Best Bets For Pets

Listen to Episode #337 Now:

Pedaling Safely with Paws: The Bike Tow Leash Revolution

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Michelle Fern: Hello, pet lovers.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome to Best Pets for Pets.

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Michelle Fern: I'm your show host, Michelle Fern.

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Michelle Fern: So, you know, we love to exercise, right?

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Michelle Fern: Yeah, well, if you don't love to exercise, you should.

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Michelle Fern: And, you know, get on it.

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Michelle Fern: And we need to make sure our pets exercise.

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Michelle Fern: So my guest today created this amazing product that helps you with that.

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Michelle Fern: It's really unique, and we'll get into more.

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Michelle Fern: This is an, I'm excited to introduce you to him.

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Michelle Fern: Stay tuned, we'll be right back.

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Announcer: You know the expression, cats have nine lives.

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Announcer: Well, what if you can give them one more?

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Announcer: The Give Them Ten Movement is on a mission to help give cats an extra life.

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Announcer: How?

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Announcer: With spay and neuter.

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Announcer: Spaying or neutering your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life.

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Announcer: And it helps control free-roaming cat populations, too.

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Announcer: Learn more about the benefits of spay and neuter and meet Scooter, the neutered cat, at givethemten.org.

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Announcer: That's GiveThem, T-E-N, dot org.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.

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Michelle Fern: I'd like to welcome Mike Leon.

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Michelle Fern: He is the president of Bike Tow Leash.

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Michelle Fern: He is a mechanical engineer, an avid bike rider, and you are also a service dog trainer and of course, inventor of the Bike Tow Leash.

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Michelle Fern: I think I said that already.

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Michelle Fern: Mike, did I leave anything out?

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Michelle Fern: And welcome to Best Bets for Pets.

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Mike Leon: Well, thank you.

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Mike Leon: I think you were right on the money there.

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Michelle Fern: Good.

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Michelle Fern: Let's talk about some background.

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Michelle Fern: Can you share your brief background and what led to the creation of the Bike Tow Leash?

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Mike Leon: Yeah.

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Mike Leon: It started way back in 2001.

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Mike Leon: We started raising service dogs after the 9-11 attacks, our way of giving back.

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Mike Leon: The very first dog we were raising, Tribute, was a long-legged black lab.

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Mike Leon: And the protocol for raising service dogs is you've got to take them everywhere.

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Mike Leon: And my wife was going to take Tribute to work on the 4th floor where she was working, and expect Tribute to sleep at her feet till lunchtime.

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Mike Leon: And that's a tall order.

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Mike Leon: So she said, you need to exercise this dog before I take her to work and be there by 7 in the morning.

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Mike Leon: So about six months beforehand, I had been hit by a car biking.

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Mike Leon: And so I was still rehabbing my knee on a bicycle and trying to ride my girls to school as part of that.

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Mike Leon: And I got the idea of biking with Tribute, but the raising organization didn't feel that anything that was available at the time was safe enough.

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Mike Leon: And I didn't either, really.

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Mike Leon: And so that's when I decided to make one of my own.

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Mike Leon: And it worked so well, and Tribute loved it.

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Mike Leon: And we started sharing it with family and neighbors and determined that, yes, it worked well enough.

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Mike Leon: And six and a half years later, I opened our website after lots and lots of testing.

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Michelle Fern: What a great story.

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Michelle Fern: And it kind of hit the nail on the head.

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Michelle Fern: A lot of times we want to exercise, especially when they're pups or when they're really young.

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Michelle Fern: When I lived in Los Angeles, which I moved back to Florida in 2002.

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Michelle Fern: So I used to have to go to the dog park with my dog every single day because I lived in a city, there was no parks, she needed to run or else I would just pull my hair out.

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Michelle Fern: And I know I can, I have been with your wife, I took my dog once so she would be good for the groomer to the dog park to get her energy out.

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Michelle Fern: She rolled in the mud.

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Michelle Fern: Oh, I showed up and I had to tell the groomer, I didn't really mean to do this.

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Michelle Fern: I thought she would just release her energy.

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Michelle Fern: She wasn't that dirty, but now she looks like a little, like a pig, that stereotype pig that rolled in the muds.

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Michelle Fern: That's what she looked like.

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Mike Leon: I just thought you were trying to get your money's worth.

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Michelle Fern: Yeah, right, exactly.

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Michelle Fern: They do need a way to get their energy out.

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Michelle Fern: Now, a lot of people that are listening are probably saying, okay, I tried to bike with my dog.

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Michelle Fern: You try holding the leash, that's not good because it's not safe for the rider, it's not safe for your dog.

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Michelle Fern: You can't really attach a leash to your handlebars or anything, because again, not safe, not safe.

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Michelle Fern: Can you tell us the simple side version, because I don't want to dive deeper into it on our second half, but the simple version of how the Bike Tow Leash works?

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Michelle Fern: Okay.

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Mike Leon: Well, the very first thing is you don't want your dog to be able to knock you down, and so it's mounted low below the bike's center of gravity.

