My current pooch's health won't permit it. But my best running buddy dog was a male pit bull I owned. I waited until she was a year before taking him on runs. I gradually built up distance. After experimenting, I found that 10 miles was no problem at all. I did take him on a 20 miler and it was a mistake. I kept having to detour to let him go jump in a farm pond. I was also overheating and running low on water. Maybe on a cool day it would have been OK. He made it just fine, but I never brought him on runs longer than 10 after that.

That was when I lived in the country. I live in town now and have zero dog issues. But in the country, I seriously had dog issues. You could never tell what kind of crazy dogs would tear out of a trailer and come after you. So I carried pepper spray (and I only used it once). I thought bringing Buster with me might help with the dog thing. Nope. It made it much worse. Your dog is actually a magnet to other dogs. They didn't want any part of him, but they would still run up and stay just out of range yapping at you incessantly. And of course your dog is pulling at the leash and getting fired up. It was annoying, but worth it for his sake. He needed the exercise. But running without a dog means less potential drama.

The only thing in town that happened to me dog related was when a lady was in her yard with her dog and her dog came after me. I was running down the center of the street. I managed to dance around a bit and deliver one kick (not too hard mind you) and was able to escape. I didn't have my pepper spray since I didn't figure I needed it in town since I never had before. What was really annoying was when I posted the account to Facebook, I had a slightly psychotic dog lover who really tore into me for admitting that I kicked at the dog. "If someone came into your house and starting attacking your family you would fight back. That is all the dog was doing!". Um, I was in the middle of the street. Sheesh. Ok, enought rambling.

TL&DR: Yes I used to run with my dog. I waited until he was 1 and I could comfortably take him on runs up to 10 miles.

I run pretty much exclusively with Haley, the 85 pound, black, German Shepherd, that lives with us. She is my running companion and gets very upset if I head out without her. We started running together shortly after I started running so she has trained with me from the beginning. She was about 3 1/2 at the time. Our longest run together was 10.75 miles; not sure I would run her much farther than that as she does not like to hydrate while we are on the road. According to our vet - if you can keep your dog hydrated and they train with you from the beginning they should be able to run as far as you can; it is just a matter of training, the same as it is for us. We have a dog running leash (goes around your waist) and Haley has her own pack to carry water for both of us and a folding dish for her when we go for long runs in the warmer weather. The pack gives her a job and she loves these runs all the more. Personally I don't enjoy my runs quite as much when Haley is not with me. We tend to run pre-dawn hours and I am very much looking forward to "running into the dawn" with her as spring sunrise hours get here.

Rocky is my constant companion. He's a 3 yr old blue heeler, and still so much a puppy! The moment my sports bra goes on he goes ballistic. Even when I'm behind closed doors, he still knows what's going on! I admit I have considered running witthout him at times, so I can just focus on me and my running, but I imagine his disappointment and can't bring myself to leave him! Plus, for all the poo interruptions and bug chasing, when it gets tough, he's the one that puts a smile on my face At this point we've only been 3.75 miles, but I want to run distance eventually!

I have a 4 yr old yellow lab that I take out sometimes.
Usually no more than 4 miles, but reading the distances here maybe I can get his mileage up!
He LOVES being outside and running with me

Our dog is a bit too old to accompany me now, but in the summer, when she can roam off leash at the lake, she will run the road to the beach and back with me a couple of times before she dives in for a swim and dries off in the sun.

This thread reminds me that i have to take my new pooch out running with me! I used to take my other dog running with me, but he cant even hack a 3 mile plod anymore, much more interested in walking around and smelling random things

Anyone find it ironic that as runners we complain about strange dogs off leash but there are a few people here who run with their dogs off leash??

I have a 3 yr old shepard mix as a running partner and we are building her endurance. She is now up to 5 miles with us at a pretty good pace. Unfortunately she only runs with me when I have my husband along because she has a strong prey instinct and will occasionally try to take off after a squirrel. The one time I was holding her leash and she did that I ended up hurting my hip due to being wrenched around. She weighs half of what I weigh so it doesn't take much for her to move me to where she wants to go. The more we run with her though the better her running manners are getting.

