I have a young dog who loves to run, and I’m considering taking her with me on my runs. I’m sure there ar other ST’ers who run with their dogs, so I was wondering how you handle it. How far do you go when your dog is with you? How do you handle water, heat, and other dog needs? Do you keep your dog on a leash? I don’t want to injure my dog and I sure don’t want to get 4-5 miles from home and have to carry her back.
I don’t run with my dog, so I can’t answer your questions. One thing to remember is that since it is a young dog, check with your vet and online for recommendations for how old the dog should be before it does serious runs with you. We have a lab mix and I was told and I read that they should be 18-24 months before they accompany you on runs. They say the skeletal system should be fully grown / developed to help prevent joint problems in older age. I will take mine out on dirt roads for 1.5-2 miles but no more than that. Starting this fall though when the weather cools off, the distances will increase.
This thread might help:
Learn about bloat and how to avoid it. Some dogs are more susceptible. It will kill your dog!
I run with my dogs about once or twice a week when they’re lucky. I have a weimerainer and a german short haired pointer that are 4 years old. They love to get out and run I don’t blame them. The GSHP won’t leave my side once the alarm goes off in the AM. We live near a bike path and I often take them there. We run anywhere from 25-45 minutes together and I use one leash with a coupler and two pinch collars. I sometimes drive them to the desert (usually in the winter when there are no rattlesnakes) and let them run without a leash. They love it, chasing birds, rabbits…
When we run I let them drink from my water bottle (just squirt it into thier mouths). The longest they have gone is about 10 miles and when they want to run and I don’t I strap the end of the leash to my mountain bike head tube and let them pull me on the path. That always gets people to smile and comment.
Hope this info helped.
Steve, my mutt and I have logged many, many miles together. She’s been my best and most consistent running partner! The longest we’ve gone together was 17 miles (that was several years ago…she’s getting a little old now) and we’ve mostly run along the bike paths. I had her tethered to my waist with a cool leash I found at a pet expo. It’s basically a big Bungee cord that you can hook around your waist for hands free running.
I too would share my water with her, squirting it into her mouth. Everytime you drink, give your pooch some too so that you don’t experience bloat (mentioned before). That’s a huge emergency. I used to mix 1/2 PowerAde, 1/2 water and my vet frowned at this…said it would give her diarreah, but it never did. She cut her paw once on some road hazzard and it worried me to no end, but it didn’t seem to bother her that much.
Watch your dog in hot weather…they can overheat very quickly. Knew someone who had to carry their dog home after it collapsed in the heat. It lived, but he was wracked with guilt for having done that (his intentions were good. But after all, the dogs depend on us for common sense).
Have fun! You guys will bond in a way that many humans can’t do.
I have a choc lab and only run him in the morning during the summer months. We’re lucky here in Calgary because it’s ALWAYS cool (usually 10C) in the mornings. We run along the river so he goes in whenever he feels like it. I have him off leash and he usually runs 10% further than me. My vet told me to wait a year before I took him running, so that’s what I did. Once I started him, I built him up very gradually. His max run has been 20mi (22mi for him) and he had no problems. He’s now pushing 9 yrs old, so I’ve shorten his runs, usually around 5mi with the longest being around 10mi. He’s in tremendous shape, no fat and very agile for his age. I think running has really helped the quality of his life. I also don’t feed him as much protein as I used to feed my first lab. (1st lab lived to 13yrs old but eventually died of kidney failure) The first year I gave my lab yogurt mixed with dry to help his bone development. Yogurt was easier for his body to process than protein from meat. He loves to go out with me and I love having him around. There’s no life like the life you have with your dog!!