# Proper age for biking?



## frostwolf7294 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hi there,
At what age is a GSD's development solid enough to run alongside me on the bike without damaging bones/joints? 
She is only 13 weeks currently, so obviously it won't be for several months now, but I'm just kinda looking for an estimate.
She is already getting harder and harder to wear out on walks and fetch sessions, lol.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

GSDs growth plates dont close until they are two years old or so, I believe. I wouldn't run my dog like that until then, but maybe someone who's more of an expert can chime in.


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## Neko (Dec 13, 2012)

Gradually after 2 years of age.


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## d4lilbitz (Dec 30, 2013)

I would wait until the bones are fully developed, around 2 yrs. We got our Rescue GS at about 15 months. When we got him, he had no muscle mass on his hind end. It took us about a year to get his weight and muscles developed to a healthy point. This was done thru walking/hiking, then eventually jogging. Last Fall I started him riding along side the bike. We worked our way up from a mile to 12 miles. Most of the time he is at a nice trotting pace. This was over the course of about three months. He loves it...when he knows he's going he starts prancing all around. 

To help your pup become familiar with a bike, you can walk him several times along side the bike up and down your drive. I plan on doing this several times a week with our new puppy as he will need to learn this for the AD down the road. When we start to really train for it, it'll be natural (that's the thought anyway).

Good luck! Make it fun and your pup will love it!


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

You can start when she is about 5 months old, exactly the age when you shouldn't worry that you can wear her out. There is another reason why that late. Dogs often misunderstand, that they should chase only your bike, not ANY bike, and it is difficult to train them out of it. Puppies with experience of chasing the bicycle run away from their owners only they see one. It would be the end, the whole training with bikes will be out of question. Train her the attitudes, and you can start training her now. 
Jogging yourself slowly in the area where people ride, with her wearing harness and on the short lead, train her to give way to other riding bicycle people, train to avoid any collision by stepping aside 3-4 feet and asking her to sit. Think about getting a long rigid plastic stick of light weight with attached loop for your left wrist and carabiner to clasp at her harness to train keeping distance between you and her. You can start walking her on it prior to riding. Please, remember, that you can ride only in the woods, never ride on asphalt paved road, which will not only grind her paws and make them bleeding, but also is very bad for joints. Actually it applies to people as well. Stones, twigs and tree roots are of no problem for the dog, don't worry, you can exercise her by riding 2-3 miles continuously, at 5 months your pup should be strong enough, if you exercised her before. Good luck!


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

David Taggart said:


> You can start when she is about 5 months old, exactly the age when you shouldn't worry that you can wear her out. There is another reason why that late. Dogs often misunderstand, that they should chase only your bike, not ANY bike, and it is difficult to train them out of it. Puppies with experience of chasing the bicycle run away from their owners only they see one. It would be the end, the whole training with bikes will be out of question. Train her the attitudes, and you can start training her now.
> Jogging yourself slowly in the area where people ride, with her wearing harness and on the short lead, train her to give way to other riding bicycle people, train to avoid any collision by stepping aside 3-4 feet and asking her to sit. Think about getting a long rigid plastic stick of light weight with attached loop for your left wrist and carabiner to clasp at her harness to train keeping distance between you and her. You can start walking her on it prior to riding. Please, remember, that you can ride only in the woods, never ride on asphalt paved road, which will not only grind her paws and make them bleeding, but also is very bad for joints. Actually it applies to people as well. Stones, twigs and tree roots are of no problem for the dog, don't worry, you can exercise her by riding 2-3 miles continuously, at 5 months your pup should be strong enough, if you exercised her before. Good luck!


Please don't follow this advice. I believe most breeders say 18-24 months as a guideline. 5 months is much too young and you risk damaging growing bones specifically joints.


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

> risk damaging growing bones specifically joints


Neither me, nor you are right. I just looked in the folder with my diary on Lucy. It is the vet should tell you how and how hard you can exercise your dog by doing X-rays. I was suspicious about her hips by that time, even though both parents showed 5/6. You should check your dog's intermetatarsal joints, articulations of metatarsal bones before making such decisions. The vet told me I can exercise her the way I like, just not to let her run after horse, or car (some people have such bad idea), all her joints were more than just satisfactory and the scanner showed it quite clearly. She has learned to run beside the bicycle before, and I took her into our local nature reserve the very next day. She was 5 months and 3 weeks old, we covered 3 miles with no stop and I didn't have to encourage her even once in 48 minutes. She had run steadily forward, sometimes ahead of me, sometimes behind.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I would not do this with my dog at 5 months. I too love to bike and am quite anxious to get Gus running beside me but will not be doing before 18 months..possibly longer. 

To each their own.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

David Taggart said:


> , we covered 3 miles with no stop and I didn't have to encourage her even once in 48 minutes. She had run steadily forward, sometimes ahead of me, sometimes behind.


