Training Sasha

I would like to compete with Sasha in Agility competitions. Experts say that it takes one year of intensive training to get a dog ready to compete. One of the skills Sasha needs is speed. She already is an incredible sprinter so I thought a way to strengthen her running skills would be to get her to run more... but this past spring P.Hills where I live, tightened down the law that all dogs must be on leashes at all times. They threaten big fines and evictions,so letting her off leash to run with her friends Kate and Albert each day is no longer an option.

I thought, "what if I'm healed enough to get back on my bike". Tested it out. and discovered much to my joy and intense relief I can once again bike ride.
In April I tied Sasha's shortest leash to my back bike rack and walked around the neighborhood with the bike between us. With lots of treats and warm praise she thought this new game was fun. Then I got on the bike and she wonderingly began to jog along beside me.

After a few days I was ready to leave our compound and do more serious riding. Just outside our gate there is a steep hill. Turn left and you head for another housing estate and dead end. Turn right and you head out to the main roads passing the acres of forestland on the left. I thought my first excursion should be uphill to the dead end. Cars tear up the road at great speeds so it was Sasha's job to stay on the sidewalk as I biked on the edge of the road. Unfortunately I discovered that Sasha was able to run behind me and cross out into the road with great speed and she did this every time a car approached. ARRGGG! Treats and praise when she stayed on the sidewalk and loud Nos when she ran out into the road didn't seem to be able to override her natural instinct to race up the center of the road with the cars. After a week I sadly decided that she would be always at risk and unable to bike with me on major roads...


One last idea was to shorten the leash enough so that it was impossible for her to cross behind me and reach the roadway. I started biking up the road then heard her start to run behind me to cross out into the road and hit the breaks. I jumped off the bike, turned around and found a terrified dog with her paws between the spokes. Gratefully she was not hurt. Just chastened and frightened. After a few more days of training I was able to go down the hill with her keeping on the grass and cross over into the woods.

Sasha still pulls away from me every time I pull the bike out of the garage. But with some coaxing I am able to get her out into the woods safely where she can go off leash and run to her hearts content.

I love cycling through the woods near our home. It is beautiful,fun,and great exercise for both of us.

I am hoping that by the time snowfall comes and ski season starts that I will be familiar enough with the woods that I will be able to ski with Sasha with out getting lost.