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Mike Leon: So if you let go of the bike and the dog pulls, the bike should fall away from your dog, they'll pull the bottom of the tire towards them.

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Mike Leon: So you don't feel any tipping as you ride, and by locating it near the rear axle, that's where the tire hits the ground, they don't have any steering moment.

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Mike Leon: They don't have any ability to turn the bike if they lunge sideways.

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Mike Leon: So the idea being that where they're putting the forces into the bike, they're not affecting your ability to decide where you're going and stay upright.

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Mike Leon: As far as telling the dog what to do, it's basically a smart arm that touches them in the side.

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Mike Leon: As they're moving forward, it'll touch them in the tender rib area, so they get a little nudge.

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Mike Leon: So it's doing everything you would do if you could mount your arm down and just hold on to the collar.

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Mike Leon: So they virtually learn it instantly because they can tell what you want them to do.

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Michelle Fern: That's amazing that you were able to create something like this.

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Michelle Fern: Now, we've talked about bikes.

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Michelle Fern: What about other motorized or non-motorized type of vehicles like a tricycle, like the adult tricycle?

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Mike Leon: Yeah, just about anything with wheels.

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Mike Leon: Our premise is that no matter your abilities, the dog's going to get a walk or run.

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Mike Leon: So we fit on bikes, trikes, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and power chairs.

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Mike Leon: The idea being that it's still going to fend the dog off.

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Mike Leon: It's touched them in the side.

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Mike Leon: My wife has a service dog and has had him for many years now, but we were just finishing the training session and had everybody was having a lunch at a restaurant.

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Mike Leon: And just as we're coming out, there was a lady with her fresh new service dog coming out of the restaurant and making a right hand turn next to the curb.

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Mike Leon: The sidewalk drops down to the street there and the dog stepped down, and the leash went underneath the wheels and wrapped up.

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Mike Leon: And I stopped her just in time before she ran over her dog's head.

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Mike Leon: So it's very important to keep the leash from being tangled no matter what you're riding, and particularly with power chairs, because they weigh 400 pounds without you in them.

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Mike Leon: So they can do a lot of damage real quick.

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Mike Leon: It's not just pinching the paws that can happen.

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Mike Leon: So you never want to have a bicycle fall on a dog, any of those things because then they're not going to want to get near it.

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Mike Leon: It'll take a lot more work to even get them back there if you ever do.

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Michelle Fern: Right, of course.

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Michelle Fern: Wow, what a great point.

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Michelle Fern: And I was recently on vacation with somebody with one of those scooters.

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Michelle Fern: My 94-year-old mother-in-law, she just needs it to go far distances.

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Michelle Fern: They are heavy.

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Michelle Fern: She's like Mario Andretti with she's not a good, she's not going to listen to this.

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Michelle Fern: She doesn't do podcast, so she's okay.

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Michelle Fern: But I know what you mean.

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Michelle Fern: And not everyone that's on a motorized device, like a scooter or I would say more scooters than wheelchairs because if someone's in a chair, they probably have been in it constantly and they're get used to how to use it.

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Michelle Fern: But if you use a scooter and they don't use it all the time, some of them, some of the people that are driving them don't ever get used to driving them.

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Michelle Fern: So they'll go back, go forward and some do have, you know, service dogs.

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Michelle Fern: So that is a great point.

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Michelle Fern: And I'm glad you saved that dog.

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Michelle Fern: Why do people think they can hold?

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Michelle Fern: I know I'm going to get hate email for this, but why do people think they can hold a leash and still operate a vehicle at the same time or attach a leash to the point where it's dropping on the ground so it can get tangled in their wheels and injure themselves?

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Michelle Fern: The dog, why does this happen?

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Mike Leon: They just don't know that there is a safe way.

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Mike Leon: And I've certainly have run across plenty of potential customers that will go to a bike trail to go biking and we'll see them walking their dog in.

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Mike Leon: The dog's dragging them down the trail.

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Mike Leon: And then two hours later or so, they're all hot and sweaty and the dog is still pulling them along.

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Mike Leon: And that's my cue to approach and say, here's a brochure.

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Mike Leon: And you know, you could have been riding your bike and the dog would actually be tired instead of you.

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Mike Leon: And we'll get comments like, we were just talking about something like that.

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Michelle Fern: We're going to get into this and we might mention this more than once, but you also made a good point that when people are out with their dog and they're bicycling with their dog with the Bike Tow Leash, we said that dogs are working four times as hard as they are.

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Michelle Fern: So also, you've kept in mind, I looked at your, we asked questions on your website and did a bunch of research.

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Michelle Fern: You keep in mind the dog, you tell the pet parent, hey, keep this in mind and you're in a warm place.

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Michelle Fern: You're in Central Florida, right?

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Michelle Fern: Correct.

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Michelle Fern: So I'm further south.

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Michelle Fern: So we both know there's times where you just don't even take your dog out or you better adjust to the times of the day because it's heat wise and all of that.

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Michelle Fern: How much do you emphasize when you're getting questions or talking to people, keep in mind your dog's abilities.

