Dog drags fat guy 10 miles!

one of my training partners sometimes brings her dog.  I swear it's a form of cheating.  You should see how the dog pulls her up the hills.

My dog used to whine and cry every time I left for a run. One day, I decided that since we were both needed to lose weight, we might be great running partners. It took over an hour to go approximately 2 miles. It was horrible, and I think she hated it even more than I did. She hasn't asked me since!

I had another dog once who hated to be left alone when there was fun to be had. Went on a bike ride and noticed a funny clicking sound coming from the bike before I reached the end of the cul-de-sac. I turned around and headed back home. As I got within 100 yards of my house, I could hear the dog inside. I went to investigate. I was gone for less than a minute, and she had managed to destroy the casing around the door, shred parts of the door, and put a whole in the wall. I really needed that ride then--my stress level was through the roof.

I have a thousand dog stories, but that's just because I've had a thousand dogs (or so it seems).

I second the building up mileage thing. My 125 lb. black lab decided to sit and refuse to move 2 1/2 miles from home. I could not budge him. He was really ticked. I had to call my husband to bring the car. We actually had to lift him into the car. The next time I got his leash out, he ran to his kennel.

And then there was the time a cat decided to tick him off and he actually broke his collar in two places and chased the cat into a complete stranger's garage. I had literally lived in the neighborhood for 36 hours... It was a great first impression, "Hi, I'm your new neighbor, and that's my dog under your car. He has a cat under there with him." They still don't talk to me and it has been almost three years. And no, it wasn't their cat. After that I would meet people and they would say stuff like, "Oh you're the one with the dog that go loose and chased a cat into so & so's garage."

I don't run with him anymore unless it is after dark. Less distractions for the dog.

I've tried running with my dog... Yeah, we won't be doing that again. Thing is, little guy wants to stop and sniff EVERYTHING. So, it kind of kills any pace, and second, he's got so much fur, he can only do the loop around the block (3/4 mile) and he's all hot.

My dog (actually my son's - a birthday present) dragged me for 6 miles yesterday. That was our first run together, and previously, my longest run had been 4 miles. . . . so he really must have done some dragging.

Sparky is a small to medium 3 year old black lab and we went running on an old railroad trail with crushed limestone and dirt - really easy on his feet (mine too). I HATED the first mile and a half, though, and kept him on leash until we were way out in the country where I could let him go.

I was pretty concerned about him being off leash even out in the country, so I'd put him back on when others came by (seldom). When two runners came the opposite way, one hollered, "Beautiful dog!" Then their three dogs came running behind them. And Sparky and I loosened up and had a great time after that.

He really just needed to learn what we do when we go running (okay, we both did). I'll probably take him every weekend on my longer runs now.

It's nice to have a running companion who you don't have to talk to - you get all the benefits of solitude, and he goes just at your speed.

I have several border collies that I run or bike with everyday. There is nothing like running with your best friends. They are part of the reason I changed my lifestyle and decided that I was done being a fat guy. I wanted to take them out for runs, hikes, bike rides and not be out of shape like I was/still am....

I have gone from 233.5lbs in Mid-Jan to 207.5 yesterday. So, I am getting there...This is the most informative website I have been too. Everyone on here is great. I have really enjoyed browsing and learning from all of you. I have been "lurking" for a while now...the last couple of months or so. I am extremely excited about entering a tri one of these days.

Mike, you're right about running early! That is real important out here in the desert!

*sigh* I wish.  I tried to take my hyper golden retriever for a run last week.  he was far more interested in dragging me into the canal (6 foot drop, icky water) than in actually running with me.  But that's the only non-paved place to take him around here....Everything else is suburbs and sidewalks and cars....

Yeah, I run with my mixed breed Austrailian Shepard.  She does not quite get the concept of a Z2 run, but she really enjoys it.  We worked up to 4.0 miles last fall.  This year we did our first run together yesterday (she did the last 1.2 miles of my 6.2 mile run--she could have easily handled more).

I tried running with our dog last week - never again for a number of reasons:  (1) she feels the need to stop and pee on everything, (2) when she is not peeing on something she is sniffing it, (3) she goes from one side to the other every 10 seconds so I look like I am square dancing more then running, and (4) it is depressing that I am running and she is still walking.  Well, she is only a year old so maybe there is a way to train her! 

I have a Dalmatian, which were bred to jog with horse carriages. She has WAY more endurance than I do, even as lazy as she is! I don't take her with me when I do my slow days, cuz she likes to trot around 9.5 or 10 min/mi. She kinda does fartleks, cuz she'll run ahead on the leash, sniff a little, pee real quick; by that time I've passed her and she hits the end of the leash and sprints back to me. I keep her leash-bound if I'm within 200 yds of a road; she'll stay within about that distance if she's off the leash, but I don't count on her separation anxiety to keep her safe.

I get the guilt trip from her and the wife every time I head out to train...

I run with my Jack Russell Kea. She stays with me on the trails I run (fire roads) on runs up to 90 minutes. When I come up to a steep hill, I'll say "come on Kea, let's make it up this one!!!!". Sort of like a training partner.






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My dog loves going for runs on the trails. She gets to run off leash and check out all the bunnies and other varmits around.

I have 2 white german shepherds. I take them running and mountain biking. They love it.
At first your dog may not know what to do but after some training(knowledge) they fall right into place. Defenitly dont take your dog on there first long run in the middle of the summer they need to get in shape just like us. I see people all the time in the mountains and there dog looks dam near dead. I have given more then one strange dog my water on hot days. My dogs can run 20+ miles with me on my mountain bike on a hot summer (and drink only from the streams we pass)day but I see plenty of dogs that look half dead just from walking a mile up the mountain.

I have a short hair pointer. Very fast , very birdy and has the attention span of a have you seen my car anywhere.....


I was running last weekend and my wife walking with the dog. the last .5 miles of trail I grabbed the dog from her to see how she did. I was really surprised that she ran right next to me. Id love to run her on the trails with no leash but I am afraid to let her go off leash as she might get on the scent of something and then ill spend my time taracking her down instead of running.

any sugestions on how we can get that trust?

Steve

i wish i could still run with my dog. some dogs need a VERY gradual warm up. great tore her acl working up to 1-2 miles and now she can't run anymore

I have two German Shorthairs. Ralph is 13 and his running days are past him, but he's put in numerous 20 milers with me over the years. From the time I started running with him at ~1 year until he was 10 he never missed a run with me unless I was out of town. He would still do long runs in the winter with me at 10 and 11, but the hot weather really started taking it's toll on him regardless of how much water he drank.

Simon is 10 months and could start training runs now, but I'm dealing with back issues that's keeping me from running at this time. That said, I've taken him to trails on hikes and let him off leash and he's gone non-stop for up to 1.5 hours (he runs ahead 20-30 yards and then comes back, and repeat).

I think you'll be surprised at how well a GSH will do on a trail off-leash. I've never had a problem with either of mine taking off, and they both have that "ADD" trait that shorthairs are notorious for.

As for running with them on leash, it's just like any other dog training. They need to learn not to pull (difficult with some breeds), and to stay on one side. Remember, they're on YOUR terms. One issue I had with Ralph was he hated to be passed. If we were cruising along at a nice easy pace and someone passed us (could be street, sidewalk, path, trail), he would pull on the leash to try and keep us in front.

My daily morning runs with Ralph were very special times for me over the years.

scott

Are there any recommendations on how far you should run with a dog, for your dogs health & safety???

I run with Sam the dog. Thats her nose. She is a good running buddy. We never run more then 3 miles.

German Shorthairs are the best - mine is 4 years old and never misses a day!