July 19, 2016, 2:04 p.m. -  Jamie Hamilton

#!markdown Dear Kiwi Dog Guy! I'm also a kiwi dog owner, and like you I have tried to varying degrees of success to turn my dog into the trail variety. Breed is an important factor. For example my pooch is a german short haired pointer and as such any whiff or sight of a small furry animal, all sense & sensibility goes out the window! Thus changing the ride into a search & rescue mission! One such occasion ended up with an injured dog & 48hrs lost in a forest, ( Not to be confused with lyrics from a Cure song ). Solution? Lower your expectations of your dog & change the experience to suit your dog. So for us this meant rides with my dog became geared towards her & her abilities & natural instincts. Hence I began training her in the art of Bike Joring, ( harness your dog with them attached to the front of your bike leading, encouraging their natural instinct to run and lead! ). It took about 3 months in a park to get the technic & trust sorted between man, beast & bike. But now my pooch gets to come riding albiet a slightly more tailored definition of the "ride". Hope this helps! Happy riding!