During the cooler months the dogs and I enjoy easygoing bikejoring runs down county roads. When I'm working with one dog at a time I have been known to keep my loop very close to the house. This story changes that completely:

Source Story Right Here

There is very little information about the specifics, but the article I've read leads me to believe the man biking with his dogs was using typical 6' nylon leashes with the dogs out to his sides. As he was making his way down a multi-use trail (first big mistake) he came upon a 62 year old lady as he "towed" his dogs behind him. While trying to pass her on the right side of the trail, one of the dogs broke position and veered left wrapping the leash around the woman's legs. Needless to say she took a serious fall. The man on the bike was kind enough to stay with her until the paramedics he called had arrived. Still conscious when the ambulance arrived, this is where all first hand accounts of the story end. The next day while in the hospital, she died. DIED!!! I can't imagine the horror that family has to endure after a typical morning jog. Authorities have ruled the entire incident an accident as there are no rules/laws/regulations anywhere in the country regarding biking with a dog. In San Jose however, that might be about to change as the council reviews this incident and decides on a possible update to current codes.

I for one, would invite all city codes to include provisions for this type of activity. If you've rummaged around any dog forum long enough, you know that many MANY people bike with their dogs. There are some who would argue that you can't legislate common sense, but I would invite them to find out how many people are actually out there doing this. With a gangline 20 feet out in front of me, I will no longer work or train my dogs on a bike on trails or residential sidewalks. I will walk both bike and dog to the area where we can begin training. I would be remiss not to say that we have had a few close calls ourselves. But they were avoided by a solidly trained "WHOA!" With death (read: lawsuits) a very real possibility, I can no longer rationalize my own desire to bike right off my front yard.

Be careful out there folks.

I've seen this on another forum and it was very sad... However, I think that the person biking was stupid. When I bikejor with Koda it's on a wide dirt road that is very unpopulated. If anything only a few people ever on it and he's out straight in front of me. I would never let him run to the side unless I had a Springer attachment. I think the dog-owner here was careless and the results (even if they were a freak accident) are just proof that you can never be too careful.

Wow, I was completely obvious to this story, although this is a trail that I do walk my dogs on occasionally. One of the reasons why I don't bike with my dogs is because I don't have a good space to do it. I would not want to take my dogs on these trails because of all the activity, it is illegal to ride on the sidewalks, and even the quiet streets have a lot of cars parked on the street, which would put me and my dogs in the street. I definitely agree with Tori though, using a device that keeps the dogs close does seem like a better solution than long leashes in crowded areas.