sammy/Keishound crosses or at least they used to take me for a run. They could pull a 250 pound man off their feet if you were not ready for it.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

That would be funny to see. 

That would be funny to see. I wonder what the iguana thought. I bet he was just happy to be out and about.

 

[scedastic]

Leni is gorgeous! Running

Leni is gorgeous! Running with her must be a total blast. I have dog envy to all y'all who have dogs.

I have cats right now(which I do love), but in my heart there is a running-dog companion somewhere out there for me. Someday when my schedule and location are right........

In the meantime, I have a cat (my cats are outside/inside for the most part) who I run into once in a while on my turn around the block. I'll hear his collar jingle-jingle, then he'll catch up for the last part home. Only problem is, he wants to be carried the rest of the way, like Cleopatra or some such. Not exactly a running cat.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Scedastic, that's exactly how

Scedastic, that's exactly how I feel about a dog, like there's a running companion out there for me too, except I do like cats more, they just can't run as far as a dog. They don't want to, and they're too independent.

 

[NickW]

Unfortunately my HOA at my

Unfortunately my HOA at my condo does not allow dogs. I miss having a dog as I am a big dog lover, although we do have two cats, meh.

 

[palouserider]

TJ, there are some dog breeds

TJ, there are some dog breeds that are much more cat-like in their behavior, sighthounds come to mind. (They are fairly independent, not usually as clingy with people and some make excellent running companions, some are more sprinters). Let me know if you want to know more and I'll talk your ear off.

 

[BFwillie_g]

Got cats, too, lol. This is

Got cats, too, lol. This is Linzi, our main cat. We rescued her from a farm up the street about 8 years ago. She's also amazing. A real bruiser who once dragged home a dead jackrabbit (like a Mama lion dragging an antelope across the Serengeti). But she's also incredibly affectionate and let's kids do pretty much anything with her. And she tags along on long walks, always hanging a little behind but never losing sight of us.



With the dog, Linzi is the smart cat who is not about to give up her throne to a slobbering usurper. When Leni the Dog chases after her, Linzi just sits down and licks herself, growling gently under her breath. Melanie, our other cat (and Linzi's daughter) is the stupid cat who flies into a panic and runs everytime she sees Leni - wrong strategy to escape a hunting dog, but she'll never learn. Cats unfortunately inherit their genes from the father.

 

[migangelo]

cats are like women. it has

cats are like women. it has to be their way or nothing and they will never tell you whats wrong, they'll just ignore you and pee/poop in your shoes.



back to dogs now.

i once put a pack on my brother's 90 lb german shephard to slow him down. no such luck. can't trust him enough to run off leash either. the female can be run off leash. my bro doesn't even walk her with a leash. she is so obedient that if she sees another dog or person she will stop, look at you, and wait for directions. i paid for her and now i want her. she's an awesome dog that he used to take to dog clubs to train her and everyone would stop to watch her work. i made a blog post about my run with her at lake tahoe. check it out.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Thanks, PR, but I think I

Thanks, PR, but I think I will wait for my boys to get a little older first.

Back to cats now.

Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.

That's just the way it is.

I love your kitty, Willie. I told you so long ago. One of the most beautiful cat faces I have ever seen. Sweet.

What's up with kitties liking all the soft stuff, like blankets and pillows and stuff toys? I had a cat that used to carry around his Bun and his Ted in his mouth, whenever he was feeling "frisky." He would sit down with them and me-yowl like he was in heat or something, and he was a he and he was fixed. Now this new kitten I have, four months old, does the same thing to the stuff frog and lion my boys have. It's cute but a little perverted too.

 

[palouserider]

TJ, I think they may have

TJ, I think they may have been weaned too early and bottle raised, this is really common for cats because so many people raise orphaned kittens, either by bottle feeding or letting them lick formula from a dish. Well, it's just not the same as - b.... no, wait, don't want to start this thing all over again. Any analogies to other threads in this forum are purely coincidental...