Round Up: 6 of the Best Trail Dog Videos from the Past Year

Aug 26, 2021 at 16:05
by Sarah Moore  
Thumbnail by Sterling Lorence for Shimano. See more of his incredible trail dog images that were shot alongside with the above video here

We did a round up of 14 of the best dog edits back in March of 2020, but we thought we should share a few more for International Dog Day today, because who has ever seen enough dogs scrubbing jumps and taking sick inside lines?

By the way, if you missed it on April Fools, you should probably check out check out Kona's "Instant Trail Dogs".




Views: 17,740    Faves: 91    Comments: 11


Views: 15,592    Faves: 77    Comments: 6



Bonus Dog Content:
16 Dogs of Crankworx 2018
Photo Epic: Gone to the Dogs - Crankworx Whistler 2019
Pets of Pond Beaver 2020
Pets of Pond Beaver 2021


photo
Also, the Pinkbike Shop has a promo for International Dog Day as well if you want to kit out your own trail dog! That's Mike Levy's dog Meeshka in the picture. She's a good dog.


Author Info:
sarahmoore avatar

Member since Mar 30, 2011
1,321 articles

53 Comments
  • 41 1
 Word to the wise....manage your dogs reps!! I thought my dog was invincible....endless laps, trail days, chuck-its, hikes etc...Now that he's 5 he has nagging tendonitis from going full on. Riding with the dog is the best but they have only a certain number of laps in them. WoofWoof.
  • 22 0
 I blew my Australian Shepard up with an enlarged heart. Vet told me it was my fault for way too much aerobic endurance for a dog. Never again. I still struggle with it today as the last two years of his life were not enjoyable and the. I had to put him down and wept like a child. Today l let my dog be a dog and get normal exercise at the dog park with other dogs, chase the ball a little, etc…
  • 9 0
 @swellhunter: thats tough to hear. Live and learn I guess. Love those doggos....be well brother (or sister)
  • 5 1
 @swellhunter: Hey man I feel you, I took my dog out too much as a pup, joint problems started to happen at the age of six. You gave your dog a wonderful life just know that. I will counterpoint your vet though, aussie shepards spend hours every single day herding sheep, it's literally what they were bred for.
  • 11 1
 @skiandmtbdirtbag: I'm gonna counter your counter point.

As an experienced sheep wrangler thanks to dogs, mostly the dogs will do a big old out run and bring them back quite calmly at their pace or sometimes the ding at sheep's pace. It's a very methodical stop start, the beauty about herding dogs is that they can stay mentally switched on for ages. That's what they're bred for.

Often when driving live stock long distances the dogs are in the vehicles with you or are trotting/walking and repositioning. Honestly on a busy farm you can have about 6 dogs that we'll cycle through in order to keep them fresh. Probably get about 5hours work per day with about 20minutes full gas at that.

The days of walking sheep for miles and miles are dying.

Anyway just my 2cents.

Incredible animals to watch work.
  • 1 0
 @originalstraygoat: I don’t think you countered my point at all. That’s what the dog was bred for. My dog (between bike rides and running) would do long sustained aerobic work - not what I would describe as herding work. Not the typical bursts and rests that it was bred for. Years and years of this sustained long aerobic experience is what enlarged his heart. Ultimately, it could likely have been in his bloodline and had he been a working dog same thing would have happened. But I don’t see working herds the same as long runs and long bike rides. They were bred for full work with recovery breaks as you stated. Big difference physiologically. Fwiw I have a lab mix now and she’s almost 10 and looks 5. Super fit and healthy. I treated her fitness way different. She gets a lot of time with other dogs for fitness. She swims a lot (after the ball) and she chases the ball. She gets bursts and that’s it. She’s never gone for a run or bike ride. Much fitter animal whose body was used much closer to the way it was evolved. I wouldn’t hesitate to get and use an Aussie for herding work and - like you said - make sure I had a crew that rotates shifts. Makes perfect sense and I don’t see that as endangering the dog. Kelly did live until 12 1/2. He just had a slow last two years constantly coughing and struggling with his heart issue. Awesome freaking boy though.
  • 1 0
 now that my dog (a Beagollie) is 7, I tend to stick to slow/tech/handmade trails & avoid the super-fast flow/high speed trails. A recent x-ray for a dose of Pancreatitis showed some hip dysplasia so need to adjust our biking accordingly.
On days I just want to sit back and go fast on the flow-trails I'll leave him at home to play bitey-face with my other dog (a Salurchi)
  • 9 1
 @swellhunter: I really hate it that you blame yourself for this. As a vet for 29 years I can safely say I seriously doubt your dog's heart went into dilated cardiomyopathy(most likely the 'enlarged heart' diagnosis) change from over exercise. You would have to be doing 40-50 miles daily with little to no recovery and usually their skeletal system falls apart first. Dogs today are getting dilated cardiomyopathy mostly from man made diets. There is still lots of debate about specifics and it is difficult to do research on something that takes sometimes years to manifest. But it doesn't take a genius to realize that putting protein sources like pea protein into diets may not be the best long term nutrition for an animal that has evolved many years eating animal protein. A recurrent theme that mankind doesn't really play the long game nearly as well as nature. A big subject I spend hours discussing with my clients. We tend to be quick and reductionist in our thinking trying to find one problem or cause. Often times there are multiple issues including genetics. But extreme athletes whether human or canine need top quality nutrition to sustain a long career.
  • 1 0
 @swellhunter: Yeah my comment wasn't directed at you, I was countering a counterpoint to someone else's counterpoint of their opinion that herding dogs are bred for long days of work which means mass aerobic work.


