Forums >General Running>Running with a dog.
Member Since 2008
I recently started running with my two year old Belgium Shepherd. He only runs in front of me when he gets startled. The rest of the time he is about a step behind me on the right side. The problem is sometimes he gets distracted and lags back a bit, causing me to have to slow down or adust my running form, (arm swinging). Does anyone have any recommendations. I prefer for him to run right beside me, but wouldn't mind if he pulled me along a bit to increase my speed. Lol. Thanks.
not bad for mile 25
I have a similar issue with my dog. She's really excited at the start of the run, and gets me off to a better-than-brisk start, but soon starts lagging. The problem is that she's a worrier, and my weekday runs are pre-dawn. She wants to see what's around her. She's eager throughout her daytime runs, and they're more fun for both of us.
I've been running with my black lab for years. A few lessons learned that I think are really important:
1. Use a Gentle Leader collar. You'll be stunned how well behaved the dog becomes. Mine runs beside me to the right or behind me, with perfection, when the collar is on her.
2. Steer clear of all other dogs.
3. I don't take her with me if ambient temp is 90 or higher. This coming Summer I'll probably drop this threshold to 85 degrees. The heat is a killer here in Dallas.
4. I choose routes that are not in the sun when it's warm out.
Hope this helps.
jfa
^Agree with all of the above except #3 should be more like 70*. I would only run Buddy when it was that hot if I had swim spots (trail runs by a small but steady stream) for him every couple miles or so.
My Sheppard/Lab mix is 14 now, and he started running with me when he was two. He always wanted to be in front. I don't know if you can teach that. It's worth it if you can. We got to a point, in his prime, that he knew the trail much better than me. I didn't have to guide him, just follow. It took some time though. Think of him as a toddler.He's very curious about everything and easily distracted. Try, in bits, to get him to run slightly in front, (and my Buddy liked it on the right), where you can see him. If not, I would get your runs in without him, then do whatever he wants on his " runs ".
Good luck and enjoy.
MTA: I just wrote all that above before I googled Belgium Shepard. He's got to be a natural born runner. Maybe an experienced trainer can get you going in the right direction, or just read up on it. The breed certainly looks like a handsome and strong dog!
Get the right dog to fit your pace and abilities. The way i;m feeling today, I think a three-legged basset hound would be just about right for me.
Thank you for the counsel. I will lower my threshold to 80 degrees this coming Summer and continue to choose a starting time where most of the trail is in the shade.
I don't exercise faster than 12 min. miles, so the slow speed helps too.
Best regards,
Bill
not lazy, just tired
We used to have a couple of Belgian Sheepdogs.... strong, agile, and athletic but black with a pretty heavy coat. 80° might be a bit warm. I'd make sure you're in the shade with access to water. Right now I run with a border collie. He likes to run directly in front of me and it works out well. I'm slow, and I know he'd prefer to go faster, but he obliges me
Not if it makes sense.
In many places there's only 3 - 5 feet of clearance between the concrete trail edge and the start of bushes, shrubs, trees, weeds, etc. Not enough room for the lab to feel comfortable (safe) from imaginary animals and other threats. So it's behind me a lot. The Gentle Leader collar makes it all possible. I haven't been tripped yet.
Do not underestimate the improvement and elimination of problems when changing to a Gentle Leader collar.
After about 10 years of taking the dog with me, she pretty much manages the process. With a routine of dropping the leash on the floor near her just in advance of heading out, she either shows excitement to go, or, slowly walks to her crate and gets inside. She thus communicates clearly, today's a good day to take her with me, or, nope OK to leave her at home today. A signal of staying at home never happens in the Winter - it does happen in the Summer. Probably a signal that my outside temp threshold (90 F) was just too hot.
There are water fountains along the way but I've never used them. I could for the dog if I knew of some kind of portable, collapsible container I could carry with me, and then when at a fountain, fill it up and make it possible for the dog to drink water earlier than having to wait to arrive back home. Suggestions for what to purchase (portable, collapsible dog drinking water container) would be appreciated.
One other thing I though of that I believe affects the quality of taking the dog out on exercise outings: our black lab, now at 12 years old, is in excellent physical condition. Not overweight at all. We carefully manage feeding (twice per day), with an appropriate amount that doesn't contribute to weight gain, and use Blue Buffalo dog food (the most expensive, easy to use, dry dog food on the planet, I'll contend, and worth every penny).
I'm hopeful for a few suggestions on the collapsible dog drinking portable bowl. I'll Amazon Prime it, get it shortly, and surprise the dog! Thanks.
We have one of these...
https://www.amazon.com/Popware-Pets-Expandable-Collapsible-Travel/dp/B001DLDJJO
Haven't used it running, but have used it a lot hiking. I've also seen fabric ones, but haven't tried them out.
LOL
Ricky —our ability to perform up to our physiological potential in a race is determined by whether or not we truly psychologically believe that what we are attempting is realistic. Anton Krupicka
I have a 5 year old Doberman that has run 21 miles with me! One thing you didn’t mention, was how long your runs are. I think training your dog to run with you is like us training with regards to distance. You should take your time getting him trained up to your pace. My Bella always starts out in front, and ends up beside me or even a little behind. The more miles we do, the stronger she gets. I also carry a handheld bottle, or Nathan belt with 2 smaller bottles with water that are just for her. She has kind of learned to start looking at me and nudging me when she is ready for a drink, but I also try to give her a drink every mile. Be patient, and learn to recognize the signals from your pet. Good luck!
Thank you.
I'll go get the watering dish.
My runs are between 2 and 5 miles, at an 11 min/mi. pace.
I agree there's a 'warm up' period. The dog's no different than us. We don't go out and suddenly run 21 miles!
Have you tried a leash that goes around your waist? I find it helps with the form issue. I hold the leash at the start of our runs -- I'm warming up, the dog is stopping for his business -- but he knows that when I switch to the leash around my waist, we are in run mode. Of course he still gets distracted or lags at times, but with the leash around my waist it's less disruptive to me.
I run with our dog on my easy days. Longest I've done is 6 miles, and she's not very fast, so I usually end up running somewhere around :30-10:00 pace. I have a leash that attaches around my waist and it helps a lot, and at the same time it's easy to reach down to grab the leash if I need to.
It's not perfect, and she wants to take small breaks here and there, which is ok since the runs are my easy runs. I don't think it affects the purpose of these runs. And yes, she can lag some towards the end when she gets hot or tired, but she loves going for the runs anyway. I figured these runs are a good benefit for the both of us so I can adjust a little bit to accommodate her.
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Half Fanatic #846
I've started running 2 miles on easy days with my 2 year old mini schnauzer (she quickly worked up to that distance). At first I let her "poke around" to get her business done, then she usually runs on my left on a short leash. If she gets tired later, she'll trail behind me. I don't force her and we take short breaks. Over the course of the year, I hope to be able to get her to do 6 well-behaved miles, but we'll see.
"I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk. "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt". I ran half my last race on my left foot!