My 6th month old puppy, Juno, was finally able to get back home with me on Sunday after being at my parents house for a month and a half. She was too big to fit through my "doggy-door" and I wasn't finished building my fence (with the help of some buff guys I know) for her. After playing with Juno in my backyard I knew she needed to burn off some energy.
"Let's go for a bike-ride," I said to Juno. Off I go to get my bike out of the barn, pump up the tires while Juno is getting excited right on the other side of the fence. I grab the leash, open the gate, clip Juno onto the leash and we walk through a small field to a dirt road. My neighbor, Kara, was also by the barn and was giving her two boys a ride on their pony.
Kara hollers, "have fun on your bike ride!"
"I'm sure we will!" I respond back.
So off we go. Once we reach the dirt road I get on my bike and starting pedaling at a slow speed. I make sure to train Juno to stay on the right side of my bike while the leash is on and she definitely learned fast! "You are such a smart girl!" I say to Juno.
We turn the corner by the edge of the field and Juno does even good with that. There are not as many distractions now and Juno was doing so well so I gain speed, saying, "Let's Go, Juno...come on!" We are going at top speed for about thirty seconds when all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see Juno take off into the field. Its too late...I can't react in time. As I'm yelling, "Noooooo....Juuuuunnnnnnoooooo" (in slow motion for effect), my right hand which is holding the leash and the handle bar yanks to the side, jolting my bike along with it. I somehow managed to let go of it all as my body flew forward, hitting the hard dirt ground with a thud. I roll over, sit up and am greeted my Juno who is sitting right next to me and licking my face.
I begin laughing. I look up to try to see if Kara and her boys are watching me but I can't tell. I laugh even harder imagining that they are probably laughing while wondering if I was okay.
So I slowly stand up, stand my bike up, grab the leash and hop back on as I'm thinking, "you've got to get right back on the horse". This time I keep the slow speed. Juno did great...even better than before!
Once I got back home, I walked over to my neighbors and as she was sitting on the couch with a friend I asked, "Did you just see me eat loads of crap on my bike?" She just started busting up laughing while trying to say, "no." So I explained what happened.
So...now that I know what not to do, I'm gonna let you know what to do when training a dog to run with you while on a leash for the first time:
1.) Make sure he/she is fully used to the leash.
2.) While riding a bike, I recommend not using a leash that can expand in length - that way they know they can't go very far.
3.) Stay at a slow pace the whole bike ride for the first time.
4.) I recommend biking gloves (which I had on, thankfully), so if you do happen to fall...you won't get as scraped up.
The END
Sidenote: It has been 9 full days of being "allergen-free"! Woo hoo!
No comments:
Post a Comment