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What happens when your training partner can no longer run with
you? It's tough to lace up the Nikes and to go out. You feel
empty and unmotivated, and you remember the miles you spent
together on the roads and trails. Running solo doesn't quite
seem right. You crave the companionship.
My training partner died at age 14. He was my dog. In canine
years, that would have made him 98. His name was Rockee. He was
a golden retriever and an Irondog. Together we logged over 7,000
miles. Many times, he was the impetus for forcing me outdoors on
an evening or morning run.
The soft, brown imploring eyes of a golden retriever can induce
more guilt than a Jewish grandmother. Hankering for the
outdoors, he'd quietly and patiently guard the front door with
his body; his proud, noble, and white-clowned face pointed in
the direction of the closet where I stashed my running shoes.
All I would have to say was, "Rockee, you want to go outside?"
and he'd be transformed into a whirling, bouncing, off-the-walls
manic creature. Pavlov would have understood.
Rockee and I started running together when he was nine weeks
old. I was training for the '82 Hawaii Ironman. He went one mile
that first day, but his puppy paws began to chafe so I carried
him home. He stopped running a few months shy of his fourteenth
birthday when arthritis in his hips finally slowed him down. (We
went on hikes instead.). We'd averaged about 15 miles a week,
split up among three or four runs per week.
Our two most memorable runs occurred in Boulder, where I spent
one year as the founding editor of Inside Triathlon. It was
three weeks before the '93 Ironman, and I needed to go for a
long run out on the prairie north of town. Rockee and I went for
several hours without any problem, but on the way home, I
noticed a local, four-mile running race about to start. So, we
jumped in and ran together. He finished second dog overall,
exhausted. I was proud of him. He was 11 years old, and Jack La
Lanne-trim.
The other run occurred one wintry afternoon. The '49ers weren't
doing very well against the Cowboys, so I laced up Rockee's paws
with French-made plastic orange booties. We headed toward the
Boulder Reservoir in the icy teeth of a blizzard. It became less
of a 11-mile run than a Jack London epic white-out adventure in
the Yukon.
The day before Rockee died, I bought a $400 Burley children's
trailer which I hitched to the rear of my Klein mountain bike.
We rode up Mt. Tam in Marin County. I was the beast of burden
and Rockee was my passenger, a happy, alert and four-legged Ben
Hur sitting upright in his chariot. It was his first and only
Burley ride. Twelve hours later, I was at the vet hospital,
holding Rockee in my arms, cradling his head, as life ebbed away
from this fine animal. A hidden tumor near his spleen had
ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. I whispered into
his ear "I love you," as his breathing slowed, then stopped.
Now when I run alone along familiar trails without Rockee, I
still sense his joyful presence, darting ahead, checking out new
smells, plunging into a stream. His spirit lingers by my side,
an invisible leash yoking me to his memory. After all, memory is
man's best friend.
Dogs make wonderful running partners, but, unlike human jogging
buddies, Rover can’t say: "Hey, bozo! You’re hurtin’ me." It’s
up to you as a caring pet owner to properly prepare your dog to
run (or take strenuous walks) with you.
Some tips:
Training:
Just like people, dogs need to train in order to perform well.
Start slowly and build mileage. At Love and Exercise, a San
Francisco dog-running business, a typical program begins with a
one-mile walk interspersed with periods of running. They
gradually build up to a two- to three-mile run every other day.
Running on dirt is easier on your pooch’s footpads than
pavement.
Weather:
Heat and humidity is a big threat to dogs. On warm days, run in
the early morning or evening. "Dogs can
quickly overheat, especially if they have a dark or heavy coat,"
says Dr. Gerald Pijanowski, a veterinarian at the University of
Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, on the college’s web
site http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu.
If your pup does overheat, hose him off
with cool water and offer him cold water to drink. But don’t
force water on him—he’ll drink when ready.
Nutrition:
You need
to eat right and so does Fido. Feed your dog a complete and
balanced diet, but don’t let her run on a full stomach. Make
sure she’s rested and cooled down beforehand so she doesn’t get
an upset stomach while running. Feed her afterward.
Avoiding injury:
The most common injury is to the dog’s footpads. Don’t
run on hot pavement because this can burn the pads. Running in
the woods can lead to cuts and scrapes, which are tough to
avoid. But if you run on especially rough ground or ice and
snow, consider buying dog boots. If your dog gets a cut or
scrape, administer first aid immediately. When dogs run in
grass, they can catch a nail and suffer soft-tissue or joint
injuries. To avoid this, keep nails trimmed. "If your dog is
showing no signs of lameness and is willing to run, there is no
reason to quit," says Dr. Pijanowski. But if he starts to limp,
take him to your local vet.
"Good dog":
Dr. Pijanowski
recommends keeping your dog on a short leash (four to six feet
long) to maintain control and avoid trouble. Good obedience
training is important, too.
Age and breed:
For dogs over ages
seven to nine, Love and Exercise runners cut back on mileage.
Instead of alternating short-walk days with long-run days, for
example, they do short-run days followed by long-walk days. They
run with all types of dogs, except toy breeds. Hunting breeds
tend to do best.
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