“I’m doing all the things a person would normally do, except I’m doing it with the help of a best friend who happens to be 77 pounds of love wrapped in soft yellow fur.” Guide dogs are helping visually impaired runners stay fit during the coronavirus.
Thomas Panek runs with his running guide, Blaze, a Labrador retriever, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Central Park in New York. Panek, a blind runner with a wall full of ribbons from marathons he ran with a human guide, developed a canine running guide training program five years ago after he became president and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind in suburban New York.
Panek, a blind runner with a wall full of ribbons from marathons he ran with a human guide, developed a canine running guide training program five years ago after he became president and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind in suburban New York. Last year, he became the first blind finisher of the New York City Half Marathon to be guided entirely by dogs.Now, he said his dog Blaze plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle amid gym shutdowns and other pandemic restrictions.
“I’ve had several guide dogs and I’ve always wanted to run with them, but I followed the rules,” Panek said. Conventional wisdom said dogs would be unable to navigate safely while running, and that their health might suffer. “No guide dog program in the world would allow you to run with your guide dog,” he said.
Trainers worked with the canine equipment maker Ruff Wear to develop a lightweight padded nylon vest that allows the dog a full range of motion. A modified Nordic ski binding on the vest connects an adjustable aluminum pole with an ergonomic hand grip. The setup is comfortable for the dog, allows the runner’s arms to swing naturally and provides better feedback than the traditional harness, Panek said.“The second thing was to prove it was safe,” Panek said.
Guiding Eyes has about 300-400 applicants a year for a guide dog and is able to serve about 150, Panek said. About 10-15% of applicants want a dog trained as a running guide as well as for basic navigation. The organization currently has 44 active running guide dogs in 18 states and about 40 people waiting for one.
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