Me and my dogs

Hi All,

Do any of you run with not one dog but two?

I have a 4.5 year old dog who i have run wioth since i got him at the age of 2. he loves it and runs very nicely by my side on or off the lead.

Our problems started in May when we had a new addition to the family. A 13 week old Jack russell puppy. She is a little monster (i love her dearly really) the whole dynamic of our relationship has changed. subsequently i haven't been running as much with 'Dom' the older dog. If we leave the puppy behind she is likely to pine and chew the house to pieces and would it really be feasible for me to run with 2 dogs to control.

Well, to cut a long story short my motivation has been lacking a bit of late. I have a new and very busy job. When i get home the dogs are desperate to get out so i take them for a walk but then can't work up the enthusiasm to go out again for a run.

 Tonight i thought i'd bite the bullet. I had nothing to lose, if i tried it and it was disasterous at least i'd know. Well. i did 5 miles with both dogs ( they have run that far before but it was off road and off the lead in the lighter nights) Granted i didn't go very fast as i was worried about them getting tangled. They were actually far better behaved than i imagined and only started to cause a bit of trouble in the last 1/2 mile when they were both obviously tired.

I really enjoyed the run and will be taking them out again. It's a way to get me out of the door exercising as well as them. I'm sure they'll trip me up at some point but i generally fall about twice a year so it's par for the course. 

Hopefully with practice they'll be like a well trained sled team only running. They've certainly made me enjoy my run today.

Comments

  • I used to have two springer spaniels, who hated running with me.

    They could run all day, but would only do so on their terms, which meant they wanted to roam wherever they liked and not have to follow me in a straight line at a boring uniform pace.

    The times we did run together they would either intentionally get lost for a few minutes, which would mean I had to stop, or lag behind, badly pretending they couldn't take the modest pace.

    Sure enough, I gave in and stopped trying to run with them. Sadly one of them died a couple of years ago, but the other, now twelve and a half but still pretty nippy, is snoring at the foot of our bed as I write.

    Glad it's working out better for you Splodge!


  • Ahhh, they are great though aren't they.

    I think it's probably luck more than anything that mine are running ok. My sister has gotten 2 dogs within the last two years in the hope that she can run with at least one of them but neither is interested at all.

    My dogs are quite restricted because, as there are 2 of tehm i have to have them on quite a short lead , otherwise we'd just get in a real tangle. They do seem to really enjoy it though and i will carry on running them off lead and cross country whenever i can .

  • my two shepherds are no problem, Oz the older one is 100% obedient and is allowed to run free, Nemo the youngster (19 months) is a hunter and so has to stay leashed. But sometimes I do run with both dogs leashed, really no prob as they run side by side.
  • SeelaSeela ✭✭✭

    I used to run with two dogs. On the roads we ran with one extending lead and the dogs were connected by an 18inch chain. The lead joined the middle of the chain.

    After a small amount of chaos the dogs got the idea and used to run shoulder to shoulder. Only problem was if one wanted to stop for a call of nature, but it was never really a problem.

    Cross country I used to keep the Springer on the lead beacuse she was a scatter brain and would occasionally disappear, where as the Mak would stay within 50 yards.

     Mak has stopped running now so its just me and Spice the Springer. She is 11 and at last can be trusted off the lead on xcountry runs.

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