You know what speed wobbles are?
It is a term for when a vehicle goes so fast, that it starts to wobble and lose control.
And here’s the thing…… ALL vehicles will get them IF you go fast enough.
So…. a sound piece of advice may be “Avoid going so fast that you get speed wobbles.”
That said….. If you get speed wobbles at 5 miles an hour, you bike is a piece of shit, or YOU are a shitty rider.
Sometimes a kid falls off a bike cause it’s “going to fast” and in reality it isn’t even going fast enough to function properly (there’s a metaphor to investigate).
But either way…… No one says never get any vehicle above 5 mph ever because of speed wobbles.
What does this have to do with dogs?
I do a lot of play as training. And I mean high speed shit. Lots of adrenaline.
I also give dogs a lot of liberty. As much as they can handle. They ask for attention. They sleep in the bed. They walk in front of me. Hell, they walk on Flexi’s (yeah…. I said it).
And….. I get a lot of shit for it. And, worse, I see dog trainers just shitting on people enjoying their dogs.
Sure in some cases…. dogs should not have or take liberties. Just like if my bike is broken, I don’t go downhilling.
Obviously.
And, even if we have a pro downhill mountain bike prepared for action, I wouldn’t let a person who is a terrible rider try to ride it down the course.
Obviously.
But the point is that on the internet trainers are just SHAMING people for having their “bikes” go over 5 mph. Screaming about speed wobbles.
Like I said in the beginning…….
If your bike can’t go over 5mph without getting the wobbles. It’s broken or you’re terrible.
And if your dog can’t go get even the littlest bit excited, or handle ANY liberty at all….. It’s broken or, you don’t know how to handle it.
And that’s OK. We can try to help you with both of those problems. Dogs can learn. And so can people.
I help them both all the time.
Do you go fast not knowing how to ride? No… slow and with training wheels. DO you get on a bike you’re unfamiliar with and ride fast as fuck? No…… You give a careful and thorough safety inspection first. Should everyone keep the training wheels on for life. And always walk downhill? No one would ever suggest it.
Dogs are the same.
Evaluate the dog. Slow down if you need to. Only go as fast as you and the dog can handle. But, repair the damn dog so they can handle the speed and liberty they were born to have. And get some skill so you can handle them in that state. Don’t listen to the people that say they should never have liberty, or adrenaline. If they aren’t broken. And you can control it……..
Speed can be beautiful and fun when there’s control and safety measures.
Bikes or dogs.
Just tired of hearing trainers act like that crochety old fuck screaming at everyone else cause they’re going “too fast” when the truth is you’re just scared to ride a bike in the first place.