Today’s post features Scott and his dogs Kona  the 3 year old 70lb Husky/Golden Retriever cross and Penny Lane the 2 year old 28lb Whippet/Pit Bull cross.

Scott takes his dogs’ health and exercise seriously. No matter the weather, they go for a 45 minute walk each morning. Then, in the afternoon, they also go for a bike ride:

Our rides are generally between 15 and 20 km and take an hour or a little more. – Scott

Scott’s dogs are expected to behave properly when walking or cycling.

Dogs are clipped to my belt, one on either side and are very good at keeping in proper position beside me with the leash slack.

We take a different route every morning. In the afternoon we go for our bike ride. Either I have the two dogs both clipped to my belt, or my wife has one and I have one. We generally ride on the trails in the dry weather where Kona-dog gets unclipped. He is still expected to maintain his proper position beside a human while running though.

Penny Lane is still in training… In the wet weather we have a series of paved bike paths we ride and especially enjoy one that follows the seaside. Both dogs are always clipped to a human rider when near traffic and, as with the walk, are expected to keep a slack leash. – Scott

Scott says that diet plays a critical role in Kona’s and Penny Lane’s health and fitness. He feeds his dogs a dehydrated whole food called N.R.G. and uses the Vitality or Raw One blends.

Both of them smell clean and fresh and have neither dandruff nor excessively oily skin. Both are in tip top condition. – Scott

I’ve had a couple of people ask me about Husky fitness before, so it was fortunate that I got to speak with Scott, who has Kona the Husky cross. I asked if Kona tends to be an overall more natural runner than Penny Lane as that is, after all, what Huskies are bred to do. Scott’s answer was very insightful:

I think that both Kona and Penny are equally matched for endurance and speed, Both have a top measured speed of a little better than 50 kmh and they both go on all the same runs. Penny, though, has more fire and really loves to pour in on and run as fast as she can. And while Kona gets like that now and then, he is generally happy lopping along at a nice easy 15 kmh or so. – Scott

I also wondered if the heat has any impact on Kona because of his warmer coat and breed:

Kona has no trouble with the heat. He runs everyday so is acclimatized. We always have water for them and when it’s really hot we soak Kona with the hose before the ride and do routes where there are places he can swim part way along to cool off. Penny hates the cold and wet weather and so wears a coat in all but the warm season. – Scott

So there you have it. Huge thanks to Scott for sharing his information and experiences about cycling with dogs. Check out some photos in the gallery below: