Glad they've been helpful :) Life's been busy lately, but more are in the works.

Excited that you're looking to get started! :) It's such a blast! Starting from scratch just means you can research as you're doing, and get a smoother start ❤️ My videos lean toward the equipment and technique side of things, but while you're sorting out that part, a great place to start physically is using the direction cues and Wooooaaaahhhh on walks and hikes so that you and your dog don't second guess them once you're on wheels 😁

@@TheMushingMountainBiker That is great as i have 0 knoledge abouth what gear to look at and what to look at to get! Wonder if you have a video about the scooter itself? What to look in to before purchasing it? Your videos are weary informative and gives me confidence that i can learn things how to do it myself too! I remember when i was little i always waited for my dad or brother to get my bicycle ready for summer. Want to know myself how to change breakes as well as tyres now 😅 after all if i can get on a roof and fix house fasad i can fix a tyre too 😃 Thought to train my doggo untill the summer. She knows already well comand wait but need to work on whoa and stop. Do you teach your doggo left and right too?

@@AquascapingAndStuff I've thought about making a video of exactly that - what things to check when looking for a new or used scooter. For used, you can find a lot of things to check for price negotiation in the tires, brakes, suspension videos I have - brakes especially, being a safety concern, should be well maintained or discounted so they can be fixed asap. For buying new, it can come down more to what is available in your area and price range and types of trails you have near you. I will try to find time to do a video specifically on that soon though - even now I'm on lunch break from teaching my oldest 1st grade due to the pandemic, but some day for sure! :) And yes, Woah (for stopping), Gee/Haw (turn), Gee-Over/Haw-Over (moving to one side or the other for obstacles or passing), Straight-On (going straight at an intersection, or encouraging them to look down the trail past a distraction to the side instead of slowing or stopping) are what I use the most. You can choose different words, but I like having special words that aren't used all the time to add to the focus and excitement of being on the trail. Mine hears things like Left, Right, OK so often in human conversation, and it's usually not interesting to him. "I *left* my *left* glove *right* over there by the *right* glove! Is that *OK* or do you need me to *write* you a map?!" haha Whereas Gee/Haw always perks up his ears :) Line-out is also a good cue to teach standing still at first, so they know they need to go in front and can keep the line tight. Even if they are naturally wanting to pull, it can help focus them in again after a water break or keep them still and not getting tangled in the line during a stop.

@@TheMushingMountainBiker wow you have so much knowledge! You must be some sort of instructor for these things right!? So nice to read your reply 🤗 i definatelly understand that life is way more in prio one that youtube videos! I know that myself! Haha 😅but i must say that i will be waiting for that video impatiently😅 took a look at some of the options that i could buy throught the internet in my area. And i just got overwhelmed! Some literally says that they are a ferari of scooters 🤣 i do want best for my dog and me but i doubt that i will be going totally off road in to the forests or in to pro competitions. It is just me and my poodle Lilly who want to have fun and active time in the forest roads 😆 Was thinking on starting to maybe jog slowly or for now even ordered snowskates for her to know that sometimes i actually want her to pull! But as well worry that she might want to pull al the time! 🤣 thinking on making it clear difference inbetween harnis and a collar for her to get ecited or calm down. Well all of it is a process and if you dont enjoy the proces better not to go for it at all! So far we are looking forward 😆

@@AquascapingAndStuff Aw, thank you! I don't teach or coach professionally, but I've really enjoyed the learning process over 10+yrs and it just struck me that so many mushers get started dryland without happening to be or know a mountain biker, so they don't even know what skills and wheeled equipment things they'd like to research to help with mushing