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Michelle Fern: If it's a little dog or a flat nosed dog, it's probably once round the block is enough.

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Michelle Fern: How do you communicate that information?

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Michelle Fern: I mean, it's educating the pet parent.

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Michelle Fern: It's not your job, so to speak, but you seem very conscientious.

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Mike Leon: Yeah.

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Mike Leon: The whole reason we're doing this is for safety.

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Mike Leon: And the last thing we want to do is harm an animal.

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Mike Leon: And so we tell people here locally with our climate, you know, if it's above 83 degrees, don't do an extended ride.

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Mike Leon: We have lots of lights and stuff like that for riding at night.

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Mike Leon: The interesting thing about ride at night is you scare up the critters, the rabbits and stuff like that.

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Mike Leon: And you'll find out how much control you really do have.

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Mike Leon: The dogs are going to react, but they're not going to knock you off the bike.

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Mike Leon: I've been doing it since 2001 and not had a dog knock me off the bike.

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Mike Leon: And there's been plenty of opportunities.

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Mike Leon: We've come across a lot of critters and a lot of other animals and loose dogs.

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Mike Leon: Loose dogs are probably your biggest worry, is that you just don't know what they're going to do.

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Michelle Fern: I know deer in other parts of the country.

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Michelle Fern: Down here, it's raccoons and possums.

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Mike Leon: Yeah, we've scared up wild boar and deer as well.

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Mike Leon: Wow.

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Michelle Fern: All right, we're going to take a short break.

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Michelle Fern: We'll be right back.

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Announcer: Take a bite out of your competition.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: On Pet Life Radio.

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Michelle Fern: Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: .com.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.

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Michelle Fern: We're talking to Mike Leon, who's the president and inventor of the Bike Tow Leash.

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Michelle Fern: Okay, Mike, let's talk more about the Bike Tow Leash and how it works.

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Michelle Fern: Can you use any kind of collar?

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Mike Leon: I've developed a collar we have on our website.

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Mike Leon: It's a modified martingale.

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Mike Leon: And the reason for it is that a lot of people will feel, oh, and you'll get hate mail for this, is the unique way the Bike Tow Leash works is that the pulling is from the side, not up against the throat.

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Mike Leon: And so if you have a loose collar, it will ride against the outside shoulder and the side of the neck, not the throat area.

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Mike Leon: And so a loose collar is good for many reasons in that you're not going to have all those chafing points.

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Mike Leon: It's just going to rest there.

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Mike Leon: And if you do accidentally get too close to something, your dog has the option of bailing out of it.

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Mike Leon: Now, if you're in an area where getting loose is really bad or you've got a dog that has no recall at all, then you can use the center ring.

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Mike Leon: We have, the collar has three rings.

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Mike Leon: We call the ones on the outside the dead rings.

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Mike Leon: The ones in the center is the one that will cinch up.

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Mike Leon: And we adjust it to where it doesn't choke, but just is snug enough to keep from going over the dog's ears.

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Mike Leon: But if you have a nice loose one, it lets the dog pull all they want to, and they will propel your bicycle quite nicely.

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Mike Leon: With a harness, they typically, even if you have one that has a side attachment point, they tend to pull sideways and have a way of chafing.

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Mike Leon: And if you're too far back, then you're getting your dog ahead of the smart arm.

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Mike Leon: It's not gonna touch them and thin them off the bike and give them that communication.

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Michelle Fern: Okay, thank you for that information.

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Michelle Fern: Now, we're gonna talk more about other working things.

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Michelle Fern: And I have my questions that I'm sure my listeners that are skeptics are probably thinking of.

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Michelle Fern: But before we get to that, how easy is it to install?

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Mike Leon: It goes on with just two thumb knobs to attach it.

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Mike Leon: There's a new bicycle out every day, especially now these e-bikes.

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Mike Leon: We recommend people leave the power off on an e-bike, at least until they know what they're doing with it, because we don't want to drag a dog.

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Mike Leon: But you can attach on the left side or the right side.

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Mike Leon: Everybody's got their preferences for biking on narrow two-way trails, where driving is on the right-hand side.

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Mike Leon: I recommend the shoulder side of the road, so that you don't have your dogs meeting bicycles coming out the other way head-on, or bicycles overtaking you and spooking your dogs.

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Mike Leon: That's not nice.

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Mike Leon: Also, if I'm riding with more than one dog, you get to be pretty wide.

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Mike Leon: Definitely want them on the shoulder side.

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Mike Leon: They also get to sniff, and it's easier on their paws if they're in a nice grass shoulder.

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Michelle Fern: You mentioned more than one dog, so you can have up to two dogs.

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Mike Leon: I've ridden with three.

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Mike Leon: I've got a trainer up in Canada that likes to show off with five and six.

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Michelle Fern: Oh my gosh.

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Mike Leon: But two is very comfortable using our dog coupler, also available on our website.

00:15:36.916 --> 00:15:43.396
Mike Leon: It extends what the Bike Tow Leash SmartArm does and spaces the dogs, lets them know where the bike is.

