Running With Dogs

So, I've been running with my dogs so far. When I took them the first time, the Shih Tzu had a time of it (I ended up carrying him for some walking). The Golden Retriever loved it.

The next two times I took the Golden for the entire run, and planned my route so that I would pass by the house about 3/4 through the run to pick up the Shih Tzu. That seems to work well. Both dogs have a blast. They can definitely use the exercise, they're as chubby as I am. It makes me feel better to know that at least ONE of us is having fun! The pups are definitely motivating. Having the big dog with me also makes me feel safer, especially for my night run. He's big enough to make any opportunist think twice.

They're kind of a pain in the ass, though. They will insist on pooping when you walk. This makes it difficult to maintain a good pace and keep the energy up - and who likes to run with a bag of dog dirt fluttering in the breeze? And this wouldn't be true of all dogs, but mine have good days and bad days behaviour-wise. You have to direct some of your thought towards keeping leashes untangled, not stepping on paws, keeping an eye out for birds and bunnies, and so on.

I haven't decided if I am going to include them in my running program long term. They live about 10 minutes away (at my parents' house), so that adds time to the whole routine. It has to be all or nothing - if I don't bring them along from the start, then I won't be able to drag them out every once in a while for fun (unless it's a low intensity run, which I will hopefully be beyond before too long!). It wouldn't be fair to them.

They can use the exercise, but I don't want it to be at the expense of MY exercise. For now I am going to keep running with them for as long as it's convenient. If I get to the point where I am setting serious athletic goals, I'll re-evaluate that. Since my current goal is just to get active, I think they're doing a good enough job at motivating me that having to put up with all of the other crap (pun intended) is worth it!


(A tip: I sort of focus my run around a big schoolyard/park that has a few garbage cans. If a dog does his business, I head there as quickly as possible, dump the evidence, and continue on my way.)