Running With a Dog–a Real Dog

Leaving, with some relief, a recent debate about the wisdom of exercising with your spouse, Geezer moves to the safety of a discussion of  the joys of running with your dog.  As this useful piece in Trail Runner Magazine (direct link not available, but look under Performance link) advises, there are several things to get straight before subjecting an innocent canine to miles and miles of cardio. First, get the right kind of dog, which is to say a distance runner. Labs and retrievers are a safe bet. Second, make sure your dog is at least a year old–younger dog bones aren’t ready for the road. Third, make sure the temperature is dog friendly–warmer than 80 and cooler than 30 are not. And four, build mileage slowly. Dogs need to work up to a workout just a humans do. For more advice, read this discussion about running with dogs on Cool Running.