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Mike Leon: And you typically put the more powerful fast dog next to the bike.

00:15:47.776 --> 00:15:51.356
Mike Leon: So they're the ones expending the energy to propel you along.

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Mike Leon: And if they are faster than the other dog, there's typically a faster dog in the crowd.

00:15:58.356 --> 00:16:03.636
Mike Leon: And that slows them down and lets the other dog keep up and be packed leader for a while.

00:16:03.636 --> 00:16:11.676
Mike Leon: And it's certainly the dynamic between my wife's service dog, Ray, and my daughter's dog, Skylar, that she likes to pull, pull, pull.

00:16:11.676 --> 00:16:17.016
Mike Leon: So you feather the brakes and let her expend the right amount of energy and let Ray keep up.

00:16:17.016 --> 00:16:20.756
Michelle Fern: What range of dog is the Bike Tow Leash for?

00:16:20.756 --> 00:16:25.156
Michelle Fern: And also, how do you introduce your dog to the Bike Tow Leash?

00:16:25.156 --> 00:16:27.436
Mike Leon: I think I've done as low as a seven pound dog.

00:16:27.436 --> 00:16:29.756
Mike Leon: It was a little min pin.

00:16:29.756 --> 00:16:32.876
Mike Leon: But 10 to 185 is what we recommend.

00:16:32.876 --> 00:16:44.336
Mike Leon: And introducing the dogs to the Bike Tow Leash, if you know your dog well and don't think there's any history with bicycles, you can just clip them on and make a couple maneuvers and they get it.

00:16:44.336 --> 00:16:48.336
Mike Leon: If they have a fear of bikes, then you might have to use some treats or something.

00:16:48.336 --> 00:16:52.636
Mike Leon: If you've ever dropped a bike on or something like that, then you've got more work to do.

00:16:52.636 --> 00:16:58.356
Mike Leon: The only time I didn't get a dog on initially was a dog that had never been on a leash at all before.

00:16:58.396 --> 00:17:06.676
Mike Leon: Totally free-range dog and any leash at all made the dog grab the ground like a cat would if you put them on a leash, just laying on their belly and grabbing.

00:17:06.676 --> 00:17:08.096
Mike Leon: I'm not going anywhere.

00:17:08.096 --> 00:17:20.496
Mike Leon: That same dog we got on a few weeks later after it been tied up in the garden because it had been running loose and needed a vet visitor to chasing critters.

00:17:20.496 --> 00:17:21.436
Mike Leon: It worked out.

00:17:21.436 --> 00:17:25.836
Michelle Fern: I would say that doesn't really count because if the dog's not even used to a leash.

00:17:25.836 --> 00:17:26.336
Mike Leon: Yeah.

00:17:26.336 --> 00:17:27.896
Mike Leon: The dog's got to be willing to go with you.

00:17:28.076 --> 00:17:40.656
Mike Leon: I tried to go with a customer's dog that literally came to our house to pick one up, and I took off across the field and made it about 20 yards before the dog said, wait a minute, you're not my master and just stopped.

00:17:40.656 --> 00:17:42.856
Mike Leon: And then he got on the bike and kept going.

00:17:42.856 --> 00:17:45.476
Mike Leon: But dogs have the ability to decide if they're going or not.

00:17:45.476 --> 00:17:52.236
Mike Leon: And that's one of the beautiful parts of the Bike Tow Leash, is you can tell if they're willing to go or if they need to slow down and stop.

00:17:52.236 --> 00:17:58.776
Mike Leon: That's a feature that's built into it is that the dogs have the ability to get fully behind the bike to avoid obstacles.

00:17:58.776 --> 00:18:02.456
Mike Leon: They also when they're pulling forward, you see them forward.

00:18:02.456 --> 00:18:08.216
Mike Leon: But if the arm starts moving back, it means slow down or I need to rest or some water.

00:18:08.216 --> 00:18:08.636
Michelle Fern: Thank you.

00:18:08.636 --> 00:18:09.476
Michelle Fern: That's good to know.

00:18:09.476 --> 00:18:13.656
Michelle Fern: So let's talk about, this is for everybody out there that's saying, yeah, sure.

00:18:13.656 --> 00:18:14.736
Michelle Fern: How is this going to work?

00:18:14.736 --> 00:18:16.096
Michelle Fern: All the skepticals.

00:18:16.096 --> 00:18:21.896
Michelle Fern: You were awarded by the APA, the American Pet Association, five stars.

00:18:21.896 --> 00:18:23.096
Michelle Fern: So tell us about that.

00:18:23.156 --> 00:18:27.796
Michelle Fern: You were the only device of your kind that has five stars.

00:18:27.796 --> 00:18:28.196
Mike Leon: Yeah.

00:18:28.196 --> 00:18:29.636
Mike Leon: We were asked to submit.

00:18:29.776 --> 00:18:35.576
Mike Leon: They wanted to check us out and we sent samples down there and they tried them out.

00:18:35.576 --> 00:18:39.776
Mike Leon: Their write up states that it was above their possible expectations.

