#059 – Co-owner of OnDog Training Academy host of Learn, Laugh, Bark Podcast, and runner, Jake Schneider, talks about the benefits and tips for running with your dog while sharing his own inspiring running and fitness journey.
Topics Covered:
- Compelling reasons to run with your dog
- Insightful tips on how to best run with your dog
- Running journey through weight loss and injury
Today’s Guest
Jake Schneider
Jake & Jenny Schneider are a married team who have been training dogs and coaching people together for over 15 years. They help owners of pet, service, and working dogs form good relationships and strong bonds with their dogs through education, understanding, love, and respect. They do this through one-on-one coaching, on-demand courses and webinars, and their podcast, “Learn, Laugh, Bark”.
Their favorite dog sport is Mondioring, which has led them to travel the world, meet different kinds of dog business owners, and learn about other trainers’ philosophies, methods, and tips. Their mission is to share their knowledge with as many people as possible so that more dogs can live a better life.
Jake is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys just about any physical activity as long as it involves being outside. He also understands the value of doing these activities with a canine partner and strives to educate anyone that will listen about ways to get their dog buddies involved.
Follow Jake:
- Website – https://www.ondogtrainingacademy.com
- Podcast – https://learnlaughbark.buzzsprout.com
- Facebook – @OnDogTA
- Instagram – @ondogtrainingacademy
- YouTube – @ondogtrainingacademy
Listen to Inspire to Run Podcast:
Richard Conner
Welcome to Episode 59. Are you just starting your running journey or you’ve been a solo runner for a while? Well in this episode, we’re going to talk about the reasons why you may want to consider bringing your furry four legged friend along for your runs. Hope you enjoy.
Intro/Outro 0:17
Welcome to Inspire to run podcast. Here you will find inspiration. Whether you’re looking to take control of your health and fitness or you’re a seasoned runner, looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here’s your host, Richard Conner.
Richard Conner 0:40
Hi, everyone, welcome to inspire to run Podcast. I’m so excited that we have Jake Schneider here as our guest. He’s a co owner of on dog training academy with his wife, Jenny, host of learn laugh bark podcast, and outdoorsman and runner. So super excited about this conversation. And welcome to the show, Jake. Hey, Richard,
Jake Schneider 1:00
thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Richard Conner 1:03
Of course, you know, I love the opportunity to have a unique topic on the show. Maybe it’s not unique in the world. But we haven’t had this conversation to talk about running and dogs, which is, which is super cool. And I’m just interested to learn more about you and the work that you do in your business. So excited to have you here. And let’s kind of kick things off and just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jake Schneider 1:23
Yeah, so like you mentioned me and my wife on a dog training business. And we’ve been training dogs for over 15 years now. And for me personally, what kind of got me into gets a running but just being healthy in general, was coming out of college. So me and my wife, we dated since middle school on and off since middle school. We dated in height and one in our senior year. We got married shortly after college, but I was always a larger person, like at my max weight coming out of college, which I guess it’s college so it shouldn’t be a surprise, I was just under 300 pounds. And it goes like 282 85 and, and it just was starting to not feel good. And I started getting into dog sports because dogs my parents have owned dog training a dog training business almost my entire life. And so I knew I kind of wanted to do something with that. And dog the dog sports stuff really was interesting. And I got into a sport called Mondeo ring, which incorporates really strict or not strict but really tough obedience. For the dogs jumping for the dogs where they have to jump a 12 foot flat jump, they have to climb a seven foot wall and then they have to jump a four foot hurdle hurdle like basically like a chain link fence and and then they have to go into like protection dog training. So that in a sense, basically the dog thinks the decoy, as we call them, the person in the bite suit is like a their best friend that just just wears a tug toy. And so I started getting into that sport, and I started realizing I’m like, geez, I’m big for the sport because I was a decoy. And I still am. But I was like I’m big for the sport, I needed to drop some weight because I’m carrying a 45 pound suit around a jacket and pants and it’s starting to wear me down. So I started getting into like fitness stuff and, and really starting to be more aware of what I was eating. And then I started getting into running, which you know, all of that combined, I was able to drop about 50 pounds, and everything started feeling better. And it’s just sort of carried me and then you know, my dog, I just started bringing my dog into it. Because if I’m going to be healthy for the sport, I need my dog to be healthy because I was also a competitor in the sport as well. So I was like, You know what, dawg, I’m gonna bring you with me on this journey. And we’re just gonna start running.
Richard Conner 3:43
That’s really great. And it’s wonderful to hear about your transformation. And I’ll share a personal story. But I have a lot of questions for you to learn more about kind of your your story there. But, you know, just for the listeners, I don’t think I’ve shared this before. But about two years ago, we got a miniature Schnauzer, which I’ve never had a dog in my life and kind of avoided getting pets for a really long time. But my kids were at the age where it was hard to deny them any further and my wife on they get a dog and we have a beautiful Miniature Schnauzer. She’s just wonderful, best thing that’s ever happened to us. And you my wife had asked me You say, Well, if when you go on your runs, why don’t you take the puppy and I’m like, Well, you know, I don’t really know. I don’t really know if that’s what I want to do. And a lot of thoughts, you know, kind of came to mind. So that’s one of the reasons why I’m I’m interested in this conversation. And I’m sure others who are listening might be as well if they don’t already run with their dog. So just to kind of share my story. But, you know, kind of going back to to you, Jake, you know, a few questions around. When you just made the decision. You had to lose some weight you had to get in shape for the sport. What made you decide to pick running in particular?
Jake Schneider 4:50
I think for me, it was one of the more easier avenues for me to go down. So we live out in the country. There’s not like I can’t just get in a car and go to a gym. And that’s like right down the road. For me, it’s a little more difficult. So, you know, I was doing, I did the insanity workouts like, I don’t know if you’ve ever done those, but like Insanity workouts, the p90x stuff, I tried those things, and they were fine. But running, got me outside. And ultimately, that’s what I, that’s where I want to be as often as I can. rain or snow, it doesn’t really matter. Like, I’ll be outside if I can. And so that was one reason that it kind of pushed me to do that. And the in it conveniently, I learned that from the front of my driveway, we live in a development, that’s just a perfect circle. And from the front of my from my mailbox back to my mailbox is exactly a mile. So it made it really easy to like track my progress and stuff. So I think that was just another reason I’m like, Well, this is just handy, I should just start running, you know, and to be honest, I did try biking, you know. And the thing with biking, I found I did more coasting than pedaling. And I’m like, this is just not giving me the workout that I necessarily needed or wanted. And so I stuck with running for for as long as I possibly could.
Richard Conner 6:07
That’s, that’s really good to know. And that’s probably going to be a future episode running versus biking, and the differences in pros and cons but, but that’s helpful, I appreciate you sharing that with us to learn a little bit more about why you run, because kind of given where you were running may not have seemed like an easy thing to do. So but you took that first step, and you kind of went through that journey. And it sounds like between running and nutrition. And the other work that you’re doing, you got to where you want to be so congratulations. No, yeah,
Jake Schneider 6:33
thanks. I mean, I’ve heard stories, you know, on your podcast, even where were like, Yeah, coming out of high school, running was like a swear word. You know, I didn’t grow up with runners or anything like that. So for me to be like, well, I want to run, you know, my friends were like, seriously, you’re gonna run, I’m like, Yeah, I’m gonna run. And so it, it definitely was out of my comfort zone. But I’m really glad I got into it.