However enlarged heart because of exercise and no other cardiovascular disease seems incredibly rare and something I've never heard of before.

Your dog probably had a great time and was stoked. My Collie is slowing down at 7 and comes out riding at his own pace and he's quite good at telling me his pace and cruising. This happens once a week max.

People get worried about exercising herding dogs. If only they realised how much they just hang around like Council workers fixing roads on the farm.
  • 1 0
 Should have had Kaz do this article
  • 1 0
 @drtraildog: I recently found out about this issue - seems to be potentially stemming from grain free foods, correct? What brand dog food do you suggest?
  • 1 1
 @milesofpain: whatever dogs/wolfs eat naturally, ie raw meat and some limited plant based supplement to simulate prey stomach.
  • 34 10
 After too many close calls I really changed my opinion on trail dogs. They stay in the way, jump in front of bikes, and are an unnecessary danger to other riders and themselves.
  • 40 9
 Maybe stop riding in the dog park?
  • 3 1
 my dog is learning to go on the trails, we always drop in last for this reason and she remains behind me the entire time. She doesn't run with us if its a busy day, not safe for her or the other riders! I think it can be done right, just have to train the dog.
  • 19 4
 @astrofusion: maybe stop turning trails into dog parks?
  • 1 1
 You must be used to cats!
  • 23 2
 After too many crashes I really changed my opinion on trees. They stay in the way, jump in front of bikes, and are an unnecessary danger to other riders and themselves.
  • 2 0
 Thanks for saying that unpopular opinion. I totally agree. They're very unsafe to the owner and all the nearby riders. Looks "cool" and "romantic", but dangerous!
  • 23 2
 Possibly unpopular opinion, but I’m not sure dogs and trails jive too well. I’ve nearly run over about five dogs (unleashed) recently and one of them was a bulldog that ran straight at me whilst going roughly 32 mph. The next day the same guy was walking the bulldog again unleashed and it charged at me. And I got yelled at by the guy for not being careful around his dog.
  • 7 2
 that's a very specific speed for an approximation...
  • 3 0
 @FergalK: I had my gopro on and the gps can track speed.
  • 7 0
 It takes a lot of work. I don’t anymore take my dog when there are a lot of riders around. But for solo rides my dog is very good and listens better than any other times.
  • 9 0
 14/10 for all dogs involved. They are all so good.
  • 8 0
 I'm thinking about getting a trail goat. Maybe I'll call him Greg.
  • 2 0
 My dogs love going out with us. On trails that you may, on a given day see one other person on the trail, maybe. Trails in a lot of places are getting crowded with humans that don't have a clue what they're doing, we shouldn't be putting out dogs at risk with them.
  • 16 14
 bro this shit makes me nervous. how many of these dogs have been truly "trained", as trail dogs, not to get in the way at the worst possible moment? How would you even go about training a dog this way?

It kinda seems like people just start out riding with their dogs and the dogs learn the routine. Which, like, sorta works, but isn't really enough to make me feel safe about the lil dudes.
  • 5 7
 If the worst possible moment is predictable then it's not really that hard to just grab your dog and keep them out of the way. Otherwise dogs learn pretty quickly how to stay out of the way. I see more humans colliding with humans than dogs on the trail.
  • 1 1
 @drakefan705: The question was how many, not how hard.
  • 11 5
 Get yer dogs tae fuck off the trails. Bloody menace !
  • 11 6
 An off leash dog by another name that will still bite your feet.
  • 1 0
 Erg... Pretty cool that Metallica gave em the rights to their song I guess. Listen I love trail dogs as much as the next guy, but the amount of untrained pooches I have seen the past few years has me super concerned. My ACD learned how to ride on gravel roads and skidder paths in the rural wilderness before I EVER took him on a public trail. Just because you don't like to ride that stuff doesn't mean you should subject your pooch to a dangerous situation before they are ready. Train your trail dogs.
  • 5 0
 Worst trend in mountain biking.
  • 2 0
 Agreed. So dumb
  • 1 0
 +1.
  • 6 3
 My mini horse can do many lap before he tired. Keep dog at dog park not on trail.
  • 10 6
 Never seen a “trail dog” with proper recall
  • 5 3
 As I told the last enduro bro with the out of control trail dog that was 200 yards from its owner, "no bad dogs, just bad owners."
  • 2 0
 That black dog talks funny .
  • 2 0
 My trail cat seems to follow me just fine with excellent recall.
  • 1 0
 My dog would be like "looks like to much effort, I stay and watch the car".
  • 1 0
 Any articles or resources out there regarding proper training for a trail dog?
  • 1 0
 Where's the dog in "Jo day in life"?
  • 1 0
 1.45 and onwards you can get a glimpse of it.
  • 1 0
 Never any small collars in stock
  • 1 0
 Kona Dogs are selling allright, I see.
  • 1 0
 Y’all way behind, E’dogs is where it’s at .
  • 2 0
 eDogs
  • 1 1
 Haha,engine dog
  • 1 1
 Great videos Thank you Buck Ruckus and I loved them
  • 1 2
 I think this article will be quite pup-ular, or am I barking up the wrong tree?
  • 2 1
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