When I wrote a short article about using a recumbent trike to “walk” Nic’s dog, Aki, I did not expect to see any responses, let alone one so impressive as this. Thank you, Niki Beecher, for teaching me so much.
Someone in our urban mushing group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2134103846856548) suffered a leg injury, and she inquired on our Facebook page about how to exercise her three huskies while in a foot cast. By coincidence, she had asked about trikes, and I responded with my experience of running a husky with a ‘bent trike. She found your 2021 article about walking a dog with a ‘bent trike. She posted it, and I just read it. I wanted to thank you. GREAT article!! I saw much good information related to it since I’ve been running our husky daily for almost five years with my Ice T. We live in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco.
I got into urban mushing because soon after getting a husky pup, I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc condition. We’d been serious hikers/runners for years; what do you do with an energetic husky pup when you can no longer hike?? Eventually, I found a truly great “dog sulky” made by the innovator of the dorsal hitch in your own Australia, James Walsh. I got a second dog, and for over five years, we had daily adventures together, running all kinds of trails, some challenging. Eventually, one dog developed an auto-immune disease; I was devastated; how could I go on? That’s when I discovered recumbent trikes, thank goodness, and I found a used Ice “T” (“Trice”) so the remaining dog and I could keep going (while my stepson walked Tashi). We lost both dogs in 2020 (shattering!), but we adopted another husky, and she and I have kept going daily for almost five years now. A couple of years ago, my husband (now 85) started having trouble riding his bike on our runs together. He can still ride, but getting on and off with his balance failing was dangerous as he went slowly up or down hills. We found him a Terratrike “Gekko”, their “entry model”, and we’re still getting out every morning with Ruby. On Saturdays, I can still drive 40 miles North to run with my urban mushing group in Sonoma County.
With urban mushing, the dog runs ahead in a “line-out” configuration, so with bikes or scooters, they need to be well trained to voice control. I was spoiled with my sulky since the dorsal hitch is a solid attachment, and I had reins, but I trained them well nonetheless. With the trike, I got lazy; Ruby isn’t a big musher, and we want to get out with her, so I hold the line in one hand as you did, and half the time, she runs alongside me. We call this “BikeWYD” (“Bike With Your Dog”), and it’s DEFINITELY not something to do when mushing, but it works for us. Ruby does have some training, but even if she wants to stop and sniff or sees wildlife she’d like to chase (we run by helmet light before sunrise), she can’t pull me over, and if I keep going slowly, she is forced to abandon whatever it is and come along. I don’t consider myself a “musher” anymore, but that’s fine; at 75 and unable to walk except with sticks, I’m grateful to be still able to get out, and for hub and I both (his back is terrible now too), our trikes make that possible. Our rides vary from 3 miles to 8, and at the turnaround, Jim has coffee while I walk Ruby for 20 min., and then I have my chai and a cigarette while he walks her another 15 min. So she gets both runs and walks and is happy for the rest of the day, thank goodness!
Things that struck me in your article:
“It is pleasant to be at the same height as our dogs when dog walking. We learn things about their behaviour that are lost when we tower over them”. True. I’ve learned more about Ruby, and we communicate more on our rides than when I was running two dogs with the sulky. I was a bit higher with the sulky, and they were ahead of me with the dorsal hitch, so it wasn’t the same. With the trike, Ruby and I are genuinely sharing our runs. This is me with Tashi & Kochyok, back in our sulky days. You can see the difference:
“… the track is more manageable, keeping her nails in check”. Many urban mushers won’t even run their dogs on pavement and worry about their dogs’ pads. In over ten years, we’ve never had any problems–we built up so that the dogs’ pads could toughen up and they could get endurance, and even though our runs are about half paved, half dirt/gravel, we’ve never had any problem, and we’ve never had to trim our dogs’ nails, either. 😉
“Perhaps a few dogs, a mushing harness, and a recumbent trike would make a good mode of transport.” You got it. I help run a Facebook group for dog-powered sports (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092856401199811), and in the past couple of years, we’ve had an increase in members running recumbent trikes. People will run dogs with anything, lol. We’re even seeing mountain boards and [[eep]] rollerblades!! (Ah, the young and crazy) But I love that people have discovered ‘bents to run their dogs; the more we can encourage people to get OUT with their dogs, the better for humans and dogs! The most significant difficulty with mushing a ‘bent is hooking the dogs up on line out. Different people have found various ways (tadpoles work best; they are more stable at speeds and cornering). Here are some of their inventions:
That last one is a version of the hookup utilized by the Norwegian “Sacco” cart.
“…with low gearing, you can ride at a speed that would be impossible on two wheels.” That’s one of the blessings. With my sulky, I depended on having two dogs big enough, willing enough and healthy enough to pull me. Now, with the trike, our little Ruby (only 45 lbs.) can get out with me no matter what. And I know that even when I’m too old to go the speeds we are now, I’ll still be able to get out with her for a walk longer than with anything else. We still chase wildlife and go fast now, but I know our time is finite. And my husband can safely go at slow speeds without worrying about his balance. It makes everything possible.
“…I am happy to relax in my easy chair…” That’s one of the blessings for Jim and I. Before, we had to find a place with a rock or bench at “turnaround” so he could get off his bike and sit. His back was getting bad even then. Now, we have our “couches” wherever we go, which is excellent. That goes along with being low to the ground; when we stop at the turnaround, Ruby usually goes over snuggles in RIGHT next to Jim so that he will give her scritches, and he’s at the perfect height to do just that. One of our favorite runs, out at Tiburon along the bay, with Jim and his son, Jeff:
By the way, thank you for saying, “Dog walking is about staving off boredom as well as exercise” and “I believe that the walk is as much about variety for a dog as it is about exercise.” I wish more people understood this and didn’t just march ahead, hauling their dogs along. MUSHING is about mental stimulation and physical exercise; that’s one of the things we love about it. With the sulky, my dogs and I worked as a team, working through challenges together. The same is valid with the trike. When we ran as a group, there was a genuine “pack” feeling about the dogs and the humans, which was enjoyable.
Interestingly, I could do all the challenging trails my teammates on bikes and scooters did, with the sulky and now with the trike–and I was a LOT safer in both! I’ve seen many ugly crashes by mushers with bikes and scooters (“squirrel!!”), but I never crashed on the sulky and only once on the trike (brake problem at high speed on a slick, cornering bridge).
What you said about Aki was right: “She is a companion – taking offence if treated as a pet. It makes for interesting, if challenging, dog walking.” We say about our northern breeds (huskies & mals) that they would rather work WITH you than be obedient TO you…they are more companions than pets, intelligent and independent. It makes for interesting, challenging LIVES and walks, lol. There’s a reason for it, by the way. The Chukchi people, who bred huskies, and the Malimpiut Inupiaqs, who bred Malamutes, intended for them to be both intelligent and independent and bred for both. When a musher said “go right” (or “gee” as we say) and there was a danger to the right, the lead dogs were expected to ignore them and take the safer route. It was essential. There are reasons for all the quirks of our northern breeds. Their high prey drive? The Chukchi dogs lived with the families in winter; they were turned loose to fend for themselves in summer and then returned as the weather changed. Their desire to roam? The same, added to their “job”, running for miles daily to pull loads. They prefer being up high (there are myriad photos on the internet of huskies on rooftops, up trees (!), on fences, and indoors they love sitting ON tables, etc.). The same is true for predators who can see prey for a longer distance from a height. The fact that few huskies or mals like to swim? Open water was a death trap where they were bred. It goes on and on; these are two breeds whose history and DNA are fascinating, one reason those of us who love them REALLY love them, challenging as they are.
Niki Beecher