Do you run with your dog? advice needed

I have started running again seriously after a few false starts. I have a minature Schnauzer and we walk for anything from 4 to 7 miles a day. He has walked 12 miles with me before but was quite tired afterwards. I have run 5K with him quite regularly and have done about the same with him on the bike.

I am now looking to move up to 10K and hopefully beyond and was wondering how far he would be able to go before I have to run without him?

Any help would be appreciated.

Also, as I know what these forums can be like, he is a runners dog and has been very well trained from a puppy to respect runners and horses and I am religious about cleaning up after him so no anti dog rants please.

JJ

Comments

  • Hi as far as i'm aware it does depend on the dogs age, i run with my german short haired pointer who's now 4 we started at just about 1 yr as the vet told me that after a year their bones & muscles can with -stand more pounding ,before the year it can have serious effects on their bones & ligaments etc. I can run about 6 miles with my dog & she's not even panting!! my husband bikes with her [she runs along side him,she's not that clever!!] & they go for sometimes 8 or more miles,although he'll lets her have a major sprint every so often & then takes her down to a nice trot, as she has no sense what- so- ever & would go until she keels over!!

    Now is a good time to run with your dog as its not too hot, once the weather warms up i really watch taking her with me.

    We have a special jogging lead which looks a bit like an old fashion telephone cord & it attaches to an arm strap so they idea is they run slightly ahead of you, a harness is a good idea as long as they are not pullers [my dog is!] as if they are the harness gives them more strenght to pull you, if you are thinking of training for cani-cross thats what you want...i just wanted a civilised run!!

    Good luck its a great way for you to bond & my dog seems to regard me as higher in the pack if i run with her!

  • I'm lucky enough that I can run off road with him.

    I would be less worried about distance if he were a pointer or a lurcher but he's not that big.

    Thank you for your reply image

  • I run with my lab and have done up to 16 miles with him. It doesn't seem to tire him out at all as usually the first thing he wants to do when we get back is go and play ball in the garden!!

    He is a very naturally athletic type of dog though, not at all like most labs in his body shape.  He is lean bodied and long legged and has always loved to run (long before I started running).

    On all our long routes there are streams or water troughs where he can drink ( or have a very quick swimimage) and in the summer we run very early before it gets hot.

    Most of our routes are off road and he runs free but he is very well trained and comes to heel etc if necessary. If we have to go on the road I just put him on an ordinary lead as he just runs to heel without pulling.

    I think it's quite difficult to comment on what another person's dog will be mentally and physically able and happy to do running wise as they are all so different. I don't really know much about miniature Schnauzers  but think you probably know your dog better than anyone else so take your feedback from him. I would imagine any healthy dog should be ok up to 10k distances especially if you've been walking that distance with him regularly.

    I started running from scratch with mine when he was 3 years old and fully mature and it was a case of starting with 1 min running and 1 min walking  and building up my fitness  to training for half marathons  etc so he 'trained' with me.

    I find it really odd now if I have to run without him (only happens in races) and I find myself looking for him before I remember he's not there. He got quite upset the other weekend at Knole Park 10k when my other half bought him to the start to watch and I went off without him especially as we sometimes run through the Park anyway.

    Good luck and have fun with him. They are great running companions. 

  • Josie   image


    Nothing further to add, just saying hi   !!
  • ruddy hell, long time no see image
  • Hey Meldy and Bear,

    Yes it is I, the long lost Josie Jump. Nice to see you all posting. Will have to hang around and see what you are all upto.

    JJ

  • Hi Josie and welcome back - I've always run with German Shepherds over the past 30 or so years, they love to run and can go any distance if trained properly. Both Sabre and Snowy ran marathons, Oz has done any number of 10km and half-marathon races. My Nemo trains most days with me but has so far only run one race, a 15km animal charity race. Of course GSDs are much bigger than your dog but against that they have more weight to carry. Just gradually increase the distance for the dog,  the same as you would do yourself, and watch for any signs of distress, particularly when it's warm. I too run mostly off-road and always take a route that passes a lake or stream so the dogs can drink and/or swim to cool off.
  • Ultra Ironwolf are the races you've done with your dogs specialist ones or ordinary races?

    I would love to have my dog race with me but have assumed it would not be allowed.

    I'm not particularly speedy so tend to start off at the back anyway and he definitely would have been ok with me in the Knole 10k as there was plenty of room and the field was well spaced out.

    I've looked at the CaniX stuff but it seems to only go to 5k and we like to go much further than that.

  • I have 2 dogs who run with me.  One is a cocker spaniel x springer spaniel and is 4 yrs old.  She is running up to 30 miles with me.  At the weekend we did 30m and she was still chasing seagulls at the end. 

    The other is 10 and is a cocker spaniel so is smaller - I wonder if he is similar size to yours?  In the past he has trained for a marathon and the longest he ever did was 20miles.  Now I dont take him any more than 6 miles.  We always run off road.

  • JL - ordinary races, but I live in Germany. I'm not sure whether GB races allow dogs. Most big city marathons don't - we got Snowy into Frankfurt marathon because my OH actually registered him, never said he wasn't human! So he had a start number which was pinned to his leash and when they came into the finish the announcer first said oh not fair, that dog doesn't have a number, but then he saw it and yelled out oh he does have one - so give him a medal. Snowy got his own race medal. Smaller local races and off-road ones don't have a problem if people run with their dogs, not many do though. Oz has run Kandel half-marathon about 6 times, this year there were 3 other dogs, a lab, a collie and a husky. I agree about Canix races, they are usually too short for us. Of course to take your dog to a race he/she has to be well trained and obedient.
  • SeelaSeela ✭✭✭

    CaniX does do longer races, but not many. There is a half marathon this year,  on 1st may across Sailsbury plain.