Oh, I saw your question first in the other video comments, but I'll copy my reply to here as well since this video talks more directly about bikes/scooters :) " Sure! Some of it is just availability - this is an old model from a US brand that started at/near? the beginning of off-road scooters (no longer in business). They only offered 20" wheel models for adult scooters. One benefit of the smaller wheels (as long as there is a suspension fork to help with bumps, since they don't have as good a roll-over angle!) is that you can keep the overall length of the rig shorter without sacrificing length of the footbed to stand on. The smaller wheels + footbed make them easier to "rail" a corner - carve around it like you're on a track instead of doing a lot of handlebar steering input and muscling larger wheels around the corner. The longer footbed lets you take a braced, off-set foot stance like on a mountain bike. Where bigger wheels, up to 29er really shine are straight-line speed and keeping momentum on the flat and gaining downhill. With a mushing scooter, compared to mtn bikes for solo riding, there's not as much use for the increased ease of roll-over with 29er wheels since the tracks/trails tend to be smoother than technical mountain biking, but if all your runs really will be rock and root free forrest roads type, then that roll-over means you could consider going without a front suspension fork to save weight for sprint racing, or just plain save money upfront and maintenance. I personally would still want one for traction though, as the larger wheels/longer wheelbase/shorter footbed will be trickier to corner and the suspension will keep the tire on the ground better for traction. I've had the chance to try far more mountain bikes than scooters, so I wish I had access to test more! If I had the money for materials and skilled builders, I'd do some custom work and try out something with the same head tube angle I have on the Diggler (also affects cornering and descending), but with a front wheel of at least 26", and keep the rear wheel 20" to let it swing round corners better and hopefully maintain the nice long footbed I like 😄 One can dream, right? It would have air suspension too rather than coil - so much nicer to ride and helps more with traction when you can set it for your weight. " I've actually been writing up notes and hoping to make a video soon along these lines of discussing pros and cons of different features of scooters vs what each of us might have for different trails, budgets, sport goals. Hopefully I can find the time soon to record and edit.

@@TheMushingMountainBiker Ah yes, small world :) Thanks again for answering my question!

@@TheMushingMountainBiker If you feel like it, perhaps you could briefly discuss other uses of the types of scooters in your video? If you do make a video, that is. I've been thinking about things like "would my ten year old be able to ride the scooter" and "would I enjoy using this scooter for commuting or running errands sans-dog". Just a suggestion :)

Good questions! I definitely have footboard height-above-ground on my bullet points - low footboard is great for kicking, saves the knees if those are an issue for you, and is far less exhausting on the leg muscles than the one-legged squat that you need to do for each kick on a scooter with a nice high footboard for clearance off-road :) I prefer not to have my skid plate Needing to skid over as many rocks or logs on the trail, but at 32lbs and up higher it would be torture to use dogless or without a ski lift to take you up and ride only downhill 😅

@@TheMushingMountainBiker If we only had ski lifts for all out hills! Adjustable height footboard sounds like a good solution to this problem, but I've never seen one on a "small-wheeled" scooter, only on some fairly big (and expensive) kickbikes.

Right?! Dropper posts are one of my favorite things for both solo riding and dog powered! The only reason I stop short of the word essential for bikejor, at least to start out with, is that you *can* just drop the seat and leave it there for bikejoring with a dog that's willing/able to pull. There's already so much expense and learning curve starting out for anyone not already solo mountain biking, that knowing a bit about what's out there to recognize the capabilities vs limits of whatever equipment you have right now is the most important part

@@TheMushingMountainBiker I couldnt have an off road bike without one now and as you point out, if the seat is down cornering feels more stable. My background is MX and enduro where the seat is low already and riding an MTB or DH with a lowered seat or dropper feels more like the MX stance and therefore much more in control. I do appreciate that flicking between lowered and raised taakes a little while to get used to but once you have they are a godsend.

Yes, and I think it's easier to get the hang of a dropper enough to benefit, than to learn shifting or a different style shifter. Not a common spec on entry level builds though if someone new is shopping on a budget and wants a dropper post but single speed 😅

He's 13 now and retired ❤️ But we focused on exploring trails, vs sprint/speed work, and he regularly worked up to 5 or so mile outings pulling the scooter, and did some hooked up but on Easy/non-pulling cue, half trail marathon training runs with me as well. He isn't performance bred and has some joint issues (continued to his ability with encouragement of rehab vet after diagnosis - the controlled pulling helped his muscle mass so much!). So distance varies a ton on individual health and desire, and weather and trail conditions. I suspect with maturity and conditioning that his performance bred side-kick will hardly blink at those distances. But again, I'll be training and conditioning for stamina more than speed. There's some amazing canine athletes that never go very far, but are bred and trained to go Fast! :)

Advising against clipless is for those that don't already have a solid preference in pedals and experience level with off-road riding (running whatever was on the bike). In that case, the added step of clipping in and out at starts/stops/during bobbles or crashes will be much more noticeable than any small portion of the pedal stroke that they might have still had the power down clipped in :) If someone is committed to racing and wants to be more competitive, taking the time dog-free first to make clipping in and out second nature can be a great goal!