Richard Conner 6:54
Very cool. So let’s talk a little bit more about your running journey. And then, you know, we’ll kind of pivot and talk a little bit about the business and the work that you’re doing. So, so you get to this point where you’re, where you want to be fitness wise, you’ve lost the weight, you’re running, you’re doing your sports. So where did that go? What else did you do kind of after that point, or maybe during?
Jake Schneider 7:16
So as I was kind of getting into running and stuff like that? You know, I started noticing that my knees started hurting and things and I’m like, man, you know, maybe I should get this checked out. So I go to the doctor, and they’re like, well, let’s, you know, X ray, MRI, CAT scan, whatever the heck, I can’t remember what they did. This was a while ago, but it came back and they’re like, Well, you have torn meniscus and each leg or in each knee. And I’m like, Great, okay, and he’s like, I don’t advise you to run, you know, you know, especially because our, our road that I run on is blacktop. And he’s like, that’s just gonna be hard on you. And then he’s like, plus, and I haven’t, I suppose I haven’t told you guys this. I also have flat feet. So thanks to my dad for that. And so he’s like, with your flat feet in your bad knees, you know, running on pavements, probably not good for you. And it’s not something I wanted to give up. I wanted to keep going with it. So I just, I just found different ways to do it. I had a friend of mine that’s like, hey, you know, the ski resort down the road, they’re doing this thing called the rugged maniac. You should give that a try. I’m like, Well, what is that? And he’s like, Well, you run and then yeah, you do these obstacle courses and stuff. And being outside and obstacle courses and mud and stuff. That’s just that’s me in a nutshell. So I was like, You know what, I’ll do it. And so I started doing training with it. And during the training that was more running through, so we have a lot of state parks around us. So I’d go to the state park and I do some running there and, and a lot of hills and and bluff stuff, whatever. And decided to bring my dog along with me, which kind of pushed me even more to incorporate my dog into it. And so I did the rugged maniac. And that was an absolute blast. And I did a couple more since then. And then I haven’t gotten back to do another one yet since COVID. But I really want to get back out and do some more, because I think we might have I don’t even know if they’re doing them anymore. But we used to have I think like warrior dashes and I think Spartan Race or something we’ve had, we’ve had a lot of stuff that pops up kind of around this area. So but yeah, that kind of took me into to doing the rugged maniac. And then since then I just do a lot of hiking running with my dog tracking with my dog doing what I can to get out be active and and, you know, run when I can.
Richard Conner 9:29
For sure for sure. Well, I’m glad you found a way to kind of stick with it. I mean, it’s done a lot of great things for you. And, you know, finding these alternate ways to do this, you know, whether it’s obstacle course races or something else. So congrats there. And so let’s talk about that. So you talked about running with your dog and one of the areas that I really would love to share with our listeners about if someone’s not doing it today. How do they do it? What are the reasons why they want to do it? So just kind of tell us a little bit more about that.
Jake Schneider 9:59
Well, a big reason, I guess personally for me, you know, I know some people and you know, I don’t mean you talked about it, some people like to run as just like their time, like, they just want to just put their headphones in and go. And I like that. But I think the reason I started running with my dog, not only was it for his fitness, but it was just a partner to run with, my wife is not a runner. So this is something I do on my own. And it just, it was nice to have someone out there pushing me, like, I’m like, well, he’s still going, I’m gonna keep going. And it’s just having that, that partner where you’re just out running and having fun. So that’s kind of why I think people probably would want to have a dog run with them, it gives them that kind of like, push and that incentive, like, I’m gonna keep going with my dog, you know, and of course, if people are just getting started in it, there’s so much stuff to consider. Because, you know, I think on the outside running with your dog looks easy, you just hook a leash to him and you go, but when you actually start to break it down, because I see a lot of people running with their dogs. And when you start to break it down, you’re like, there’s actually quite a bit that goes into it, you need to have like a really good foundation of training where the dog needs to learn how to sit and down and stay and just those basic commands, healing, even, you know, walking with you, and, and the dog needs to be social. And I think when people hear the word socializing, they think, oh, yeah, my dog goes and visits people and visits other dogs and is super friendly. But that actually, in some ways, those are the worst dogs to run with. Because as you’re running, and you’re passing people, the dogs going, Hey, buddy, I’m gonna go hang out with these guys or dog goes by, and they want to go run and visit with those dogs. And so when I tell people, you know, you want to make sure you’re socializing with your dog or socializing your dog, I really lean on getting your dog comfortable with just being in the presence of people and dogs and in new environments, but not necessarily engaging in them, just kind of have them be background noise. And in with my own dog, he’s done it before. And if anyone’s ever run with their dog, they’ve run into it before where you’re running, and you’re just kind of in the zone, and then your dog bumps your leg, or your dog sees a squirrel and wants to go chase it or something, and it throws you off your rhythm, it throws you off everything, and it just sort of affects the rest of your runner at least temporarily. So. So I think, you know, making sure that you definitely take the time, and you don’t want to rush into Oh, I’m just gonna start running with them, take the time, train them, socialize them. And then of course, making sure that the right age, like I think, like you had mentioned, you know, running with your dog. And I always tell people, I don’t run with my dogs till they’re at least a year old. And the reason for that is joints, growth, I don’t want them out on the pavement or wherever, you know, running as their growth plates are still open, because they’re still developing and have it long term effect them with arthritis and different things like that. So that’s kind of the main things to start with. When you’re thinking about it, wait till they’re a good age, make sure they have good training, make sure they’re social, in the right ways. And I mean, we could talk about equipment and nutrition and all that stuff as well. But that’s kind of the base of what I tell people.
Richard Conner 12:58
That’s super, super helpful. And the wheels in my mind are just turning. So let’s dive into some of those topics, some of the things that you said. So first off, was around the why I really love what you said about having the dog as your running partner. That’s that’s such a nice idea, especially if you do like to run with someone else, and you don’t have that running partner. I think that’s really wonderful. Something I never really thought of before, you know, like we talked about before, I tend to run alone, I tend not to like to run in groups, because it is my time, but I’m okay with being in races and being among other people. But for my trainings, I prefer to be alone. But for those who do want company, I think you know, it sounds like having your dog with you is a really great option. I’m also wondering, another reason why to run with your dog. Could it be also from from a safety perspective? Do you think some people could feel more safe running with their dogs? I don’t know what your thoughts around that.
