When you get to take your best friend on the road..
The bond between a man and his dog is a special one. Such is the story of Michael Fiala and his best friend Sox, a Husky. It was love at first sight when Michael first met Sox as a puppy. Sox behaved differently from the other pups in the litter. As Michael observed, he seemed to have a better understanding of the world. Huskies are known to be vocal animals and Sox was just so with his deep voice.
Pix courtesy of Michael Fiala
Their bond today grows stronger as the pair are currently travelling across the United States of America, on Michael’s motorcycle. They’ve spent nearly 4000 hours on the bike together, and Michael via an email interview with the Mirror Magazine gives an insight into their journey thus far.
Michael recalls him and his father playing with Sox for over an hour when they first met him. His father had a two hour ride home, so he took off after dinner and Michael returned to his apartment at college.
Two weeks later, he visited his dad’s house in Chicago, where he heard a soft whimpering from a back room of his house. “When I went to investigate, I opened the door and saw it was that very same puppy. I couldn’t believe what I saw. And from that day on, Sox was mine.”
Back in college Michael studied animal behavior and conservation techniques. This proved helpful when it came to training Sox. The process itself was very long, he recalls. However, the time they spent on basic and advanced obedience training was the most important aspect of it all.
Sox was a perfect companion. But, prior to working on the motorcycle, he needed to not be distracted by other animals, cars, people and noises, etc. And that could only be possible if his advanced obedience training was perfect.
After this, Michael would set Sox on the motorcycle and brush him so he’d get used to sitting on the bike for a long time. Later on Michael also had the engine running, so Sox would feel the rumble of the bike.
The next stage was to teach Sox to sit on the bike and place his arms on Michael’s shoulders. Michael would lean back and forth on the bike so that Sox would learn to reposition his feet. “I taught him commands, to have him tuck closer to me to get out of the wind. We even practiced our technique for jumping off the bike in an emergency,” he explains. Michael would also drive over speed bumps to have Sox get used to uneven terrain.
The pair spent nearly three to four months practicing, before the actual riding. “But now, I tell people Sox is a professional dog with an affinity toward riding.”
Michael and Sox
He loved motorcycles his whole life, but didn’t own one till he was about 21. “When I moved to Hawaii I could only afford to keep my motorcycle so that’s why I decided to train sox to ride,” he tells us.
Once Sox and Michael had finished their training, Michael decided it was time to see all 50 states and all 61 national parks in the USA.
Their journey thus far has been beyond anything Michael could dream of. Michael has seen so much of the US and Sox has been with him every step of the way.
Michael tells us, he does come across those moments where he’d be tired and sore. But, he’d then glance back and see Sox, with a smile, tongue in the wind, and Michael’s heart smiles back.
“We are sharing something special,” he says.
When they moved to the mainland USA from Hawaii to travel the country, Michael had to purchase a different type of motorcycle. “One with saddle bags, heated handle grips, more comfortable riding position, and a bigger seat for Sox.” He also had to sell most of his belongings so the pair could travel with the bare necessities.
But taking this step was such an “amazingly free feeling. We can pick up and go almost anywhere at almost any time. It’s a dream come true,” he says.
The pair have been riding for over seven years now. But, Michael didn’t make a social media page for Sox until a year and a half ago. This is because he never wanted to do this for attention. “I wanted to do this because it’s what my heart asked of me. I wanted to spend my life enjoying the world with my best friend.”
But, when he was finally convinced, after years of people saying he should create a social account for Sox, it was for one reason. To inspire.
Michael hopes his journey with Sox would inspire people to live their dreams. He wants people to feel like they have options to take their pets with them on their journey. “I want dogs to go on vacations and be brought to work. I hope people can look to us and see what’s possible, and hopefully take what’s possible even further.”
Follow Michael and Sox on instagram.com/the_bike_dog/?hl=en www.facebook.com/TheBikeDog/
