Just under a year ago, I wrote an article about mixing fitness with our four-legged friends. Our pets, specifically dogs, when in healthy condition, can often be great running companions. They add extra motivation to a run, because you make two lives healthier when you take your dog on a run, and they give you that extra pull (quite literally) when you’re on the run.

My family’s newest member, Gracie, a one-year-old Doberman pinscher, is my new running buddy. Today was my first day out with her, because my family has only had her for a week and she wasn’t allowed to run for the first six days (due to a recent spay operation).

The objective was a quick 3-mile run. The neighborhood I live in is full of loops, so I decided to take Gracie on a series of smaller loops that brought us back to our starting point several times, just in case she couldn’t handle the run. Little did I know, she was more than ready. For the first two miles, she was tugging me along. Up hills and down hills, I ended up taking on a pace that was a bit faster than my usual pace. After those first two miles, though, she became a bit more tired and settled beside me for the last mile.

Certainly, there were minor setbacks; she saw a chipmunk and immediately tried to reverse our direction. Luckily, I’m still stronger than her and was able to tug her along until she forgot about the chipmunk and saw something else interesting up ahead. She had me spin in circles a couple times, but these were just hiccups in an otherwise pleasant run. I like to think of her pulling as an extra workout for my arms! A 3-mile run is hardly a challenge for me, but Gracie provided extra motivation to keep myself going, and was a wonderful running buddy.

If you choose to take your dog on a run, make sure he/she is in good enough health for it, and also that you have a solid leash and full control, just in case you run into any major distractions. Happy running!