Does anyone on here take their dog cycling, attached to the bike? I have a German Shepherd who is obviously quite powerful but does walk to heel- although he does sometimes get distracted- I feel he'd be more focused if I was on a bike or jogging and come with me rather than running off to sniff or go to another dog.

What I want to know is, how good are the attachments that you can get at stopping you being pulled over? If he wanted to go and do something else, I do feel a bike would be easily pulled from right underneath me!

I have read the Springer attachment is good.

I bought a basic Walky attachment (still £17 plus P&P) and it just wasn't flexible enough, when the dog pulled the bike went with it a bit. From what others have told me, the Springer is a lot better as it has an arm with a lot of shock absorbing ability so if the dog does pull, it is concentrated on the arm and not the bike. If that makes sense, lol.

The basic Walky would be fine if you have a dog that has no intention of pulling away from the bike - it is fixed below the saddle post thereby anchoring to your point of gravity, but if the dog does veer sideways there's no 'give'.

Just to add - I would never attach one of these to a collar, the dog must wear a good quality harness and clipped to the ring on the back. I'm sure you would do this anyway Josh, but it has to be said for anyone else who reads this.

I've used a Springer on my bike for many years with my large dogs.  Brilliant way of getting them out for a decent trot and highly recommend it.
Remember to keep an eye on temperature if you're using it through 'summer (haha!) months and to check pads if not used to roadwork, building up slowly to allow them to toughen up.
I've never used a harness but do attach a benching chain to the Springer arm simply because I didn't trust the flimsy piece of cord supplied.
Good luck!

Thanks for your help guys! I think I will leave it until he's a bit more settled as he's only just 12 onths and I don't want to give him TOO much heavy exercise, however it's definitely something I'm considering because when I am back at uni, the thought of 20mins exercise in the morning is much more welcome than taking him the park for an hour to knacker him out! LOL

He doesn't walk to heel PERFECTLY, and I think if there was another dog at the side then he'd definitely give it a go at pulling over to him, but nothing I couldn't control verbally.

I intend on using it with his julius k9 harness, which is really high quality http://juliusk9.net/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=vmj_naru.tpl&product_id=134&category_id=9&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Biking dogs should not be done until their growth plates have fused at the very least.

In addition, I would suggest a different type of harness for endurance work, one that leaves the entire shoulder assembly and upper arm free from constraint.

Examples of good designs are:

http://www.tilleyfarmshop.com/acatalog/TTouch_Harnesses_and_Leads.html
http://www.dog-and-bone.co.uk/shop/leads-and-harnesses/products/haqihana-harness.html#content
https://www.kumfi.com/index.php/onlien-store/complete-control-harness-detail

i have bikes strong breeds of dog (bull breeds) using the springer attachment for more than 10 years now and never been pulled from the bike. the dog must be walked to empty first as i forgot to do this once and did go over the bars when the dog stopped suddenly to empty, after that i always made sure to walk the dog first..i also changed the chord and plastic fixings for metal ones on the device.