00:18:39.776 --> 00:18:44.636
Mike Leon: The instructions provided help to protect the animals and it went right on their bikes.

00:18:45.776 --> 00:18:48.056
Mike Leon: The animals learned it instantly.

00:18:48.916 --> 00:18:52.496
Mike Leon: That's been years and years ago and we've only made them better since then.

00:18:53.036 --> 00:18:55.756
Michelle Fern: What would you say to someone out there?

00:18:55.756 --> 00:19:02.936
Michelle Fern: Because I'm sure there's someone out there that might say, yeah, but I just don't know.

00:19:02.936 --> 00:19:11.316
Michelle Fern: What if I stop short or what if I get tired and have to walk my bike or if I get a flat and have to walk my bike?

00:19:11.316 --> 00:19:17.776
Michelle Fern: I'm pulling things that are just out there because I get these questions for that listening and for you, Mike.

00:19:17.776 --> 00:19:20.396
Michelle Fern: Or they have to walk the bike or they get a flat tire.

00:19:21.016 --> 00:19:23.036
Michelle Fern: What would happen if you had a flat rear tire?

00:19:23.036 --> 00:19:26.176
Michelle Fern: How hard would that be to change with the Bike Tow Leash?

00:19:26.176 --> 00:19:27.096
Mike Leon: To change it?

00:19:27.096 --> 00:19:28.796
Mike Leon: It's not really any different.

00:19:28.796 --> 00:19:33.396
Mike Leon: Depending on how it's mounted on the bike, you may not even have to take the Bike Tow Leash off.

00:19:33.396 --> 00:19:40.376
Mike Leon: You just turn your bike over so it's sitting on the, resting on the seat and pull your tire off.

00:19:40.376 --> 00:19:44.176
Mike Leon: We have different attachments depending on the bike geometry.

00:19:44.176 --> 00:19:46.736
Mike Leon: That's been the challenge over the years.

00:19:46.736 --> 00:20:00.776
Mike Leon: We started this, all the bikes were made out of steel and then aluminum and then they started putting disc brakes on and then we started adding more and more sprockets in the back, all these things, and the desire to be on the right-hand side as well.

00:20:00.776 --> 00:20:08.216
Mike Leon: So we have a quick mount attachment, we've got a chainstay attachment, and then we have the standard clamp as well.

00:20:08.436 --> 00:20:16.756
Mike Leon: If it's attached with the standard clamp or chainstay clamp, it doesn't slow down taking the rear wheel off at all with the quick mount.

00:20:16.756 --> 00:20:22.856
Mike Leon: It just means the axle slides out through the hole in the quick mount or the quick mount just comes off as you take the wheel off.

00:20:22.856 --> 00:20:25.216
Mike Leon: So it doesn't slow that down.

00:20:25.216 --> 00:20:28.536
Michelle Fern: It sounds like a foreign language that you're speaking to some of us.

00:20:28.576 --> 00:20:29.116
Mike Leon: Okay.

00:20:29.116 --> 00:20:35.096
Michelle Fern: Your website and see everything they need to see, because you have some great videos there too.

00:20:35.096 --> 00:20:40.716
Mike Leon: Yeah, there's videos that show you how to install and there's some training videos.

00:20:40.716 --> 00:20:51.436
Mike Leon: The Bike Tow Leash was shown multiple times on the CBS TV show Lucky Dog, and Brandon McMillan goes through several steps to train.

00:20:51.436 --> 00:20:55.116
Mike Leon: I think it was a yellow lab named Sawyer, how to bike.

00:20:55.576 --> 00:20:59.316
Mike Leon: Again, he doesn't have any history on this dog.

00:20:59.316 --> 00:21:09.576
Mike Leon: This dog is a rescue, so he's going through all the steps with a peanut butter lure, and walking the dog next to the bike, and all these steps that may or may not be necessary in every case.

00:21:09.576 --> 00:21:14.476
Michelle Fern: I also saw a picture of you, and it looks like you were at Global Pet Expo, which is in your backyard.

00:21:14.776 --> 00:21:17.636
Michelle Fern: And there was someone in a chair with their service dog.

00:21:17.636 --> 00:21:20.156
Mike Leon: Yeah, that's my wife with Ray.

00:21:20.156 --> 00:21:21.976
Michelle Fern: Oh, wonderful.

00:21:21.976 --> 00:21:23.516
Michelle Fern: I didn't see a name there.

00:21:23.516 --> 00:21:24.556
Michelle Fern: Glad you guys were there.

00:21:24.556 --> 00:21:30.036
Michelle Fern: That is quite a show, and it's just a great product that you have.

00:21:30.036 --> 00:21:34.876
Michelle Fern: What do people need to know before they order their bike to leave?

00:21:34.876 --> 00:21:47.096
Michelle Fern: So what do they need to know or be prepared to get information on regarding their bike, or their chair, or their scooter, motorized bike, or their trike, whatever they're using?

00:21:47.096 --> 00:21:53.276
Mike Leon: They need to go to our website, www.biketoaleash.com, and there is a link to our fit chart.

