Terrier bikes around Europe with owner

RIGHT: Easy rider: Smudge travels around Europe strapped to his owner Rob Fuller (Pictures: Caters)

28th June, 2010

Forget walkies – hairy biker Smudge gets his kicks out of hitting the open road on a classic bike.

The Jack Russell has clocked up 17,700km (11,000 miles) biking around Europe on owner Rob Fuller’s Triumph Tiger.

Smudge, who travels on the bike in a leather pouch attached to her master, has been everywhere from the French Alps to the Czech Republic.

‘She loves being on the bike and it’s a bit more fun for her than getting stuck in kennels for a month while I’m away,’ said Mr Fuller, from Hull.

‘She took to it like a duck to water. I don’t know how she does it but she knows how to ride a bike. She knows how to lean in when we go round corners, and she’s got great balance.’

Mr Fuller’s wife, Lyn, 49, often joins the pair on their European rides – but sometimes travels on her own bike to give Smudge more room.

Smudge has even developed a system for letting her best friend know when she has a call of nature.

She taps the 50-year-old on the elbow with her paw and doesn’t remove it until he stops at a grass verge.

‘It was something I was slightly concerned about the first time I strapped her on to the bike but I had nothing to worry about.’

Mr Fuller said he thinks the three yearold is ‘one of the most popular dogs in Europe’.

‘We always get a lot of attention wherever we go. We’ve been invited to visit fellow bikers in countries all over the world by people we’ve met on our rides.

‘Everyone thinks Smudge is great but they all say there’s no way they’d ride with a dog strapped to their chest.’

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/833057-terrier-bikes-around-europe-with-owner