Jake Schneider 13:55
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I know, when I talk to people about running with their dogs that does come up actually quite a bit, where they’re like, you know, I just like having, even if it’s a golden retriever, which most people think well, that’s a friendly dog. Having a dog there, especially a little bit of a larger one. Yeah, I think it does give them a little bit more safety. You know, I’ve dealt with canine officers and stuff in the past, and criminals are definitely more worried about a dog than they are a person because dogs could potentially, you know, bite them without caring, you know, basically. And so yeah, I do believe Yeah, protection or that safety definitely is something that people will do with their dogs. And I get people who talk to me about that. They’re like, well, I want to run with my dog, but I want to make sure my dog protects me and I’m like, that’s a really crazy balance where you’re like trying to teach your dog to be like your bodyguard, but then run with you and be okay with it. I always tell people train your dog really well have them be super confident. Because a confident well trained dog will deter people to mess with you because that dog looks super under control and just kind of looks legit. And I just say Just make your dog be a really good fake. You make it look the part, but I’m not really into training dogs for personal protection stuff. I it’s just not what I do. I just like dogs who look together, they look all there and the person’s like now I’m just not gonna risk it.
Richard Conner 15:14
Mm hmm. It’s more like a deterrent, right? I mean, the dog is there. Yeah, yeah, I get that. So that’s, that’s great. So you know, really two great reasons why we talked about here. And then I’m wondering for the third reason you had mentioned this, but talk a little bit more about it is the benefits for the dog, what are the benefits for the dog to go on these runs with you? Well,
Jake Schneider 15:36
and just to kind of lead into it a little bit, I think you always want to make sure your dog is able to run, right, you want to make make sure they’re healthy. So just like people like, I’m definitely not in perfect weight. Still, you know, even though I lost a bunch of weight, I still could lose more. But you don’t want to have a dog who’s overweight, you don’t want to have a dog who’s got hip joint issues, you want to make sure you’re giving them good diet and everything. But it definitely is a good exercise outlet for the dogs, it not only does it get them out which dogs like to be social, they’re social animals. So even though they’re not like socializing, when you’re running, they’re getting out to new places, they’re seeing things just like we like to do. And then just for long term health, just you’re keeping them fit, you’re keeping them in shape, you’re keeping their joints, loose, everything like that, I think it just helps all around. And I always tell people, a tired dog is a good dog. So if you’re running your dogs, and they are coming home, and they’re exhausted, I mean, if anyone ever does like doggy daycare, stuff like that with their dogs, they see the benefit of a tired dog when they get their dog home, and their dog just flops on the floor and wants to sleep. You know, that definitely is something people really enjoy. And I’ll say though, when you are running with the dog, you don’t want to overdo it. So like I tell people, I usually will run for about an hour with my dog before I’m like at a maximum whether whether dependent of course as well and dog, but bout two to five miles an hour, kind of in that range too much. And you’re starting to put more impact on the dogs. And plus, like I had a client, I used to tell the story all the time, I had a client who was getting ready to do some big race, I don’t remember this was years ago. And she she was running seven to 10 miles a day with her dog. And it was a pointer and the dog was doing fine with it and everything. And then after she got done with her race, she cut her her running down drastically, she was no longer training. And that dogs like wait, I need my seven to 10 I still need my seven to 10. So although it’s really good exercise, you want to keep it to a doable range that two to five miles so that if you’re like, Well, you know what, I can’t run that far today. Or I’m not going to run it all today. The dogs not gonna go Wait, no, no, no, I have this built up energy that I use every day for this, this huge run. Now I’m going to use it and I’m going to take it out on your couch or something like that, right? So yeah, you just want to be careful with that.
Richard Conner 18:01
That’s really, really great advice. And I appreciate you sharing these with us so, so really great reasons why you would want why someone would want to run with their dogs. So I appreciate that. One more question on this. And then we’ll talk a little bit more around the mechanics of it. The when you mentioned, you know, you want to make sure the dog has good nutrition and is not overweight. So do you recommend let’s say the dog is overweight? Per the guidance? Do you recommend that the dog loses weight before you start running? Or can the running kind of help? Just as you know you and I would would do
Jake Schneider 18:32
it? Well, I guess it would sort of depend on how much weight you know, if you have someone who’s 400 pounds, you’re not going to say hey, go run four miles. Like I think that would be really hard on him. What you might say is go walk, start with walking. And that’s something I tell people if your dog needs to lose weight and they’re not ready to run, just start by walking walking is great anyways, because it’s kind of the lead into running where your dog learns the same mechanics, hey, you’re gonna be on my side, whatever, we’re gonna just move and but you’re doing at a slower pace. So there’s less distractions, and it’s easier on their joints. And then once they get to that healthy weight, or close to it, then you can say Alright, now we’re gonna go a mile. And we’re gonna go two miles, we’re gonna go three miles. And it just you can start to build from there. But yeah, I prefer to, to try to make sure my nutritions ready to go for my dog and I’ll just if your dog needs physical activity, and you don’t think they’re ready for running, I mean just going in your backyard or doing something like that and just playing fetch low impact work, but it’s exhausting for the dog swimming to is really good.
Richard Conner 19:34
Oh, okay. I’ve didn’t actually never thought of that. That’s that’s a really good alternative to so so thanks for sharing that. So I’ll share a little bit more about my story with with my puppy and some of the things that you said really resonated with me because so we already talked about this. I don’t necessarily run with with my puppy, but we do take walks and we’ll walk to the park and she’s friendly, but friendly in an aggressive way. So you know, she’s a small dog And when she sees someone, she will bark at them as if she’s yelling at them. But she’s really more than likely really just excited to see somebody else. And we haven’t really figured out what makes her like friendly versus uncomfortable among, you know, certain dogs or certain people, we haven’t really figured that out. But it’s a distraction. So I’m thinking, I can’t even go a quarter of a mile without her stopping to sniff some leaves, or she may be afraid of a car or maybe barking at somebody, for sure, kind of interrupt my run. So, you know, you talked about like having good training. And maybe this is a little bit about what you do and in your business. Can you talk to us a little bit about you know, a little bit about that, like, What is What does someone have to do first to get them to the point where they would be ready to run and not not in great detail, but what are some of the things that you think someone would want to do?
Jake Schneider 20:52
Well, like I said, the first thing is just to try to develop some good foundation of obedience training. And most importantly, I think, for when you do start to take your dog out into those potentially overstimulating situations would be just just teaching them like a look at me command like just their name. So when I the dog, my current dog right now his name is Luna, I got his real name is ludicrous. His name but I call him luda. That’s Austin. Yeah. And he is named after the rapper, yes, anyways, but he, he can easily get distracted at times, depending on what’s going on. So I for the training that we did to prepare him for running, we just taught him his name, his name means look at me make eye contact with me. And that’s it. And so what I started to do is using that when we would take our dog places, and when, like you say, you walk your dog to the park and stuff and they get super distracted. What you want to do there is and you could people could always look up this term as well and get a lot of information. It’s just called counter conditioning, where you’re going to take a situation that your dog thinks is one thing and flip it to mean something else. And the flip that we try to make it is that the dog goes yeah, that’s not a big deal anymore. So the way I do it is just with treats, you have treats, you go to a park, you sit on a bench, and when your dog looks at something that maybe would usually get them stimulated or want to bark, before they have a chance you’re rewarding them, you’re praising them, you’re like, good job, hey, way to look at that thing and not think not freak out about it. And over time, the dogs gonna be like, Oh, that thing means food, or oh, that thing’s not so bad. And it starts to change the way the dog is perceiving certain situations. And that’s, that’s kind of the base of everything, you know, and this is something Yeah, we talked to our clients in depth about counter conditioning work and all that stuff, and the importance of it and it’s so relatable to just beyond running like just regular regular stuff as well. And so, yeah, that’s that’s where I start with is just get your dog out in these situations, and start to praise them when they’re quiet and try to set up and be ready before they have a chance to react to it and kind of just recondition the way they’re perceiving stuff.