00:21:53.276 --> 00:22:10.156
Mike Leon: We continually add to that on a daily basis every time we get another customer and have to look at pictures, look it up on the web and see what it looks like to see, depending on which side they want it on, what that particular product needs in order to be installed.

00:22:10.836 --> 00:22:17.716
Mike Leon: If you don't find it on there, then you're instructed to send us an e-mail or go into the chat.

00:22:17.716 --> 00:22:29.016
Mike Leon: Often people get to talk directly with me and see what they have, if it's something we haven't seen before, but we're constantly adding to it and letting people know what it takes to put on.

00:22:29.016 --> 00:22:43.716
Michelle Fern: For mine, so I got it for my partner's bike because my bike is, I started with the mountain bike and then I put pieces of different types, so the bike is just a mix of all kinds of things, so I thought that'd be a mess.

00:22:43.716 --> 00:22:45.976
Michelle Fern: His is a Schwinn.

00:22:45.976 --> 00:22:54.476
Michelle Fern: We sent you a picture of the back axle because from the name of it, I think there's a stationary bike that has the same name.

00:22:54.476 --> 00:22:55.916
Mike Leon: I remember that now.

00:22:56.436 --> 00:23:00.296
Michelle Fern: I was like, I need this picture and he had to go in the garage.

00:23:00.296 --> 00:23:06.956
Michelle Fern: Because now we exercise a different way because it's 100 degrees right now in Florida, but soon we'll be able to get the bikes out.

00:23:07.096 --> 00:23:11.016
Michelle Fern: But I did test it early, early in the morning with my tester, Tilly.

00:23:11.016 --> 00:23:12.336
Michelle Fern: Worked easy.

00:23:12.336 --> 00:23:14.236
Michelle Fern: Tilly has a ton of energy.

00:23:14.236 --> 00:23:17.276
Michelle Fern: She's a friend's dog since ours were in doggy heaven.

00:23:17.276 --> 00:23:20.976
Michelle Fern: I'm waiting for you to come out with a cat, something for the cats.

00:23:20.976 --> 00:23:23.956
Michelle Fern: I don't know how I can catch them to the bike.

00:23:23.956 --> 00:23:24.976
Michelle Fern: I'm joking people.

00:23:25.256 --> 00:23:27.436
Michelle Fern: You can't have a cat outside on a bike.

00:23:27.436 --> 00:23:29.376
Michelle Fern: They would just, can you imagine?

00:23:29.376 --> 00:23:32.076
Michelle Fern: But some people walk their cats on leashes.

00:23:32.076 --> 00:23:34.336
Mike Leon: My brother-in-law did that for many years.

00:23:34.676 --> 00:23:50.316
Mike Leon: And as a joke with my daughter, I put her cat on there and she's looking through the window and doing exactly what I described it that the dog that had never been on a leash before did was just lay on her belly and grab with her claws all the way around.

00:23:50.316 --> 00:23:52.856
Michelle Fern: Yeah, I don't do this.

00:23:52.856 --> 00:23:53.836
Mike Leon: I'm not going to do it.

00:23:53.836 --> 00:23:55.536
Mike Leon: Those dogs will do it, but I'm not doing it.

00:23:55.536 --> 00:23:56.556
Mike Leon: I am not a dog.

00:23:56.556 --> 00:23:57.656
Michelle Fern: Yep, there.

00:23:57.716 --> 00:24:05.936
Michelle Fern: And yep, many shows where we talk about on my other show, Catatude, that cats are not small dogs and they are who they are.

00:24:05.936 --> 00:24:06.676
Michelle Fern: Okay.

00:24:06.676 --> 00:24:10.476
Michelle Fern: What about as far as color?

00:24:10.476 --> 00:24:11.916
Michelle Fern: You use safety colors.

00:24:11.916 --> 00:24:13.036
Michelle Fern: I love that.

00:24:13.036 --> 00:24:14.536
Michelle Fern: Is there anything you need to put?

00:24:14.536 --> 00:24:19.376
Michelle Fern: Do you sell something you mentioned before that you put on the bike if you're riding at night?

00:24:19.376 --> 00:24:20.916
Mike Leon: I always recommend lights.

00:24:21.096 --> 00:24:29.516
Mike Leon: I don't have any on the website, but I have continually upgraded my lights with technology.

00:24:29.516 --> 00:24:34.636
Mike Leon: We went from incandescent to LEDs and have a light on my head and a light on the handlebars.

00:24:34.836 --> 00:24:39.436
Mike Leon: Sometimes I put a light on the leash itself or the dogs will have a light on their car.

00:24:39.436 --> 00:24:42.656
Mike Leon: It depends on where you're riding, how much light you need.

00:24:42.656 --> 00:24:50.856
Mike Leon: If you've got to really know what your terrain is, if my favorite is to ride on off-road trails, and you definitely don't do that in the dark.

00:24:52.476 --> 00:24:55.136
Michelle Fern: I don't think you don't do that at night, right?

00:24:55.136 --> 00:25:03.536
Mike Leon: Well, I have, back in 2018, we entered into a virtual race called Iron Paws.

