Happiness Is Running With A Friend.
–by Anna Cooke & Jeff Odell
Have you ever thought of training for a marathon - with your dog? Jeff Odell has been running with his dog Kuma as soon as she was old enough to start training. “I did enough reading to know that it is not healthy to run a dog before they are at least a year old,” said Jeff, who ran a fair amount when he was younger. Eventually, raising a family and other things would take prece-
dence, placing Jeff ’s running on hold for many years. He picked it up again about 18 years ago when he was 42, focusing on long distance running and marathon training. He has completed 27 marathons and led a local chapter of the Jeff Galloway Marathon Training group in Tampa for five years. It was with that group in Temple Terrace where we first met Jeff, Kuma and some of the other runners early one Saturday morning. They had just completed their morning run of between 10 to 15 miles. Kuma, a Golden Retriever/Black Labrador Retriever mix, had done about five miles with Jeff. “Ten miles is her cool weather run,” said Jeff. “She let’s me know, but we usually keep it to between three and five miles in hot weather.” Kuma has the coat of a Golden Retriever that is the color of a
Black Labrador. She is almost seven and sports a little white around the muzzle now. It was three years after the death of the family’s beloved Golden
Retriever Lightning before Jeff ’s wife Therese would consider another dog. “It took Therese a long time to get over losing Lightning, who had grown up with our kids. She thought she could never have another dog, until we met Kuma,” said Jeff. When Joseph, the couple’s middle child who lives in Japan, took
one look at the puppy he said she looked like a fuzzy little bear cub and called her Kuma - the Japanese word for bear. “We liked it and the name stuck,” said Jeff. Jeff and Kuma bonded right away and he knew he wanted to
eventually run her for exercise, if she took to it. “When I was a kid in upstate New York, I had a mixed breed dog that followed me everywhere around town. The idea of generally doing things with a dog in tow is pretty ingrained in me. When you have a dog the size of Kuma, at 65 pounds, you need to give her plenty of exercise, so I thought, why not both of us?”
Kuma, at the 2016 Goody Goody Turkey Gobble in Tampa. TIPS FOR RUNNING WITH YOUR DOG by Jeff Odell
For you: •Understand that when you run with the dog you may have to make compromises with your own training. If it is speed work or interval training day, it might not be the day to take your dog. If it is tempo run day or long run day, it may make sense to take her on all or part of the run.
•There are all kinds of gimmicky running gear for dogs. I don’t use any of it. Save your money. You need a leash and a light.
•It takes time to get a rhythm with your dog when starting out. Make sure it stays fun for you and the dog.
For the dog: •Everything I read said that any distance running
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should not occur before your dog is 12-18 months old. This may vary by breed, so talk to your veterinarian.
•Make sure the dog is visible. Kuma is all black and impossible to see in the dark, when I do most of my running. Also, I want her visible to drivers. I have found the best lights are the Road ID Supernova clip on
lights.They are inexpen-
sive, durable, don’t fall off, last a long time, and are bright.
Roadid.com
•Start with walking. At some point, add a run to the next telephone pole, for instance, then walk again. Make it a game. The dog needs to work up to run- ning full time just like you do. By the way, this idea also works for you if you are just getting off the couch.
•Know when the dog is fatigued. For Kuma, her ears and tail will start to droop, so I cut off the run. I never try to push.
•Keep the dog hydrated every 2-3 miles.
•Run early in the morning or at night in the summer, out of the direct sunlight.
Continued.g
Summer/Fall 2017 THE NEW BARKER 55
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