Richard Conner 22:54
That’s super, super helpful to know. And, you know, for our listeners, you know, this is a lot of really great information if you if you have a dog and you may have considered running with your dog or maybe not maybe hopefully this episode inspires you to do so if you’re looking for a running partner, if you are looking to have get your dog more exercise, if you’re looking to get a little bit of security right on your runs a lot of great reasons why someone would want to run with their dogs. I really appreciate Jake, you sharing that information with us. And you know, before we kind of talked about, you know, your business and the work you do and your podcast, I’d love to kind of focus on you for a moment, back to your running story. And there’s a couple of questions that I like to ask our guests and one of which is what was one of the biggest obstacles that you personally faced, you know, kind of in your running journey.
Jake Schneider 23:43
Well, like I mentioned, I honestly think it was it was pushing through pain, you know, the pain of my knees. Again, I probably thank my father for this because because he seems to have all these issues that are now starting to pop up in my life but like it was a two years ago, I herniated a disc in my lower back. And thankfully the thing that helped me the most was actually walking running was a little bit hard at that time but walking was something I could do and I can still do with my dog but it was I could do it and it actually started to make me feel better. So it almost as much as the back issue hurt. It was almost one of those things that made me enjoy that process of even though I couldn’t run of just walking, you know, and eventually getting back into running as much as I could and then like I said my knee pain and stuff that is something I’ve I mean I’ve pushed through it for quite a while and I still continue to push through it. That’s probably my my biggest hurdle just because it’s I think it’s easy for me to go to throw excuses while my knees hurt so I shouldn’t run or I’m a bigger guy I shouldn’t I shouldn’t run I should just do whatever but I just try to push myself through it and I’m always glad when I do you know like we live in Minnesota. Weather this time of year is not great for running, which is bad. Aaron grin it basically when it’s super cold out, I have a treadmill. I will say I’m not a fan of treadmills because you run in place and go nowhere. But I’ll take what I can get at times, but I just My biggest hurdles are just paintings. And I’ve just learned to kind of push through and I almost feel better about it when I’m done. Had I had not I think had I not had any pain at all. As weird as that sounds.
Richard Conner 25:22
not weird at all. And I’m happy that you shared that. And I think honestly, that fear or those obstacles you sometimes are in our head, and sometimes taking that first step is what it takes. And then you’ll see how you feel in the end. And you’ll see that you’ll you know, you’ll be better for it. So
Jake Schneider 25:39
Oh, yeah, yeah, that, again, I didn’t I wasn’t a huge fan of it. But like that, that insanity workout stuff that would just like kick your butt like that. That was something you’d get into and you’re like, why am I doing this? This is terrible. And then you’re done with it. You’re like, that was awesome. You know, and that’s kind of how it is with, with some of the running stuff I do. And especially running trails and things like that. It’s like, okay, this is crazy. This is insane. And it pushes me and makes me better. Like in the summer, we have horrible horse flies here. So in the summer, my goal when I’m like doing trail running and stuff like that is outrun the horse flies. So that’s like, it’s almost like someone’s chasing you. So I see my time seem to get better my miles seem to go faster in the summertime, because I have those forever flies chasing me.
Richard Conner 26:24
That’s really funny. So Jake, I love this conversation. And I appreciate you sharing this wonderful insights as well as your story. Super, super helpful. So as we kind of wind down here, another question I’d like to ask you is, what is the one thing that you would say, to help inspire our listeners to run?
Jake Schneider 26:45
Just keep try, it’s hard to say one, but I would say just keep at it, if you’ve enjoy, if you enjoy doing it, just keep at it, no matter what’s going on, no matter, you know, like, I’ve listened to a lot of your podcasts and you hear some of these stories about loss and things like that. And, and it kind of pushes people out of out of running. And I just I just say I push through a lot of stuff, when I’m running, whether it’s pain or whatever, or, you know, owning your own bit your own business, there’s the stresses of it. And there’s a schedule of it, and I just tried to go, you know what, I’m gonna go out and do this thing, whether I’m running on a road or running in the woods, I’m gonna go do this thing. And in the end, it just helps me mentally so much. You know, I know a lot of people up in the Minnesota area that get like seasonal depression. And one of the things they say is be active was hard when it’s super cold, but I find running and getting out on the trails and everything. And I’m not a skier, so people can ski pass me a cross country ski past me, and I’m still running. So, which I feel a little weird about, but whatever, it’s fine, but I would just tell people just don’t give up just even when stuff gets hard, you just push through. And a lot of times, it just seems to be better on the other side.
Richard Conner 27:59
Thank you so much, Jake. Yeah, really, really inspiring. So what I like to do is I’d like to hear just a little bit more about your the work that you’re doing in your business and your podcast. So just share a little bit about kind of the services and trainings that you offer. And also let the listeners know how they can follow you and find you online.
Jake Schneider 28:18
Yes, so the podcast we do is called Learn laugh, bark. And we just you know, we I think we’re about 65 ish 70 episodes in and it’s just talking about everything related to dogs, you’ll hear me tell jokes, you’ll hear me say talk about some sad stories and things I give advice in there. And then you’ll hear me go on rants because you know, that’s part of what it is. And you know, it just we just talk everything dog and I try to give good information and helpful information on every podcast episode that we we produce. And the business we have. It’s called on dog training academy and we do have the website on dog training academy.com and on there we just you know we put we have a course out right now that basically teaches the foundations of training and things that people need to do just to have a good dog in general not even running just want to have a good dog. This is kind of how we get things started. And we also do one on one virtual one on one stuff. And it’s been you know, since since the pandemic, it’s it’s really been eye opening how much we can help people through virtual lessons and virtual trainings. Just because we set up real nice in our training area where we’ve got a webcam and you can see the whole classroom you see me with my dog and we can communicate and it’s just been really, really fun to do so that’s been our, our main thing. You can find us we’re on Instagram. So learn laugh bark podcast is I believe on Instagram. It is on Instagram. I don’t believe it is on Instagram. It’s on Facebook, so is on dog training academy. We’re on Instagram, we’re on Facebook as well. And we actually have something going right now for people Um, if you go on our website under free webinars, excuse me under on demand, and you click on free webinar, we actually are we did a webinar about how owners can use can help being more consistent and how being consistent can help your dog understand things and be able to process and just be a better all around dogs. So that’s a free webinar we’re offering on our website on dog training academy.com. And we just encourage anyone to just check it out, listen to it, I think it’s about an hour long, and there’s a bunch of really good information in there. And, and you know, they can always reach out if they, you know, through through any of the socials or through our website, they can always reach out to us if they have any questions.