00:25:03.536 --> 00:25:15.696
Mike Leon: With my daughter's dog and wife's dog, we did two dog, it was a two dog mushing team basically, but we were competing against other teams for mileage and points.

00:25:15.696 --> 00:25:19.776
Mike Leon: And we won it for the two dog team in 2018.

00:25:19.776 --> 00:25:24.256
Mike Leon: But in order to do so, we ran at night quite a bit because of the temperatures.

00:25:24.256 --> 00:25:29.716
Mike Leon: And our big advantage was that you have to keep it exciting for the dogs to keep them willing to go.

00:25:29.716 --> 00:25:31.916
Mike Leon: And we were able to do off-road trails.

00:25:32.116 --> 00:25:34.876
Mike Leon: And part of running at night was scaring up critters.

00:25:35.276 --> 00:25:40.196
Mike Leon: And we had the advantage over other teams that put the dogs out front.

00:25:41.016 --> 00:25:43.236
Mike Leon: A big advantage was we weren't falling down.

00:25:43.236 --> 00:25:50.076
Mike Leon: And the other one was that we could take twisty trails instead of just going in a straight line, which I find kind of boring.

00:25:50.636 --> 00:25:52.216
Michelle Fern: I like your idea of trails.

00:25:52.216 --> 00:25:58.476
Michelle Fern: You know, one thing we didn't really talk about, but you brought up something, and it's definitely worth mentioning again.

00:25:58.476 --> 00:26:10.376
Michelle Fern: When someone is not using the Bike Tow Leash, how likely is the chance that they will, this is a strange percentage, because you probably don't know, but you probably have enough experience to guess.

00:26:10.376 --> 00:26:18.056
Michelle Fern: What I'm asking is, what is the likelihood someone's going to fall if they are not using a device, you know, not using the Bike Tow Leash?

00:26:18.056 --> 00:26:19.656
Mike Leon: And trying to ride with their dogs?

00:26:19.656 --> 00:26:21.116
Michelle Fern: And ride, yes, thank you.

00:26:21.116 --> 00:26:22.896
Michelle Fern: Trying to ride with their dog.

00:26:22.896 --> 00:26:23.836
Mike Leon: Okay.

00:26:23.836 --> 00:26:29.596
Mike Leon: Yeah, well, I've got firsthand experience with that in several ways.

00:26:29.596 --> 00:26:38.436
Mike Leon: One, I made it less than a mile many years ago when I didn't have a leash, and we had gone to Trails North of Orlando.

00:26:38.436 --> 00:26:46.316
Mike Leon: My wife and my two young girls and one of the service dogs we were training, we trained 10 service dogs before needing our own.

00:26:46.316 --> 00:26:51.096
Mike Leon: We had made the commitment that we weren't going to ride until six months of age with the dogs.

00:26:51.096 --> 00:26:55.896
Mike Leon: And this was a five and a half month old young black lab.

00:26:55.896 --> 00:27:05.296
Mike Leon: And this is before we were selling and everything was a prototype and I didn't have, I searched high and low in our van.

00:27:05.296 --> 00:27:15.256
Mike Leon: I didn't have a prototype there when my wife said, because we had gone up there with three bikes and Betsy, my wife was just going to hold the dog while I went for a ride with my girls.

00:27:15.256 --> 00:27:17.136
Mike Leon: And the dog was having none of it.

00:27:17.136 --> 00:27:18.516
Mike Leon: She wanted to go with us.

00:27:18.516 --> 00:27:25.256
Mike Leon: And so my wife very calmly said to me, not really, take this dog or we're going home.

00:27:25.256 --> 00:27:27.136
Mike Leon: And it was a beautiful day and I didn't want to go home.

00:27:27.496 --> 00:27:32.276
Mike Leon: So I stuck my left arm out like a clothesline and held the leash.

00:27:32.276 --> 00:27:41.876
Mike Leon: And just as soon as the dog saw something she wanted to check out off the trail to the left, I had to steer right into a tree.

00:27:41.876 --> 00:27:42.636
Mike Leon: Oh my God.

00:27:42.636 --> 00:27:44.356
Mike Leon: To keep from getting knocked over.

00:27:44.356 --> 00:27:50.896
Mike Leon: And I hit that tree and slid all the way down and it kind of opened up my right arm with all that bark and stuff.

00:27:50.896 --> 00:27:56.076
Mike Leon: And so that little visit was more than the expense of one leash.

00:27:56.556 --> 00:27:59.656
Mike Leon: Just sliding down a tree and getting an infected arm.

00:27:59.656 --> 00:28:01.716
Mike Leon: So it's all about safety.

00:28:03.036 --> 00:28:07.056
Mike Leon: And then we joined a group called Central Florida Urban Mushers.

00:28:07.056 --> 00:28:13.656
Mike Leon: And there was a lot of pride in teaching your dogs A and G and on by.

00:28:13.656 --> 00:28:19.916
Mike Leon: All the different commands for having your dog out front, like mushing with a sled, only you have a two-wheel bicycle.

