Dogs and night rides- good combo or...?

[Dief74]

Going for my first night ride tomorrow, usually I bring my dog riding but don't know how well they can see the terrain at night.

Seems like a good idea to put some sort of light on her collar so I can see her if we get a bit separated, and maybe a red light on my seat post so she can see me better but I could see these light sources messing with her night vision.

Anyway, appreciate any advice.

[biggles604]

A lot of dog breeds have excellent night vision. I ride with my golden retriever all the time. I generally stick to trails that he knows for the ride, and I keep a flashy light and a bear bell on him to make him easy to spot. Lately I've been riding with a friend and his dog, and we will have the two dogs between us, so they can use the light to see the trail, and we also know where they are.

[Dief74]

Thanks for the info, yeah she knows these trails pretty well and would have another rider behind. I'll see what info I can find on Boxers' night vision. I was going to leave her behind for my first ride at least until I see what it's like but then again the guilt trips are pretty hard to take when she sees the bike stuff come out...

[Tom]

I never bring my dog on night rides. Too hard to find her in the dark if we get separated. I also read another thread here where a guys dog cut a corner on a night ride and plowed into a tree and broke its neck.

[morgman]

My dog doesn't really cut corners on trails yet, so I am confident he would just follow me on the trail. Haven't taken him night riding though, he gets enough daytime exercise that staying at home for night rides is fine for now.

[biggles604]

Originally Posted by Tom

I never bring my dog on night rides. Too hard to find her in the dark if we get separated. I also read another thread here where a guys dog cut a corner on a night ride and plowed into a tree and broke its neck.

I think it would be very dependent on the dog as to whether they should be taken. Mine follows the trail, he never takes shortcuts at all (I wish he would), and he's always really close to me.

[clarkee]

Bike Light / Dog Collar

These work quite well the buckle is not that great but it glows well.

I use the it's night thing as an excuse to leave the dog at home, it is nice not having to think about him when I am out riding.

[skifreak]

Never had a problem with my dog at night on the trails. Put a blinker light on her collar and a jacket with reflective strips and she follows behind just fine. I don't DH ride or ride at race pace but for winter exercise, it's all good.

http://www.niteize.com/product/SpotLit.asp one of these in red - can find at MEC or dog stores.

[heckler]

so much time and resources spent on lost dogs. just keep them home.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=lost+d...w=1525&bih=676

[H. Flashman]

I take my dog night riding all the time. He makes it home and he's dumb as hell.

[heckler's better 1/2]

If something goes wrong at night everything becomes much more difficult to deal with.

A friend and I were riding Cypress, dog bolted after getting a spooked, ran onto the road head on into the side of a car, then bolted back into the woods. Took hours to find the damn dog, he was hurt and scared. Luckily we did find him but he no longer goes on night rides.

[ceebee]

My dog rides with me at night all the time. I believe she has excellent night vision, she can follow a ball's arc in the
Sky in near pitch black. Have gone through many cheap flashy things, they don't survive shore dog conditions very long. But a flasher on the dog is a must, got one of these last year:

http://www.glowdoggie.ca/home.html

I met a guy on the fromme road last year who had a bike headlight mounted on his dog with some sort of chest harness, he said his pup had trouble in the dark without it, but with it, he did fine.

[burke ryder]

As they are not smart enough to not look into an HID, I wonder if that affects them as it sure does me.

Also if you hang a strobe off their collar, this may not be good as well

[ceebee]

The Glowdoggie was also proven skunk-proof this morning.