Richard Conner 30:41
All right, excellent. Well, I for sure will be checking it out. And I’ll put this information in the show notes to make it easy for our listeners to find you. Thank you again, Jake. Really, really appreciate this conversation. Appreciate all of what you shared with us. And yeah, thanks for coming on the show.
Jake Schneider 30:57
Yeah, thank you. Anytime I can talk about dogs I get excited about it. So I appreciate you bringing me on.
Richard Conner 31:03
Absolutely. Well thanks again and have a great day. You too.
Intro/Outro 31:07
That’s it for this episode of inspired to run podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community. And also please rate and review. Thanks for listening
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Welcome to Episode 59. Are you just starting your running journey or you’ve been a solo runner for a while? Well in this episode, we’re going to talk about the reasons why you may want to consider bringing your furry four legged friend along for your runs. Hope you enjoy.
Intro/Outro 0:17
Welcome to Inspire to run podcast. Here you will find inspiration. Whether you’re looking to take control of your health and fitness or you’re a seasoned runner, looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here’s your host, Richard Conner.
Richard Conner 0:40
Hi, everyone, welcome to inspire to run Podcast. I’m so excited that we have Jake Schneider here as our guest. He’s a co owner of on dog training academy with his wife, Jenny, host of learn laugh bark podcast, and outdoorsman and runner. So super excited about this conversation. And welcome to the show, Jake. Hey, Richard,
Jake Schneider 1:00
thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Richard Conner 1:03
Of course, you know, I love the opportunity to have a unique topic on the show. Maybe it’s not unique in the world. But we haven’t had this conversation to talk about running and dogs, which is, which is super cool. And I’m just interested to learn more about you and the work that you do in your business. So excited to have you here. And let’s kind of kick things off and just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jake Schneider 1:23
Yeah, so like you mentioned me and my wife on a dog training business. And we’ve been training dogs for over 15 years now. And for me personally, what kind of got me into gets a running but just being healthy in general, was coming out of college. So me and my wife, we dated since middle school on and off since middle school. We dated in height and one in our senior year. We got married shortly after college, but I was always a larger person, like at my max weight coming out of college, which I guess it’s college so it shouldn’t be a surprise, I was just under 300 pounds. And it goes like 282 85 and, and it just was starting to not feel good. And I started getting into dog sports because dogs my parents have owned dog training a dog training business almost my entire life. And so I knew I kind of wanted to do something with that. And dog the dog sports stuff really was interesting. And I got into a sport called Mondeo ring, which incorporates really strict or not strict but really tough obedience. For the dogs jumping for the dogs where they have to jump a 12 foot flat jump, they have to climb a seven foot wall and then they have to jump a four foot hurdle hurdle like basically like a chain link fence and and then they have to go into like protection dog training. So that in a sense, basically the dog thinks the decoy, as we call them, the person in the bite suit is like a their best friend that just just wears a tug toy. And so I started getting into that sport, and I started realizing I’m like, geez, I’m big for the sport because I was a decoy. And I still am. But I was like I’m big for the sport, I needed to drop some weight because I’m carrying a 45 pound suit around a jacket and pants and it’s starting to wear me down. So I started getting into like fitness stuff and, and really starting to be more aware of what I was eating. And then I started getting into running, which you know, all of that combined, I was able to drop about 50 pounds, and everything started feeling better. And it’s just sort of carried me and then you know, my dog, I just started bringing my dog into it. Because if I’m going to be healthy for the sport, I need my dog to be healthy because I was also a competitor in the sport as well. So I was like, You know what, dawg, I’m gonna bring you with me on this journey. And we’re just gonna start running.
Richard Conner 3:43
That’s really great. And it’s wonderful to hear about your transformation. And I’ll share a personal story. But I have a lot of questions for you to learn more about kind of your your story there. But, you know, just for the listeners, I don’t think I’ve shared this before. But about two years ago, we got a miniature Schnauzer, which I’ve never had a dog in my life and kind of avoided getting pets for a really long time. But my kids were at the age where it was hard to deny them any further and my wife on they get a dog and we have a beautiful Miniature Schnauzer. She’s just wonderful, best thing that’s ever happened to us. And you my wife had asked me You say, Well, if when you go on your runs, why don’t you take the puppy and I’m like, Well, you know, I don’t really know. I don’t really know if that’s what I want to do. And a lot of thoughts, you know, kind of came to mind. So that’s one of the reasons why I’m I’m interested in this conversation. And I’m sure others who are listening might be as well if they don’t already run with their dog. So just to kind of share my story. But, you know, kind of going back to to you, Jake, you know, a few questions around. When you just made the decision. You had to lose some weight you had to get in shape for the sport. What made you decide to pick running in particular?
Jake Schneider 4:50
I think for me, it was one of the more easier avenues for me to go down. So we live out in the country. There’s not like I can’t just get in a car and go to a gym. And that’s like right down the road. For me, it’s a little more difficult. So, you know, I was doing, I did the insanity workouts like, I don’t know if you’ve ever done those, but like Insanity workouts, the p90x stuff, I tried those things, and they were fine. But running, got me outside. And ultimately, that’s what I, that’s where I want to be as often as I can. rain or snow, it doesn’t really matter. Like, I’ll be outside if I can. And so that was one reason that it kind of pushed me to do that. And the in it conveniently, I learned that from the front of my driveway, we live in a development, that’s just a perfect circle. And from the front of my from my mailbox back to my mailbox is exactly a mile. So it made it really easy to like track my progress and stuff. So I think that was just another reason I’m like, Well, this is just handy, I should just start running, you know, and to be honest, I did try biking, you know. And the thing with biking, I found I did more coasting than pedaling. And I’m like, this is just not giving me the workout that I necessarily needed or wanted. And so I stuck with running for for as long as I possibly could.
Richard Conner 6:07
That’s, that’s really good to know. And that’s probably going to be a future episode running versus biking, and the differences in pros and cons but, but that’s helpful, I appreciate you sharing that with us to learn a little bit more about why you run, because kind of given where you were running may not have seemed like an easy thing to do. So but you took that first step, and you kind of went through that journey. And it sounds like between running and nutrition. And the other work that you’re doing, you got to where you want to be so congratulations. No, yeah,
Jake Schneider 6:33
thanks. I mean, I’ve heard stories, you know, on your podcast, even where were like, Yeah, coming out of high school, running was like a swear word. You know, I didn’t grow up with runners or anything like that. So for me to be like, well, I want to run, you know, my friends were like, seriously, you’re gonna run, I’m like, Yeah, I’m gonna run. And so it, it definitely was out of my comfort zone. But I’m really glad I got into it.
Richard Conner 6:54
Very cool. So let’s talk a little bit more about your running journey. And then, you know, we’ll kind of pivot and talk a little bit about the business and the work that you’re doing. So, so you get to this point where you’re, where you want to be fitness wise, you’ve lost the weight, you’re running, you’re doing your sports. So where did that go? What else did you do kind of after that point, or maybe during?
