Running with Your Dog at Night or in the Dark

This below is what you'll see if you're walking or running down our street in the dark hours, very early in the morning or after the sun has set in the evening. What are these strange blinking lights, only two feet off of the ground?

Many people run in the dark after work; some run in the dark before work!  And while runners pay attention to their own safety, what about the safety of their dog?

Phil is an early-riser, and thus so is Joey. Since Joey was a puppy, Phil has been taking Joey out running at 5 a.m. In the winter and autumn, it's dark at this hour. Also, it's often dark in the late afternoon when Joey gets walked or run again.

Phil has his own see-in-the-dark vest and wears caps with see-in-the-dark stripes. And what about Joey?

First, he has purchased little lights for runners - and he clips them on Joey's collar. Joey wears two or three of these lights - one on either side of his collar. Dad turns them on to flash quickly.

This was especially helpful when Joey was recovering from his car accident, as you see below.

The blinking lights serve two purposes: They help Phil to see where Joey is, and they help cars to see where Joey is. Though there aren't many cars at this hour of the morning, when a car is out, the last thing a driver expects to see is a dark chocolate Labrador Retriever running on the street, so the flashing lights are a great warning beacon.

Occasionally, Phil places a bicyclist's reflective leg band around Joey's (somewhat thick) neck - fastening two together with the velco portions to go fully around.

In this case, it's everybody's safety that is of concern.

There is no doubt that Joey loves running - and we aim to keep him running as long as possible!

Building Endurance in Your Injured Dog

The bandages from his broken ankle long off, Joey was doing great: Though we watched him closely, I cannot even pinpoint exactly when our dog stopped favoring his right side hind leg, the leg that was badly hurt, the one that had the metal plate and screws, and that had three broken toes, and when he stopped hopping on three legs rather than four. But he did!

When you've had an injury, you get back to normal slowly. Little by little. You notice and complain about your aches and pains. Maybe you even go to a physical therapist. Your dog, on the other hand, wants to jump right in, back to life. He wants to walk, run, jump up on beds, jump down from beds. Does he feel aches and pains? Maybe, but he isn't going to tell you.
He is, in fact, going to act rather like your adolescent child when he or she is injured or sick.

The fact is that both Phil and I played an important role in our dog's recovery and rehabilitation:

For a few weeks there, in the glory of the summer, I was taking him swimming in the lake, taking him literally doggie-paddling, giving his legs a workout, and getting his endurance up. (At least I was doing that until I got kicked out of the lake!)

Dad was taking Joey running in the morning...building up his muscles and his endurance.

Bringing patient, and having a good watch with a timer on the run was part of the process.

At first Phil would take him running for five minutes.  Then a few days later, increase it to ten.  Then a few days later, increase that to fifteen.  And finally one morning Phil took Joey out for a big twenty-minute run.

The twenty-minute run took place, at first, once a week. After a few weeks, he increased it to twice a week...

It's important to observe your dog - including what's going on with his tongue. That can signal he's too hot or too tired.

Joey would always start every run out strong. However, unlike before, at some point in the run, his tongue would hang out.  On some days, he just got slow toward the end of his run.

The dog, so full of enthusiasm, didn't realize that he needed to stop - so we humans had to realize that for him.  You have to understand it's not your run alone; it's the dog's run, too.

But it just seems that all of a sudden I noticed  Joey was walking normally and running normally, on all fours!

When I asked Phil if he had his running partner back, he paused.

"Almost, but not quite."

Now, five months later, on the long runs, the mornings when Phil runs for 40 minutes or more, Joey can't make it all the way.

Mister Enthusiasm is good for about 15 minutes but can manage twenty.

So Phil has to figure out how to run the dog - and still get his own long run in.

It was September. The shadows that followed Joey and me when I walked him toward the pond in the late afternoon dragged behind us. The long and lanky shadows that preceded Joey and me when I walked him back from the pond also seemed anxious to climb up the hill. Even the shadow of Joey's tongue, which would by then be hanging out, seemed longer. But we were on our way!


Please read more about our dog's injury and recuperation, from Joey's point of view!