So if you're into running and you're into dogs, you may be looking at what's the best kind of dog you should get if you want to take your dog running.
I'm Jesse Funk, the founder of Solpri.com and the host of this show Runner's High, where we talk about everything running and endurance related, including today's topic: What are the best dogs to take running?
If you've seen my other videos, you may have seen Toby wander in and out from time to time. Toby is unfortunately not a great dog to take running. He's small and he's old. He's 14 this year, so I'm going to end up having to put him down so he can go lay down. But we can talk about all the other kinds of dogs you can take out running. And if you do like running, hit subscribe to cram for more videos. So let me set Toby down and I'll be back here in a second.
So now that we know that Toby is not a great dog, what are some good dogs for you to actually take out running? Well, obviously, this can be a very subjective decision. What kind of dog is right for you? Toby works out well for us because he's old and now low energy. Jack Russell Terriers are known for having lots of energy, but because he's old, he's kind of grown out of that. So good for our lifestyle and I don't necessarily want to go run with the dog, but we looked up answers from Reddit, we looked at articles, we looked at polls to try to find what are the best breeds, what are the best kind of dogs that you should take? I know when I was younger, my intention was to when I retired from racing to get a retired Greyhound.
Now, you may think greyhounds are great dogs to run. Clearly, they race, but they're more sprinters than long-distance runners. I know some people have some success with taking their greyhounds out running, but it's not really what they're built for. So let's get to some recommendations from what people suggested as being the top go top 5 breeds for dogs and why you should take them running.
The first suggestion and this should come as no surprise to anybody who knows any things about dogs and running was something that we saw all over the place, though it is not the number one most common or top recommended answer. You got to stay to the end to see that the first one here, the Husky. Duh! Because they're built to do this. They're built to run long distances, often in cold climates.
So that's kind of a given, right? You want a dog with a lot of energy that's very trainable. Those are kind of the two traits we really want for a long-distance running dog, right? Whereas Toby is trainable. He's very low energy and short to the ground. So it's going to be tough for him to go out with me on a run because he's done after about a block of a walk at this point in his life.
But the husky meant to go long distances can probably outrun you unless you're a ultra runner. But obviously the big downside of the husky if you live in a warmer climate like here in Kansas City, it gets very hot and humid in the summertime, so you can take your husky out. My old running coach lives here near me in this neighborhood and he takes his husky out though just for walks in the summertime because she would get overheated.
So that's always something to take into consideration no matter what dog you're taking. Are they too hot or are they still doing okay? Checking in on them and then just knowing dogs are kind of like us. Some days you feel like running, some days you don't and your dog may not be motivated or run. So on to the number two suggestion we saw.
Labradors again going to be a classic dog, kind of medium-sized dog. Lots of people have, lots of energy, very social. Going to want to be around you, very highly trainable. I actually even saw a husky lab mix as a suggestion somebody had is their perfect running dog. So this is an actual dog that they had they ran with because it had the high energy stamina of a husky and also that like sociable, very trainable personality of a lab and kind of mesh those two together. We're not doing mixes because I think things are even more complicated, but I think a lab makes perfect sense.
Most of these dogs, you have to think about size too, right? Size of disposition. So smaller dogs going to often be ruled out just because of size or gait. No matter if you are a short person or a tall person, going to be much longer than dogs. And then it gets exacerbated when you get to a small dog. And then large dogs can typically have joint problems and other kind of problems like that depending on the part of their life.
So medium-sized dogs tend to be dominating this list here. So labs the second one, let's get on to number three. And then the last three kind of are encompassed in this one category. So our last three are kind of encompassed in this overall category of say like cattle herding, sporting type dogs. I know if you are a dog person, you're going to tell me that these are not the same category.
And you're absolutely right. We could get into the nitty-gritty of the particulars of all kinds of dogs. I'm not an expert in dogs. So please, if you have more information leave them down in the comments below, educate us more on dogs or particular dogs. Their particulars. Anything I get wrong, I'm happy share we try to do the best research we came up with this video, but I classified them together because they all share similar characteristics in terms of being able to go all day, being trainable and kind of being bred for this kind of trait, basically. It's not that we made them to run with us, so to speak, and that we were running, but that they needed to be going for a long time and continuously working.