Jake Schneider 7:16
So as I was kind of getting into running and stuff like that? You know, I started noticing that my knees started hurting and things and I’m like, man, you know, maybe I should get this checked out. So I go to the doctor, and they’re like, well, let’s, you know, X ray, MRI, CAT scan, whatever the heck, I can’t remember what they did. This was a while ago, but it came back and they’re like, Well, you have torn meniscus and each leg or in each knee. And I’m like, Great, okay, and he’s like, I don’t advise you to run, you know, you know, especially because our, our road that I run on is blacktop. And he’s like, that’s just gonna be hard on you. And then he’s like, plus, and I haven’t, I suppose I haven’t told you guys this. I also have flat feet. So thanks to my dad for that. And so he’s like, with your flat feet in your bad knees, you know, running on pavements, probably not good for you. And it’s not something I wanted to give up. I wanted to keep going with it. So I just, I just found different ways to do it. I had a friend of mine that’s like, hey, you know, the ski resort down the road, they’re doing this thing called the rugged maniac. You should give that a try. I’m like, Well, what is that? And he’s like, Well, you run and then yeah, you do these obstacle courses and stuff. And being outside and obstacle courses and mud and stuff. That’s just that’s me in a nutshell. So I was like, You know what, I’ll do it. And so I started doing training with it. And during the training that was more running through, so we have a lot of state parks around us. So I’d go to the state park and I do some running there and, and a lot of hills and and bluff stuff, whatever. And decided to bring my dog along with me, which kind of pushed me even more to incorporate my dog into it. And so I did the rugged maniac. And that was an absolute blast. And I did a couple more since then. And then I haven’t gotten back to do another one yet since COVID. But I really want to get back out and do some more, because I think we might have I don’t even know if they’re doing them anymore. But we used to have I think like warrior dashes and I think Spartan Race or something we’ve had, we’ve had a lot of stuff that pops up kind of around this area. So but yeah, that kind of took me into to doing the rugged maniac. And then since then I just do a lot of hiking running with my dog tracking with my dog doing what I can to get out be active and and, you know, run when I can.
Richard Conner 9:29
For sure for sure. Well, I’m glad you found a way to kind of stick with it. I mean, it’s done a lot of great things for you. And, you know, finding these alternate ways to do this, you know, whether it’s obstacle course races or something else. So congrats there. And so let’s talk about that. So you talked about running with your dog and one of the areas that I really would love to share with our listeners about if someone’s not doing it today. How do they do it? What are the reasons why they want to do it? So just kind of tell us a little bit more about that.
Jake Schneider 9:59
Well, a big reason, I guess personally for me, you know, I know some people and you know, I don’t mean you talked about it, some people like to run as just like their time, like, they just want to just put their headphones in and go. And I like that. But I think the reason I started running with my dog, not only was it for his fitness, but it was just a partner to run with, my wife is not a runner. So this is something I do on my own. And it just, it was nice to have someone out there pushing me, like, I’m like, well, he’s still going, I’m gonna keep going. And it’s just having that, that partner where you’re just out running and having fun. So that’s kind of why I think people probably would want to have a dog run with them, it gives them that kind of like, push and that incentive, like, I’m gonna keep going with my dog, you know, and of course, if people are just getting started in it, there’s so much stuff to consider. Because, you know, I think on the outside running with your dog looks easy, you just hook a leash to him and you go, but when you actually start to break it down, because I see a lot of people running with their dogs. And when you start to break it down, you’re like, there’s actually quite a bit that goes into it, you need to have like a really good foundation of training where the dog needs to learn how to sit and down and stay and just those basic commands, healing, even, you know, walking with you, and, and the dog needs to be social. And I think when people hear the word socializing, they think, oh, yeah, my dog goes and visits people and visits other dogs and is super friendly. But that actually, in some ways, those are the worst dogs to run with. Because as you’re running, and you’re passing people, the dogs going, Hey, buddy, I’m gonna go hang out with these guys or dog goes by, and they want to go run and visit with those dogs. And so when I tell people, you know, you want to make sure you’re socializing with your dog or socializing your dog, I really lean on getting your dog comfortable with just being in the presence of people and dogs and in new environments, but not necessarily engaging in them, just kind of have them be background noise. And in with my own dog, he’s done it before. And if anyone’s ever run with their dog, they’ve run into it before where you’re running, and you’re just kind of in the zone, and then your dog bumps your leg, or your dog sees a squirrel and wants to go chase it or something, and it throws you off your rhythm, it throws you off everything, and it just sort of affects the rest of your runner at least temporarily. So. So I think, you know, making sure that you definitely take the time, and you don’t want to rush into Oh, I’m just gonna start running with them, take the time, train them, socialize them. And then of course, making sure that the right age, like I think, like you had mentioned, you know, running with your dog. And I always tell people, I don’t run with my dogs till they’re at least a year old. And the reason for that is joints, growth, I don’t want them out on the pavement or wherever, you know, running as their growth plates are still open, because they’re still developing and have it long term effect them with arthritis and different things like that. So that’s kind of the main things to start with. When you’re thinking about it, wait till they’re a good age, make sure they have good training, make sure they’re social, in the right ways. And I mean, we could talk about equipment and nutrition and all that stuff as well. But that’s kind of the base of what I tell people.
Richard Conner 12:58
That’s super, super helpful. And the wheels in my mind are just turning. So let’s dive into some of those topics, some of the things that you said. So first off, was around the why I really love what you said about having the dog as your running partner. That’s that’s such a nice idea, especially if you do like to run with someone else, and you don’t have that running partner. I think that’s really wonderful. Something I never really thought of before, you know, like we talked about before, I tend to run alone, I tend not to like to run in groups, because it is my time, but I’m okay with being in races and being among other people. But for my trainings, I prefer to be alone. But for those who do want company, I think you know, it sounds like having your dog with you is a really great option. I’m also wondering, another reason why to run with your dog. Could it be also from from a safety perspective? Do you think some people could feel more safe running with their dogs? I don’t know what your thoughts around that.
Jake Schneider 13:55
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I know, when I talk to people about running with their dogs that does come up actually quite a bit, where they’re like, you know, I just like having, even if it’s a golden retriever, which most people think well, that’s a friendly dog. Having a dog there, especially a little bit of a larger one. Yeah, I think it does give them a little bit more safety. You know, I’ve dealt with canine officers and stuff in the past, and criminals are definitely more worried about a dog than they are a person because dogs could potentially, you know, bite them without caring, you know, basically. And so yeah, I do believe Yeah, protection or that safety definitely is something that people will do with their dogs. And I get people who talk to me about that. They’re like, well, I want to run with my dog, but I want to make sure my dog protects me and I’m like, that’s a really crazy balance where you’re like trying to teach your dog to be like your bodyguard, but then run with you and be okay with it. I always tell people train your dog really well have them be super confident. Because a confident well trained dog will deter people to mess with you because that dog looks super under control and just kind of looks legit. And I just say Just make your dog be a really good fake. You make it look the part, but I’m not really into training dogs for personal protection stuff. I it’s just not what I do. I just like dogs who look together, they look all there and the person’s like now I’m just not gonna risk it.
