St. Joseph High School cross country team members had some four-legged company for their Thursday practice run in Orcutt.
The team members’ summer practice involved running with— and sometimes carrying — dogs from the Santa Maria Animal Shelter, with video of the unique training viewed thousands of times on social media.
“It was a win-win for both the cross country team and shelter dogs,” said Stacy Silva, community outreach coordinator for Santa Barbara County Animal Services.
The canine runners were very happy after their time outside the shelter, she added.
“Tired dogs equal happy dogs,” she said.
“It was fantastic. I don’t know who had more fun or who was more excited — the dogs or the kids,” said Luis Escobar, cross country coach, professional photographer and dog lover. “The dogs has their tongues out and their tails wagging and the kids all had big smiles on their face, and it was a great experience for everybody.”
By Thursday evening, his video posted on his Facebook page had been viewed 13,000 times.
The connection came about due to social media friendships when Escobar made a comment about summer practice and shelter employees suggested it become a dog run.
Escobar, who is starting his sixth year as head coach at the Catholic high school in Orcutt, figured it would be something fun for teenagers who also could earn needed volunteer service points to meet the high school requirement.
“I just thought it would be a great idea to get the kids together with some of the dogs and go for a run,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we did this morning.
Shelter employees briefed the youths about the dogs so they were aware of the canine cues while on the approximately 2-mile route.
Escobar is hoping that once the full team reunites for the start of the season, they can undertake another run with the dogs.
“It was interesting because the dogs were so excited to get out and to be outside, but some of them are not in great shape,” he said.
“They had a great time, they were barking and running and just going nuts,” he added. “But after about 10 minutes they were kind of pooped. A couple of them had to get carried.”
One of those carriers was Joshua Menusa, who was captured in a video of the run picking up the dog named Fred and cradling the canine while falling behind the pack of runners.
Escobar noted it’s not too late for students at St. Joseph to sign up for cross country — the new year starts with orientation for freshman Aug. 10, other classes Aug. 11 with the first day of school Aug. 12.
“But more importantly, all of the dogs in that photo and that video are all looking for homes, so if there’s anyway that you can go down to the shelter and adopt one of those dogs, it would be a fantastic gift, “ Escobar added.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
St. Joseph High School Cross Country Team Takes Shelter Dogs for a Run Luis Escobar video from Noozhawk on Vimeo.