Running and the dog

Group camping. The family dog had to come. Our group knew each other from weekday pub run and a couple times Rosie (that’s the family dog) had come along, too. The group hiked a trail together when a new friend connected about running with our dogs. After skirting the question a bit: how much did I run with Rosie? How frequently, how many miles?

Before I share what followed, here’s the thing: when I first started running, a furry running buddy sounded like a great idea. She would motivate me to run consistently and would love me so much for our runs together. But I had never run with a dog before, and so learned late that Rosie and I have different needs: I seek focus and flow, and she needs to mark every rock and leaf of grass.

My new friend described how his dog would protest and require being carried. This would happen at bridges and when she decided she was done with the run. Both of us connected on guilt: bringing our dogs could be frustrating and an obligation that could ruin a thing we enjoyed, running.

I shared a thing I had recently learned with Rosie that had helped me: don’t run with your dog the full distance. Think of it like a warmup, go only 1 or 2 miles together. Most of my runs start with a couple neighborhood loops so this works for us. The light bulb 💡 moment was realizing she was okay, even happy, with fewer miles. Especially since I was more relaxed for them and letting her wander and sniff a bit more knowing my steady miles would follow right after.

Letting go of “all or nothing” thinking helped both of us.