Richard Conner 15:14
Mm hmm. It’s more like a deterrent, right? I mean, the dog is there. Yeah, yeah, I get that. So that’s, that’s great. So you know, really two great reasons why we talked about here. And then I’m wondering for the third reason you had mentioned this, but talk a little bit more about it is the benefits for the dog, what are the benefits for the dog to go on these runs with you? Well,
Jake Schneider 15:36
and just to kind of lead into it a little bit, I think you always want to make sure your dog is able to run, right, you want to make make sure they’re healthy. So just like people like, I’m definitely not in perfect weight. Still, you know, even though I lost a bunch of weight, I still could lose more. But you don’t want to have a dog who’s overweight, you don’t want to have a dog who’s got hip joint issues, you want to make sure you’re giving them good diet and everything. But it definitely is a good exercise outlet for the dogs, it not only does it get them out which dogs like to be social, they’re social animals. So even though they’re not like socializing, when you’re running, they’re getting out to new places, they’re seeing things just like we like to do. And then just for long term health, just you’re keeping them fit, you’re keeping them in shape, you’re keeping their joints, loose, everything like that, I think it just helps all around. And I always tell people, a tired dog is a good dog. So if you’re running your dogs, and they are coming home, and they’re exhausted, I mean, if anyone ever does like doggy daycare, stuff like that with their dogs, they see the benefit of a tired dog when they get their dog home, and their dog just flops on the floor and wants to sleep. You know, that definitely is something people really enjoy. And I’ll say though, when you are running with the dog, you don’t want to overdo it. So like I tell people, I usually will run for about an hour with my dog before I’m like at a maximum whether whether dependent of course as well and dog, but bout two to five miles an hour, kind of in that range too much. And you’re starting to put more impact on the dogs. And plus, like I had a client, I used to tell the story all the time, I had a client who was getting ready to do some big race, I don’t remember this was years ago. And she she was running seven to 10 miles a day with her dog. And it was a pointer and the dog was doing fine with it and everything. And then after she got done with her race, she cut her her running down drastically, she was no longer training. And that dogs like wait, I need my seven to 10 I still need my seven to 10. So although it’s really good exercise, you want to keep it to a doable range that two to five miles so that if you’re like, Well, you know what, I can’t run that far today. Or I’m not going to run it all today. The dogs not gonna go Wait, no, no, no, I have this built up energy that I use every day for this, this huge run. Now I’m going to use it and I’m going to take it out on your couch or something like that, right? So yeah, you just want to be careful with that.
Richard Conner 18:01
That’s really, really great advice. And I appreciate you sharing these with us so, so really great reasons why you would want why someone would want to run with their dogs. So I appreciate that. One more question on this. And then we’ll talk a little bit more around the mechanics of it. The when you mentioned, you know, you want to make sure the dog has good nutrition and is not overweight. So do you recommend let’s say the dog is overweight? Per the guidance? Do you recommend that the dog loses weight before you start running? Or can the running kind of help? Just as you know you and I would would do
Jake Schneider 18:32
it? Well, I guess it would sort of depend on how much weight you know, if you have someone who’s 400 pounds, you’re not going to say hey, go run four miles. Like I think that would be really hard on him. What you might say is go walk, start with walking. And that’s something I tell people if your dog needs to lose weight and they’re not ready to run, just start by walking walking is great anyways, because it’s kind of the lead into running where your dog learns the same mechanics, hey, you’re gonna be on my side, whatever, we’re gonna just move and but you’re doing at a slower pace. So there’s less distractions, and it’s easier on their joints. And then once they get to that healthy weight, or close to it, then you can say Alright, now we’re gonna go a mile. And we’re gonna go two miles, we’re gonna go three miles. And it just you can start to build from there. But yeah, I prefer to, to try to make sure my nutritions ready to go for my dog and I’ll just if your dog needs physical activity, and you don’t think they’re ready for running, I mean just going in your backyard or doing something like that and just playing fetch low impact work, but it’s exhausting for the dog swimming to is really good.
Richard Conner 19:34
Oh, okay. I’ve didn’t actually never thought of that. That’s that’s a really good alternative to so so thanks for sharing that. So I’ll share a little bit more about my story with with my puppy and some of the things that you said really resonated with me because so we already talked about this. I don’t necessarily run with with my puppy, but we do take walks and we’ll walk to the park and she’s friendly, but friendly in an aggressive way. So you know, she’s a small dog And when she sees someone, she will bark at them as if she’s yelling at them. But she’s really more than likely really just excited to see somebody else. And we haven’t really figured out what makes her like friendly versus uncomfortable among, you know, certain dogs or certain people, we haven’t really figured that out. But it’s a distraction. So I’m thinking, I can’t even go a quarter of a mile without her stopping to sniff some leaves, or she may be afraid of a car or maybe barking at somebody, for sure, kind of interrupt my run. So, you know, you talked about like having good training. And maybe this is a little bit about what you do and in your business. Can you talk to us a little bit about you know, a little bit about that, like, What is What does someone have to do first to get them to the point where they would be ready to run and not not in great detail, but what are some of the things that you think someone would want to do?
Jake Schneider 20:52
Well, like I said, the first thing is just to try to develop some good foundation of obedience training. And most importantly, I think, for when you do start to take your dog out into those potentially overstimulating situations would be just just teaching them like a look at me command like just their name. So when I the dog, my current dog right now his name is Luna, I got his real name is ludicrous. His name but I call him luda. That’s Austin. Yeah. And he is named after the rapper, yes, anyways, but he, he can easily get distracted at times, depending on what’s going on. So I for the training that we did to prepare him for running, we just taught him his name, his name means look at me make eye contact with me. And that’s it. And so what I started to do is using that when we would take our dog places, and when, like you say, you walk your dog to the park and stuff and they get super distracted. What you want to do there is and you could people could always look up this term as well and get a lot of information. It’s just called counter conditioning, where you’re going to take a situation that your dog thinks is one thing and flip it to mean something else. And the flip that we try to make it is that the dog goes yeah, that’s not a big deal anymore. So the way I do it is just with treats, you have treats, you go to a park, you sit on a bench, and when your dog looks at something that maybe would usually get them stimulated or want to bark, before they have a chance you’re rewarding them, you’re praising them, you’re like, good job, hey, way to look at that thing and not think not freak out about it. And over time, the dogs gonna be like, Oh, that thing means food, or oh, that thing’s not so bad. And it starts to change the way the dog is perceiving certain situations. And that’s, that’s kind of the base of everything, you know, and this is something Yeah, we talked to our clients in depth about counter conditioning work and all that stuff, and the importance of it and it’s so relatable to just beyond running like just regular regular stuff as well. And so, yeah, that’s that’s where I start with is just get your dog out in these situations, and start to praise them when they’re quiet and try to set up and be ready before they have a chance to react to it and kind of just recondition the way they’re perceiving stuff.