I think this is a safe pace. 16 minute miles is a brisk walk for an adult human. Most people would ride much faster than this, which is IMHO a bad idea until the dog is more mature.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I totally missed "48 minutes" for 3 miles...very good point.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I like to wait until the young dog is at least 18 months and then it is only for a short distance until they are over 2. I want my dogs mature and not babies before I put stress on the bodies and joints. I also don't do a lot of jumping until they are mature.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

If you want to wear out your puppy/dog than you are better off finding ways to mentally stimulate them. When we exercise them physically they tend to get more and more fit making it harder and harder to wear them out. Agility, scent work, obedience, something where they actually have to think will do far more.


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## crackem (Mar 29, 2006)

I would use the 12 months as a guide and use reason. Vague I know, but I have dogs at 9 months with a nice easy pace go 2-3 miles at a time no problems and some at 15 months before they start. Natural footing better than roads of course. A light trot for a dog should not be "stress" they can't handle. If they break down under that, demand a better dog from your breeder. 

I used to follow the nothing before 2 year rule, then I realized how foolish it seemed when I thought about it. I'm not talking forced runs on pavement for 20 miles, but 2 or 3 miles on a light trot should be doable by all but the worst dogs. I don't think nature intends for dogs to NOT go on a sustained trot before the age of 2.


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## ODINsFREKI (Jul 30, 2013)

Please don't run your dog on paved surfaces. Keep them on a dirt trail or pasture. 

You will wear your dog out if you run them on hard surfaces. 

Wait till they hit 3 and they check out in the hind quarters. 

Nothing bothers me more than people running their dogs hard on a bike on paved surfaces. If you can't do it, your dog shouldn't either. Go run cement barefoot and tell me how it feels.


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## ODINsFREKI (Jul 30, 2013)

Saphire said:


> Please don't follow this advice. I believe most breeders say 18-24 months as a guideline. 5 months is much too young and you risk damaging growing bones specifically joints.



They lost me on the age but, they nailed it on the pavement.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

I have used the same criteria for all 4 of the dogs I have had over the years....they are old enough for biking when their paws can reach the pedals....and NO !! ..I do not make them wear helmets.


SuperG


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## TexasCrane (Nov 13, 2013)

ODINsFREKI said:


> Go run cement barefoot and tell me how it feels.


It feels just fine thank you very much.


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

I took Murdock mt biking when he was 5 months old. We did 1.5 miles at most, and at a moderate pace with lots of breaks. I'll slowly work him up to more. When mtbing he's not attached to the bike, the trails are wooded trails (not paved) and he's given plenty of breaks whenever he wants them. I would be a lot more cautious to take a young dog out on pavement..


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## TexasCrane (Nov 13, 2013)

Can somebody provide a link to a study that shows running is harmful to young dogs?

I wonder if the common thinking has evolved from the idea that running causes problems for humans. Humans have problems from running because they use ill-designed "running" shoes that encourage (even force) you to land on your heel. Of course that will cause issues over time. However, if you land on your midfoot (like you'd see a top distance runner do), the impact on your body is dramatically different. 

Don't don't have heels to land on. I'm not saying that the conventional wisdom about what age you should start running your dog is wrong, but I'd like to see some data. We used to think that it was bad to let pre-teens and young teenagers engage in strength training and we now know that it's actually good for them. Sometimes conventional wisdom is sound and sometimes it's based on bad or mis-informed science.


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## stmcfred (Aug 13, 2013)

I take Lola out to a local wooden area that has paths. I run and let her run off leash, she gets to set the pace and we stop when she wants. Our pace is usually 12 min. miles. Our longest distance was 5 miles and a few miles of that was just walking. But it's usually around 3. I also do not have her go more than 3 miles multiple days in a row.

(I actually have her on a 20' line, but I don't hold it. She has a really good recall, but I have this just as a backup)


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

TexasCrane said:


> Can somebody provide a link to a study that shows running is harmful to young dogs?
> 
> .


Here's "evidence"...don't know if that constitutes a "study" but sounds close



However, there is evidence to support that there is an increase in the severity and incidence of elbow dysplasia and OCD in dogs who experienced "forced exercise" before their growth plates closed. Note that OCD is _not _obsessive compulsive disorder! Clients usually look shocked and laugh uncomfortably when joint OCD, which stands for Osteochondritis Dessicans, comes up. OCD is basically growth abnormalities in the cartilage that can cause lameness.


How Much Exercise is Too Much for My Puppy? | petMD


I have no idea if PetMD is factual or bogus...


SuperG


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

> The disease is often exacerbated clinically with high exercise activity. An underlying osteochondrosis appears to play a role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Chronic inflammation associated with this disease may predispose to osteosarcoma, although this has been rarely reported[7].
> The onset of disease occurs between 5 months and 10 months of age


Osteochondritis dissecans - Dog


A few that I have spoken to (who I consider knowledgeable on GSD health) on this subject say to wait until 18 months for a GSD but the majority state they would wait until 24 months and have vet x-ray with vet stating growth plates have closed and no problems are showing up.


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

I wouldn't allow my dogs to run along a bike until at least 3 years old. I'm not keen on them running for long periods of time on hard surfaces during critical growth periods.


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