Dog Owners on A Short Leash to Health
by Gini Sikes
Overweight people tend to have overweight dogs. Recently, The New York Times warned that the United States faces a dual obesity epidemic among people and their pets. The “why” is obvious when we find ourselves splayed on the couch, grazing on junk food that we share with our dogs.
Because dogs and people are marvelous at motivating one another to get fit, putting Fido or Fifi on a fitness routine may be the first step to regaining your own fitness.
Participants in a 2004 study by the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital,
who dieted and exercised with their pets, lost weight. Their dogs lost proportionately even more.
If you’re still not motivated to exercise, Running Paws, a service that sends athletic trainers to your home, will pair your animal with an endurance athlete, such as a marathon runner or roller blader. The goal isn’t to log miles, but rather to maintain and improve a companion dog’s fitness and good health.
Greenwich Village comprises the route of Running Paws trainer and long-distance runner Jerry Sticker, whose clients include a Boxer, a Border Collie, two Chocolate Labrador Retrievers, an Irish Setter, a Black Lab and a Beagle. Sticker takes new dogs for an evaluation run to ascertain what they can handle and whether they’re aggressive toward other dogs. Today, he’s with his sole “walker,” a 9-year-old black-and-white mix named Lulu. She can be cranky around strange dogs, so Sticker avoids canine encounters.
Temperament, age, breed and weather all impact how Sticker exercises his wards. “Dogs don’t sweat,” he explains.
“They pant and aren’t as efficient as humans at eliminating excess heat.” To avoid heat exhaustion, Sticker doesn’t run dogs when it’s very hot or humid.
According to Sticker, you can’t judge a dog’s exercise capacity by its size. A Jack Russell needs abundant daily physical exercise, while a Great Dane can happily snooze 18 hours a day. Breeds with pushed-in faces, such as Pugs, Bulldogs or Boston Terriers, are particularly prone to breathing problems.
Sticker slowly builds up each dog’s endurance. “Sometimes I pair two dogs for motivation,” he notes. “I’ll pair Jake, the Irish Setter, with a very fit Chocolate Lab who will run as much as you’ll let him. The Lab pushes Jake, and Jake responds to the challenge.”
Jake’s owner, Jennifer Franchetti, who wants Jake to lose 15 pounds, has watched him slim down on the program.
“My running days were over long before I got Jake,” she says, “but I took him out a lot because I worked from home.
Then my schedule went from complete freedom to working five days a week. I was excited when I heard about Running Paws.”
The company even offers an athletic club where owners can drop off dogs for the day or for overnight, extended stays.
The upstairs offers a glass-enclosed gym for large dogs; downstairs provides a playroom for tiny dogs with big attitudes.
Inside the gym, a young man and woman repeatedly throw balls for dogs, occasionally taking breaks to massage a shaggy neck. Guest dogs are never left unattended. At night, an employee sleeps on an army cot inside the concrete dog room with overnight lodgers.
“We keep the dogs as active as we can,” explains manager Matt Signorile. “Tennis balls are going all day. We have enough for everyone in here. Although that black Poodle is not into chasing balls, he’ll chase dogs who are chasing balls. The Boxer is our athlete; she never stops going. The Wheaton Terriers, Labs and other Retrievers can go stir crazy in an apartment. So, we deal with the craziness and the owners get the niceness. After a day here, they return home tired dogs. And as all dog owners know, a tired dog is a good dog.”
Owners can pay extra for their dogs to go on runs along the river. Or, they can remain inside and run a mile on a treadmill.
“Some dogs get on the treadmill right away and love it, while others try to jump off,” notes Signorile, “so we monitor them. We had one Collie who, the first time, lookedup as if asking, ‘What are you trying to getme to do?’ After that, he was on it everyday.”
Owners who make it a habit to hold on to the other end of the leash derive the best boost from their pet’s fitness regimen. Every morning, Jill Abrams runs through Morningside Park with her dogs. A former lawyer turned “dog runner,” Abrams has discovered the real added benefit. She enthuses, “Aside from the fact that I’m happy not practicing law, I’ve dropped two dress sizes!”
For more information on Running Paws, call 212-818-0474 or visit
RunningPaws.com. Running Paws Athletic Club is located at 1105 First Ave.
in NYC. Call 212-317-1222.
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