00:28:19.916 --> 00:28:26.776
Mike Leon: And the problem is that the dogs, if you see something along the way that they want to do, they have the ability to do that.

00:28:26.776 --> 00:28:30.856
Mike Leon: And by definition, running off road, there's critters out there.

00:28:30.856 --> 00:28:37.076
Mike Leon: And so a good day for riding with the dogs out front, it's called bike-joring, where they're hooked to the handlebars.

00:28:37.076 --> 00:28:41.236
Mike Leon: A good day is when you only get docked down twice, and that's twice too many for me.

00:28:41.236 --> 00:28:44.976
Michelle Fern: Well, what I was starting to say was, I'm so sorry to hear about your injury.

00:28:44.976 --> 00:28:53.596
Michelle Fern: How you described it, and it's, I don't mean this to be funny, but it sounds almost like what you've seen on cartoons, where someone goes into a tree and just slides down.

00:28:55.716 --> 00:28:57.716
Michelle Fern: Yeah, real life.

00:28:57.716 --> 00:28:59.676
Michelle Fern: I mean, oh my gosh.

00:28:59.676 --> 00:29:03.436
Mike Leon: Yeah, there's more bacteria and stuff and tree bark than you can imagine.

00:29:03.436 --> 00:29:05.636
Mike Leon: And I didn't get it cleaned out well enough.

00:29:05.636 --> 00:29:09.916
Michelle Fern: I've learned about cat scratches, what a simple cat scratch can do, so I believe it.

00:29:09.916 --> 00:29:15.456
Michelle Fern: All right, so Mike, let's talk about something that usually people don't like to talk about.

00:29:15.456 --> 00:29:19.936
Michelle Fern: Bryce, what's the cost and how cost effective is it?

00:29:20.156 --> 00:29:32.936
Mike Leon: Well, the Bike Tow Leash sells for $183 on our website, and it's certainly less than the cost of one fall or vet visit if you have an injury.

00:29:32.936 --> 00:29:41.496
Mike Leon: And 100% of our profits go to dog adoptions and dog training and dog rescue.

00:29:41.496 --> 00:29:45.676
Michelle Fern: So I'm excited for everyone out there to try to Bike Tow Leash.

00:29:45.676 --> 00:29:47.076
Michelle Fern: I think it's a great idea.

00:29:47.696 --> 00:29:53.576
Michelle Fern: It's important for you to exercise as humans, you know, very important to exercise your dog.

00:29:53.576 --> 00:29:55.096
Michelle Fern: Why not do it together?

00:29:55.096 --> 00:29:57.376
Michelle Fern: Where can people buy their own Bike Tow Leash?

00:29:57.376 --> 00:30:01.776
Mike Leon: The best place and get the best service is right off our website, bike tow leash.com.

00:30:02.436 --> 00:30:03.796
Mike Leon: That's biketowleash.com.

00:30:07.136 --> 00:30:12.096
Mike Leon: And there's no better way to bond with your dog than let them go the pace they want to go.

00:30:12.096 --> 00:30:15.256
Michelle Fern: Mike, thank you so much for coming on Best Bets for Pets.

00:30:15.256 --> 00:30:16.296
Mike Leon: Thank you for having me, Michelle.

00:30:16.696 --> 00:30:27.556
Michelle Fern: I would like to thank my guest, Mike Leon, the president of Bike Tow Leash and also the inventor, for coming on Best Bets for Pets and telling us all about the Bike Tow Leash.

00:30:27.556 --> 00:30:28.956
Michelle Fern: Please check it out.

00:30:28.956 --> 00:30:30.156
Michelle Fern: Go to the website.

00:30:30.156 --> 00:30:34.596
Michelle Fern: This is a really, a really cool product and I loved using it.

00:30:34.596 --> 00:30:40.216
Michelle Fern: I want to thank Tilly, who was my helper as I tested the Bike Tow Leash.

00:30:40.256 --> 00:30:46.396
Michelle Fern: Thanks to Dennis, Charlotte and Molly, who listened to me afterwards and say, what a great ride that was.

00:30:46.396 --> 00:30:47.936
Michelle Fern: Because hey, they're cats, right?

00:30:47.936 --> 00:30:48.916
Michelle Fern: They don't do this.

00:30:48.916 --> 00:30:51.896
Michelle Fern: And of course, thanks to everyone listening to Best Bets for Pets.

00:30:51.896 --> 00:30:53.756
Michelle Fern: I appreciate it so much.

00:30:53.756 --> 00:30:58.176
Michelle Fern: And of course, the show would not be the same without the magic of my producer, Mark Winter.

00:30:58.176 --> 00:30:59.436
Michelle Fern: Thank you so much, Mark.

00:30:59.436 --> 00:31:01.036
Michelle Fern: And hey, keep listening.

00:31:01.036 --> 00:31:05.116
Michelle Fern: You never know what we're going to have next on Best Bets for Pets.

00:31:05.176 --> 00:31:11.116
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets, Every Week, On Demand, only on petliferadio.com.

 

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