Doggy Ride - A mode of transport

When you live in a country/city where the main type of transportation is the bike, you have to think differently on how to transport your dog.

As you might have seen in previous posts, when Tjido was a puppy he fitted quite well in a basket in front of the bike. But he's too big and heavy for that now!

So we decided to purchase a kart for behind our bike, and went for the dutch Doggy Ride. You can google it and read all its fabulous attributes ;) We started our training at home: without the wheels, the kart was a nice "house" for Tjido. He went in and out without a second thought, and even slept in it.

Then we went outside, on a quiet place where we could start training, but it just didn't go the right way.  Barking, stress, crying etc. Until we got fed up of our failures and decided to ask for help. Our puppy training teacher came to see us and assess the situation.We got a new training program from her and decided to take advantage of a weekend at Joost parents house who have a garden to train. We did about 2-3 training sessions per day.

We decided to keep the front flaps open this time, since I do think he's not a fan of being in closed-up spaces. And this worked like a charm! Maybe in his mind, he feels he can always step out if necessary? Or he feels more part of the group? I don't know, but it is funny how such a small detail can make a big difference. SO here's the training we did:

Step 1: Go in the kart (attached to the bike), close the back flap, wait, open and command free.

Step 2: Go in the kart, close the back flap, walk with the bike and reward with treats. Open, give command free and play a little (to relieve stress).

Step 3: Go in the kart, close the back flap, bike a few meters and reward with treats. Open, give command free and give grans reward with a game of fetch/tug (to relieve stress).

And so on..
We also made a change on the security straps. They are normally found attached to the upper side of the Doggy Ride, but Joost changed them to the ground, so Tjido can lie down and sit as well. With the original setting, he couldn't lie down if we didn't want him to jump out.

We then started training close to our home, and trying to bike to a place where he could run loose, as to make the experience much nicer. Short rides, and increasing slowly. We did have a day we went too far, but then we tried to end it in a good note with a mini-ride. We have now achieved 5 minutes of biking, with Tjido "enjoying" the ride :)

Our next goal will be to bike to the forest - 2.5 km - and then I think we can start with real trips!
It has been a good training of our patience and our strong will ;)

A few days away from home

Last week Joost left to go hiking with his friends, and while he was gone I decided to visit my aunt. She wanted me to visit her because she also has a dog, a male dog, and thought that maybe if Tjido and Pieter met each other as early as possible they would be ok together.

Sadly I waited until now, when Tjido is 7 months to visit..

I had 2 big fears: (1) that Tjido would bark the whole way to get there and (2) that he would not toelatre sleeping in the kitchen instead of upstairs with me.

Tjido is not scared of the car, but the few time he had been in one he would get fed up or something and started barking and whining.  This time, we put him between my feet at the front. This was great! I think that the fact that he doesn't get distracted by the window makes him calm. So the whole ride was without an incident. He even got a nice Kong to chew on.

The first day was of course without rest. He couldn't keep calm. He was nice to Pieter, but sadly Pieter was bitten not so long ago, so Tjido had the upper hand and became the main man in the house... sigh, I had wanted him to be taught a lesson by a wise older dog.. We had really nice walks, but had to keep an eye on both dogs when they were eating - food snatching became war. We also visited my cousin who has two labradors. Oh it was so much fun!

At night Tjido did make a whole concert about being left behind, but it took just a few minutes before he stopped. I must say that the 5 days I was there I had terrible sleep thinking that Tjido would make all efforts to jump the wooden plank barrier. I have so little faith on my precious icie T_T sorry! But now I understand how people in big houses can teach their dog to be alone in a much easier way.

His recall in the forest was amazing! With a new squeaky toy, I make the sound call him and praise him. He does not get the squeaky toy, but i do play with him with a tug toy. This has been magical! Until now it has been quite fire proof, also against other very very interesting dogs, so  I'm very happy! Our week away was nice, but he and I slept better when we came back home ;)

Next posts will be about: leash reactivity and the easy walk harness.

I leave you with a cute video of Tjido and his best buddy!