Biker's sidecar-riding dog 'making people smile'

Alan Valkeith

A man who adapted the sidecar of his motorbike to accommodate his eight-year-old St Bernard said they were getting lots of attention.

Alan Valkeith, 78, and his dog Louis ride around their hometown of March, Cambridgeshire in a Honda GL1500 Gold Wing.

“People smile as soon as they see us and we’ve had people overtake us and stop and get out just to take pictures,” Valkeith said.

He is now busy making a “doggy caravan” for his pet, who he adopted about six years ago having been found abandoned in Liverpool.

John Devine/BBC

“As soon as I get his harness out, he yanks, which he doesn’t normally, but he gets quite excited because he knows he is going in the sidecar,” he continued.

“I have had police stop me three times to take photos, which seemed funny at the time.”

Valkeith said all four of the St Bernards he had owned enjoyed travelling this way: “They’ve all gone in the sidecar because I don’t like leaving them at home.”

Ferry Meadows in Peterborough is one of the first places he intends to visit with Louis once the new caravan is ready, which will give his dog a dedicated place to sleep.

John Devine/BBC

The Highway Code says dogs travelling in vehicles must be “suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly”.

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