How to Teach a Dog to Walk Next to a Stroller or a Bike

Teach the position first, with no wheels involved, then add the stroller or the bike as a distraction. Almost everyone does this backwards, starts with the equipment on day one, and spends six months with a dog that cuts in front of a wheel.

The other thing to settle immediately: a dog that pulls on a normal walk will pull worse next to a stroller and dangerously next to a bike. Wheels reward pulling, because forward motion continues no matter what the leash is doing. Fix the loose leash first. If your dog cannot walk a block without tension, you are not ready for either of these.

Pick a side and never change it

The dog goes on the outside, away from traffic, and on the same side every single time. With a stroller that usually means the dog on the far side from the road and the stroller between the dog and the curb, or the reverse depending on which side of the street you walk. Pick one and commit.

Changing sides is the single most common cause of a dog crossing in front of a wheel. Dogs learn position by pattern, not by instruction, and an inconsistent handler produces a dog that guesses.

Strollers, a four week progression

1. Week one, stationary stroller, no baby. Park it in the living room. Walk your dog past it, around it, and beside it on leash. Reward for position beside the wheel. Five minutes a day. The point is that the stroller becomes furniture.
2. Week one to two, stroller moving indoors or on a driveway. You push, dog walks beside. Twenty feet, stop, reward in position, twenty feet back. The stopping matters more than the walking, because the dog learns that when the wheels stop, it stops.
3. Week two to three, quiet street, no distractions. Ten minute walks. One hand on the stroller, leash in the other hand, never wrapped around your wrist. If the dog drifts in front, stop the stroller completely, reset the dog, and continue. Stopping every time is what installs the boundary.
4. Week three to four, add turns and normal routes. Turns are where it falls apart. Turning toward the dog pushes it into the wheel, so make wide turns and say something consistent, a simple this way, half a second before you turn.
5. Week four, add the baby. Not before. The dog should be boring next to an empty stroller for two solid weeks before there is a child in it.

A few rules I would not bend. Never clip the leash to the stroller. If the dog lunges, the stroller goes with it. Never let the leash cross under the stroller. And carry treats where you can get them one handed, which usually means a pouch on your waist rather than a pocket.

Bikes, and the age question

Do not run a dog beside a bike before its growth plates close. That is roughly twelve months for small dogs, fourteen to eighteen months for medium, and eighteen to twenty four months for large and giant breeds. Sustained trotting on pavement before that is how you get a three year old dog with elbow problems.

When the dog is old enough, the progression is slower than the stroller version.

• Walk the bike first, for two weeks. You on foot, pushing the bike, dog on the far side. The bike is a strange, wide, clicking object and the dog needs to find it dull.
• Use a bike attachment, not your hand. A spring loaded arm that mounts to the frame. Holding a leash while riding is how people break collarbones. This is not optional equipment.
• Start at walking pace, on a flat surface, for five minutes. First rides are about position, not exercise.
• Build distance over six weeks. Five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. A conditioned adult dog can trot for twenty to thirty minutes. Most dogs never need more than that.
• Check the pavement with your hand first. If you cannot hold your palm flat on it for seven seconds, it is too hot for pads, and a dog on a bike route cannot slow down the way it would on a walk.
• Watch the gait, not the dog's enthusiasm. The moment a dog switches from a trot to a lope, or the tongue is wide and flat, you are done. Dogs will run themselves into heat exhaustion beside a bike because they are keeping up with you rather than choosing a pace.

The command that makes both work

Teach a single word for get back into position. I use easy, said once, followed by a change of direction if it does not happen. Practise it on ordinary walks first, thirty reps over a week, before you ever need it with a wheel involved.

Also teach a solid stop. Dog sits when you stop, every time, no word needed after the first two weeks. With a stroller this is what keeps the dog out of a crosswalk, and with a bike it is what keeps you upright at a junction.

What I would skip

Skip retractable leashes entirely with wheels, for obvious reasons. Skip running a dog beside a bike in temperatures above the mid seventies Fahrenheit until you have conditioned it. And skip the whole idea if your dog is reactive to other dogs, because a bike removes your ability to create distance, which is the only tool that reliably works in that moment.

All of it rests on the loose leash foundation. If that is not solid, start there. Download the Loose Leash blueprint

Ready to train your dog?

Every drill in this article comes from the WorldWide K9 Academy course library. If you want the full step by step system, start with the $5 intro course.