Richard Conner 22:54
That’s super, super helpful to know. And, you know, for our listeners, you know, this is a lot of really great information if you if you have a dog and you may have considered running with your dog or maybe not maybe hopefully this episode inspires you to do so if you’re looking for a running partner, if you are looking to have get your dog more exercise, if you’re looking to get a little bit of security right on your runs a lot of great reasons why someone would want to run with their dogs. I really appreciate Jake, you sharing that information with us. And you know, before we kind of talked about, you know, your business and the work you do and your podcast, I’d love to kind of focus on you for a moment, back to your running story. And there’s a couple of questions that I like to ask our guests and one of which is what was one of the biggest obstacles that you personally faced, you know, kind of in your running journey.
Jake Schneider 23:43
Well, like I mentioned, I honestly think it was it was pushing through pain, you know, the pain of my knees. Again, I probably thank my father for this because because he seems to have all these issues that are now starting to pop up in my life but like it was a two years ago, I herniated a disc in my lower back. And thankfully the thing that helped me the most was actually walking running was a little bit hard at that time but walking was something I could do and I can still do with my dog but it was I could do it and it actually started to make me feel better. So it almost as much as the back issue hurt. It was almost one of those things that made me enjoy that process of even though I couldn’t run of just walking, you know, and eventually getting back into running as much as I could and then like I said my knee pain and stuff that is something I’ve I mean I’ve pushed through it for quite a while and I still continue to push through it. That’s probably my my biggest hurdle just because it’s I think it’s easy for me to go to throw excuses while my knees hurt so I shouldn’t run or I’m a bigger guy I shouldn’t I shouldn’t run I should just do whatever but I just try to push myself through it and I’m always glad when I do you know like we live in Minnesota. Weather this time of year is not great for running, which is bad. Aaron grin it basically when it’s super cold out, I have a treadmill. I will say I’m not a fan of treadmills because you run in place and go nowhere. But I’ll take what I can get at times, but I just My biggest hurdles are just paintings. And I’ve just learned to kind of push through and I almost feel better about it when I’m done. Had I had not I think had I not had any pain at all. As weird as that sounds.
Richard Conner 25:22
not weird at all. And I’m happy that you shared that. And I think honestly, that fear or those obstacles you sometimes are in our head, and sometimes taking that first step is what it takes. And then you’ll see how you feel in the end. And you’ll see that you’ll you know, you’ll be better for it. So
Jake Schneider 25:39
Oh, yeah, yeah, that, again, I didn’t I wasn’t a huge fan of it. But like that, that insanity workout stuff that would just like kick your butt like that. That was something you’d get into and you’re like, why am I doing this? This is terrible. And then you’re done with it. You’re like, that was awesome. You know, and that’s kind of how it is with, with some of the running stuff I do. And especially running trails and things like that. It’s like, okay, this is crazy. This is insane. And it pushes me and makes me better. Like in the summer, we have horrible horse flies here. So in the summer, my goal when I’m like doing trail running and stuff like that is outrun the horse flies. So that’s like, it’s almost like someone’s chasing you. So I see my time seem to get better my miles seem to go faster in the summertime, because I have those forever flies chasing me.
Richard Conner 26:24
That’s really funny. So Jake, I love this conversation. And I appreciate you sharing this wonderful insights as well as your story. Super, super helpful. So as we kind of wind down here, another question I’d like to ask you is, what is the one thing that you would say, to help inspire our listeners to run?
Jake Schneider 26:45
Just keep try, it’s hard to say one, but I would say just keep at it, if you’ve enjoy, if you enjoy doing it, just keep at it, no matter what’s going on, no matter, you know, like, I’ve listened to a lot of your podcasts and you hear some of these stories about loss and things like that. And, and it kind of pushes people out of out of running. And I just I just say I push through a lot of stuff, when I’m running, whether it’s pain or whatever, or, you know, owning your own bit your own business, there’s the stresses of it. And there’s a schedule of it, and I just tried to go, you know what, I’m gonna go out and do this thing, whether I’m running on a road or running in the woods, I’m gonna go do this thing. And in the end, it just helps me mentally so much. You know, I know a lot of people up in the Minnesota area that get like seasonal depression. And one of the things they say is be active was hard when it’s super cold, but I find running and getting out on the trails and everything. And I’m not a skier, so people can ski pass me a cross country ski past me, and I’m still running. So, which I feel a little weird about, but whatever, it’s fine, but I would just tell people just don’t give up just even when stuff gets hard, you just push through. And a lot of times, it just seems to be better on the other side.
Richard Conner 27:59
Thank you so much, Jake. Yeah, really, really inspiring. So what I like to do is I’d like to hear just a little bit more about your the work that you’re doing in your business and your podcast. So just share a little bit about kind of the services and trainings that you offer. And also let the listeners know how they can follow you and find you online.
Jake Schneider 28:18
Yes, so the podcast we do is called Learn laugh, bark. And we just you know, we I think we’re about 65 ish 70 episodes in and it’s just talking about everything related to dogs, you’ll hear me tell jokes, you’ll hear me say talk about some sad stories and things I give advice in there. And then you’ll hear me go on rants because you know, that’s part of what it is. And you know, it just we just talk everything dog and I try to give good information and helpful information on every podcast episode that we we produce. And the business we have. It’s called on dog training academy and we do have the website on dog training academy.com and on there we just you know we put we have a course out right now that basically teaches the foundations of training and things that people need to do just to have a good dog in general not even running just want to have a good dog. This is kind of how we get things started. And we also do one on one virtual one on one stuff. And it’s been you know, since since the pandemic, it’s it’s really been eye opening how much we can help people through virtual lessons and virtual trainings. Just because we set up real nice in our training area where we’ve got a webcam and you can see the whole classroom you see me with my dog and we can communicate and it’s just been really, really fun to do so that’s been our, our main thing. You can find us we’re on Instagram. So learn laugh bark podcast is I believe on Instagram. It is on Instagram. I don’t believe it is on Instagram. It’s on Facebook, so is on dog training academy. We’re on Instagram, we’re on Facebook as well. And we actually have something going right now for people Um, if you go on our website under free webinars, excuse me under on demand, and you click on free webinar, we actually are we did a webinar about how owners can use can help being more consistent and how being consistent can help your dog understand things and be able to process and just be a better all around dogs. So that’s a free webinar we’re offering on our website on dog training academy.com. And we just encourage anyone to just check it out, listen to it, I think it’s about an hour long, and there’s a bunch of really good information in there. And, and you know, they can always reach out if they, you know, through through any of the socials or through our website, they can always reach out to us if they have any questions.
Richard Conner 30:41
All right, excellent. Well, I for sure will be checking it out. And I’ll put this information in the show notes to make it easy for our listeners to find you. Thank you again, Jake. Really, really appreciate this conversation. Appreciate all of what you shared with us. And yeah, thanks for coming on the show.
Jake Schneider 30:57
Yeah, thank you. Anytime I can talk about dogs I get excited about it. So I appreciate you bringing me on.
Richard Conner 31:03
Absolutely. Well thanks again and have a great day. You too.
Intro/Outro 31:07
That’s it for this episode of inspired to run podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community. And also please rate and review. Thanks for listening
Transcribed by https://otter.ai