So the third suggestion we saw a German Shepherd, this is not necessarily obviously a dog for everybody. I know sometimes it gets a bad rap as being an aggressive dog and certainly can be. They're used as canine companions to police, oftentimes because they are highly, highly trainable, very intelligent dogs, and they are capable of continuing to work, continuing to go all day and do more. Again, with the caveat that you have to pay attention to your particular dog and how they're doing.
But this is a very common suggestion that we saw, I think because of those traits, again, trainable, high energy, all those kind of things. So we put it in the middle of the list in that it's proud the German Shepherd because of its highly trained ability. It's very intelligent. It is probably better suited in some ways to be able to do all the things you might want to do on a run than our Husky and our Lab in some ways, but not necessarily better than the last two. So let's get on to those.
So number four, almost last one is the Australian Cattle dog. So again, similar idea meant to herd cattle, meant to be running around all day mixing between sprints and distance because they have to have the endurance to go to continue to go on a cattle drive, which if you're not from the Midwest or you're not from an area that knows anything about cattle drives, you're moving cattle from one pasture to another, which can take a minute and you have to kind of corral the herd, which is where the dog comes into play.
This becomes number two because of much like the German Shepherd, but a little bit more so. I'll show you cattle dogs with correct training, then have more independence. So I see the ability for a dog to have this like independent trait, meaning you don't necessarily need to give commands. They can kind of figure out some of these cues and situations on their own, like a cattle dog who needs to corral cattle.
This is going to put it further up in the list for me as a good distance running companion. If you have to constantly give your dog commands, it's obviously something else you have to do for a run. Not going to be a problem for most of us running in the city, running on sidewalks, all those kind of things. But just thinking about like how lazy I guess maybe I like to be or we'd like to be with technology. We'd like to be hands-off, hands-free, easy-going once the training is down. If you have a dog that can be more independent, then that puts it up again higher for me.
So let's get on to the last one, the number one top suggestion I saw over and over and over as the best running dog to have if you want to go out and running with your dog.
So here we are, number one. And if you're a dog person and you're a dog running person, I'm sure you have been screaming this at me, the entire video waiting for me to get here. So it'd be no surprise to you. But if you're not in, you're curious. I'm going to butcher the name, which is a dead giveaway. It's the Vizsla or Vizsla or Vizsla or something like that. It's on the screen. You can see it.
These are like sporting dogs from -- originally from Hungary. So to me, I think you would be easy to mistake them for some kind of lab on the street if you just don't know anything about dogs, which would be me. But over and over and over and over again, people said, "Oh, I have a little mixed with this," or "I have a purebred" or mixed with that and that they are their best friend for running.
We'll find about the breeds that you can sporting dog from Hungary and that they are really very athletic dogs and just cannot be left at home to be kind of like this guy. I can show you Toby here real quick. Uh, where are we, Toby? He just likes to hang off to the side. This is Toby is basically pretty much opposite of the Vizslas and that they need to get out. They need the energy. They need the exercise. But we did see with one caveat, a lot of people say you don't necessarily want to go like long, long distance with these dogs.
Lots of people commented again, thank you, Reddit. And there's actually a subreddit if you want to check it out. Running with dogs who talks about taking them out for like 6 to 8 miles most. So if you're going ten plus, then probably dog specific, I would imagine. But in this particular case, it may not be the time to take your dog out, but if you're doing those shorter training runs, then perfect opportunity.
As I understand it, because I've never interacted with one of these dogs. They are also like all the qualities that you want in a Lab with that kind of high energy, that very trainable, the very sociable. They want to be around you, but then have the ability to go the distance. Now, the nitty gritty in all between these going to be lost on me a little bit just to be upfront and open. This is the best research we could find on who recommended what and what came up the most often.
So if you disagree with me and you think, "No, this is a better running dog" or I got something wrong, or I missed something because I'm absolutely sure I've missed details, leave them in the comments below. Let me know. Let other people know. What dog do you have? What do you recommend? What are we missing? What are the best dogs to go running with? So leave in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you. Hopefully, I'll see you next time on the next episode of Runner's High.