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[Shadowgandor]

I've recently moved on my own and finished my studies and I'm having one of the best times of my life. However, I really miss having a dog around in the house. For my entire life, I have lived with one or multiple dogs in the house and it's one of the things I really miss now that I no longer live with my parents. Luckily, it might be possible to take the dog along to work in the future.

Now for my question: I'm thinking about getting a husky (I love huskies) and train him to walk alongside the bike for 50 kilometer total each day to and from work. However, I'm not sure if it's humane to do so. I'm going to slowly build the distance up with him of course while making sure he gets enough rest to grow during his first year, but even if I take my time to train him, is it a health risk for him? Is there anything I need to consider? Apart from giving him rest during growth spurts and perhaps water breaks.

Any hints, tips or advice is appreciated!

[martinuzz]

Biking at full speed is too fast for dogs. Sure, they can keep up. But it's stretching them past their natural movement.
Wolf packs are good at chasing prey very fast, over a short distance, and stalking it slowly over a long distance. 50km is too much at that speed, even for a husky. The distance, considering it IS a husky, isn't as much the issue as is the average speed of a human on a bike (my estimate for a person who is used to biking 50km a day to work would be around 25-30km/h). If you want to bike 50km with the dog every day, don't go faster than 10-15km/h, and take a 10 minute break every 10km. And bring enough water. Avoiding asphalt / using dirt roads also helps, if you care about your dog's hips.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv6EfzIoXwA

[Shadowgandor]

Thanks for answering. That's exactly what I was worried about. Although disappointing, thanks for you answer

[Thief^]

Also, what were you going to do with him once you got to work!?

Leave him tied to a post all day?

[Shadowgandor]

Of course not. I've got an IT-related job where dogs have previously been too. I'd buy a dog bed and water bowl for work while taking him out for a walk during my break. He'd even have more space to walk around at work. It's getting him here that's the problem, without limiting my own physical exercises

[tonnot98]

You could buy a car and have him catch up to it. sit inside during some days, and biking during others.

[Shadowgandor]

You could buy a car and have him catch up to it. sit inside during some days, and biking during others.

Yea that's one of the options that I have left. However, that will probably have to wait for a few years as I'm going to adopt one of the homeless cats in my street. I'm a dog person but that cat has my heart. He was from the owners that lived in my house before the previous owners. They live a few kilometers away, but the cat keeps returning to his old house so they abandoned him. It's a really nice cat, but so incredibly dirty that I don't want him inside yet before having him checked and cleaned by a vet

[uber pye]

beware huskies make copys of themselfs with their fur

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