I run with my German Shorthaired mix. I got him when he was 1.5yrs so pretty developed at that point. He had no issue with the first 3mile run we went on. His longest is about an hour and a half. He's got so much energy at first that he easily runs an extra couple miles over the course of the run. He does well enough hydrating on his own but I don't hesitate to give him some of mine...yes, from my bottle. We just did a hill run yesterday and he loved it. my goal is to run a half with him but that's about as far as I want. I'm a bad dog owner and let him run off leash in the woods despite the trail rules. But apparently I'm not alone since I have run into other dogs and owners of similar mindset. His recall is pretty good and he doesn't have the prey drive that would concern me. Guess I'm lucky there lol.

My lab used to accompany me running but as I started to increase my distance she started to decrease...

Her problem is she always walked with a buggy, from she was a pup until she was 5 she walked for miles alongside a single, then double then back to single buggies and she was great and really well behaved.

The problem now is she misses the buggy ( so do I sometimes) so she swings from side to side and then behind me constantly looping around and occasionally tripping me up, for that reason she has been retired from running with me and is back walking with me and the kids.

You can't beat a dog for company. My poor husband complains the dog is loved more than him in the house..no one disagrees with him

I'm a relatively new runner, but I do always run with my 3 year old pit bull and he LOVES it. Currently, we do about 3 miles and he's had no problems at all. When I started running, I started with him, so we have been training together to gain mileage. The biggest problem I had when I first started running with him was him pulling on the leash. He would just get so excited and pull the entire time. I switched him to a Gentle Leader head collar and it has changed my world. He now keeps my exact pace regardless of the environment/people/other dogs, etc. It's been really wonderful and I couldn't image running without him.

My 2 year old, 22 lb terrier mix Mollie LOVES run-time. We run 3-4 miles together once a week and she loves it. She's a steady 9 min mile dog. More than 4 miles she gets tired and starts to trot and seek shade. Less than 2 miles just gets her excited. I try not to run her if it's over 70 out, since she's all black and gets hot quickly.

I started running with her when she was 16 months old. I tried when she was 6 months (15 lbs) and she made it less than half a mile before laying down and proclaiming herself Done. Her vet said it was probably a combination of being too young, not being able to properly pace herself (jogging slow is harder for puppies than sprinting), and it being too hot out.

Thanks for all of the tips. I have a 4 month old German short hair mix with boundless energy. I read in several places not to start running with them until they are at least a year old. I took her on two leisurely jogs at about 10:00/mi for a little over three miles and she did fine, but after reading about not taking them as puppies, I was a little concerned.

Ahhh! I have a year old GSP Beau (in my picture). We got him for me to run with (well and hubby wanted a bird dog so he hunts with him for a month and I condition him all year). I love him, they are so much fun and have so much personality. My husband says I love the dog more than him. Anyways. I started running with Beau when he was about 8-9 months old and I asked once about how people run with them (such as leads, harness etc) and got so much backlash that you shouldn't run with them before 2 blah blah blah. I didn't listen. They are working dogs and could go for miles. My run (10:30) is a very light trot for him so not worried. He is my boy and we LOVE our long runs. The farthest Ive taken him is 10.5 miles and he could have kept going (I left him home for the last 14 mile, it was windy etc). That said I rarely take him on short runs (under 3mi) since I run through neighborhoods and he has ADHD lol he gets way to distracted with the cars etc still. He is getting better at it though. When we run our long runs its on trails etc and he is very good about staying focused and not screwing around basically. If I do see him eyeing a bird I will just say his name and he will keep going. If you cant tell I love my runs with my Beau

We have a four year old black lab (Hudson).
He loves to go running.
We did an 8 mile run on Sunday.
He did pretty good a few stops for water.
He has a saddle bag and carriers his own water.
When we were done he slept for the rest of the day.
GOOD BOY!!