    I have taken my running dog to races, but ask the organiser first if it is OK. If they say no then that's OK, it is their event after all. Usually trail races or off road  are more accomdating than road races.

    If you are allowed to run the it seems to be good manners to start at the back and work your way up the field. If I'm approaching a slower runner I usualy try to warn them with a shout of 'Dog coming through'. 

    HI Ironwolf. I've not been on the site for a while. My older dogs, Mak (collie x lab) and Spice (Springer) have now retired, but I've acquired a 7yo Husky...

  • Hiya Mak you get anymore dogs your house will look like Crufts
  • Thanks UI and MF for your replies.

    UI, I was laughing when I read about your OH entering Snowy into the marathon!! I must admit I had thought of doing that with Hector and seeing what happened!!

    I will try asking some of the race organisers then I think. I always tend to start at the back anyway as I'm not the most speedy person in the world and I always feel better if I'm passing people rather than being passed! 

    Hector is well behaved and runs to heel on a lead. He's a great pace maker!! All i've got to do now is teach him how to read my Garmin for me ( or get him his own) and I'm well away.image

  • I havent run with a dog for a while but have to back up what was said earlier about labs - they must be powered by Duracell.

    I once did a 30 mile run and he didnt run in a straight line for more than a few seconds - he was criss crossing and exploring fields and such like and just generally enjoying himself. If I did 30 miles, he must have done nearer 40 and he coped with it fine.

    He was a little thirsty afterwards and slept with his tongue stuck to the rug for about 24 hours - but still, great marathon training companion.

  • Oz  runs at least double my distance, as he's always ranging ahead in the forest, up and down the banks and coming back to check on me.

    Hi Mak, your house must be starting to look like my brother's - they have 4 Border Collies and 2 cats! We always start at the back of the field in races, but when Snowy was racing it gave many runners quite a shock, because he used to yodel like a husky when the start gun went off!  He always wanted to be up front, one year my poor OH found himself doing nearly 3min kms up with the leaders. My Nemo is not competitive like that, in the only race I've done with him he didn't turn a hair when we were passed by 2 other owner/dog pairs.

  • SeelaSeela ✭✭✭

    UI: Mak was a nutter at the start of races too. We used to have to start about 50m behind the last runner as he would howl with excitement.

     In one small village race (150 runners) he towed me through the pack right up to the leaders, then as we left the village he stopped, reversed up a bank into the hedge and had an enormous dump while the whole field went past. No idea of pace that dog....

  • check out the canicross trailruners on face book or google them

    them organise races that run with or before the main field of normal runners ranging from 5k to halfs

    plus the dont rip u off like the canix races charge

  • Oh thank you for link NeilNeil, I run with my Parsons Terrier, but only once a week for a 5K off road as he is still to young really.  that link has been stored for future use, cool image
  • You'd be amazed how far most breeds of dog can run without much effort.

    But that's if they're not overweight.

    Regards dogs running in heat - dogs (along with most other quadrupeds) lose heat by panting. Dogs can pant while they are 'trotting' - but it's impossible for them to pant while they are 'galloping'.

    So long as they are mostly 'trotting', they can go on forever...

    (Don't take the above as gospel - I'm ready to be corrected but that's what a learned professor told me)
  • My dogs never have to "gallop" when running with me!
  • Iluvsunshine wrote (see)

    I have 2 dogs who run with me.  One is a cocker spaniel x springer spaniel and is 4 yrs old.  She is running up to 30 miles with me.  At the weekend we did 30m and she was still chasing seagulls at the end. 

    The other is 10 and is a cocker spaniel so is smaller - I wonder if he is similar size to yours?  In the past he has trained for a marathon and the longest he ever did was 20miles.  Now I dont take him any more than 6 miles.  We always run off road.


    I`m so jealous, spaniels are sooo funny, love them to bits..... been lucky enough to run with a gorgeous 4year old black/white Springer called Trisha and a loony working cocker Spaniel called Fletcher, the look on there faces as were running through the forest... fantastic!!!

     Have you got any piccys of these dogs... image

  • I run with Gem my 2 year old Northern Inuit, started her off when she just turned 18 months (as has been said before the larger the breed the longer it takes for their bones etc. to fully develop). Although when I say run, I'm eyeballs out and she barely breaks into a trot.!!

    She'll now quite happily do half distances with me, so will have to investigate if I can actually enter her for a half round here, and I'm sure she'll quite happily go much further when mara training restarts shortly.

    Still got quite a few months before running partner no.2 comes onstream .. .although as anyone who's visited the Things You Want To Say thread will probably agree .. running with Echo is going to be a whole different ball game and no doubt hours of endless fun image!!!

  • I’m a recreational ultramarathoner and triathlete and the owner of a 110-pound rottweiler.  I recently launched a blog devoted to pet fitness news and information (www.varsityreportblog.com).  We cover all sorts of issues relating to running with dogs.  Earlier today we published a post about canine thermoregulation and its implications when it comes to warm weather exercise. You all might want to check it out: http://www.varsityreportblog.com/2011/07/06/summertime-training-pt-1-canine-thermoregulation/

     Cheers,

     Dan

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