Pup's First Trail Ride

Z-Dogg rode shotgun on the way home; her reward for
being such a disciplined trail doggie. (wear-ing
her Solv-it vehicle safety harness)

Many years ago I was riding Stilly when I saw a rider go by and his dog was following happily after. I longed to do the same with my old mutt, but he never mellowed enough to quite get there except until the year before he died. But ... at least we did it.

Fast forward a few years and we have a new rescue mutely pup with us a year now,  from North Shore Animal League, and something told me she was about ready. We trained riding with the bike/leash in hand in Cape Cod this summer. And since her first reaction to most furry critters is usually to stop and point, it allows that moment to keep her attention focused. Well mostly.

The girls were great today -- M did her first trail ride in a long time and 1 yr old pup-dog did her first ever legit singletrack mountainbike-following trail ride in the woods — about 3 miles.

And she followed the bike faithfully all the way round the green trail. Excellent work for a novice trail dog in my book.


The downhill sections are the trickiest. Those were where I let the leash go, and she followed at the perfect distance — almost like she'd been doing it since birth. Hey if our walks were only this disciplined... . But dogs know walks are "their" time, and this is different. This is the fun work. 

There is nothing like seeing a labrador mutt's front paws trotting the way they do – they flop and flip in an inimitable way that almost defines happy-go-lucky.  

Naturally this would be the day I forgot the phone and the fleece so no on-trail pics or video.

Z scored a perfect 10 out of 10 — no side dashes or sprints into the woods. (Fortunately her first natural instinct is to point and she usually awaits a command if she points at a critter. But no chipmunks, squirrels or rabbits today seen in the woods, only horses and people.)

She stayed right with the bikes behind the lead bike and in front of my wife, on the single track trail. She made sure the pack did not get separated. Good stuff. The training we on the quieter dirt back roads of Cape Cod in the summer paid off. As a reward M let her ride in the front on the way back.


K-Dogg's (RIP) Last Trail Run

Don't try this at home ;) Bad hand held video, but

you get the idea. It was a good ride.

K-Dogg -- back in a happy place.

Z-Dogg's first trail run