“The dogs want to go out and run; the kids love dogs, and they love running. It was a perfect marriage,” mentioned Escobar, who on the time was the cross-country crew coach at St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, Calif.
He reached out to a Santa Barbara animal shelter, and it was on board. After shelter employees gave the athletes a briefing on finest practices for operating with canines, the scholars set out on a mile-long loop across the shelter.
“It was super fun. The kids were having a great time, the dogs were having a great time,” mentioned Escobar, who took a video of the outing that day in 2016 and shared the candy scene on social media.
“Tails were wagging, kids were smiling,” he mentioned.
Little did Escobar know then that the 60-second snippet would fly across the internetwith tons of of 1000’s of views in a single day.
“It just went out of control in a very, very good way,” mentioned Escobar, who now coordinates grownup operating occasions.
It has been practically eight years since that video. Every so usually, it resurfaces on social media and begins making the rounds once more.
The video exhibits a gaggle of highschool college students operating with shelter dogs of assorted dimension and form. One pupil says “good girl!” to encourage his operating companion, whereas one other brings up the rear with a pooch named Fred nestled in his arms.
“Fred’s had it,” Escobar says within the video.
Not solely did the shelter canine run turn out to be a staple coaching exercise for St. Joseph’s cross-country crew, however it additionally resulted in some adoptions — together with by the scholar who carried Fred. He ended up bringing the canine home.
“Many, many dogs were adopted as a result of this,” Escobar mentioned. “That is the thing that I am probably most proud of.”
The video impressed different faculties to search out their very own puppy motivators.
“Our athletic director was getting messages and emails from other athletic directors around the country, wanting to know how they could do this project at their school,” Escobar mentioned.
After a mother or father noticed a social media put up concerning the canine run, members of the boys’ cross-country crew at Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Fla., began doing shelter canine runs, too. They have been operating usually with shelter dogs from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay for seven years, and this system has been lined in local and national news.
“We just started, and we’ve never looked back,” mentioned Allison Szponar, who coaches the crew.
During faculty breaks and all through summer time, about 15 college students cease on the shelter to select up between 10 and 12 dogs a number of mornings per week. They drive them to a close-by park to run laps and play collectively. Some college students go to the shelter every week via the yr to take the dogs out.
“We put out water bowls and give them treats. They just roll around in the grass, wagging their tails,” mentioned CJ Clark, 17, the crew captain.
He and his teammates cater to every canine’s health degree and individual wants — which the shelter communicates to them earlier than each run. The shelter additionally lets college students know if a canine is injured or out of practice and, in some circumstances, encourages them to walk relatively than run.
Rigorous operating can pressure an animal’s tendons and joints, so college students normally combine walking and operating throughout their outings, which final about an hour and a half.
“We don’t typically do long distance. Nothing over a mile,” Szponar mentioned.
Shelter employees sends out dogs with extreme power, or those that appear to be craving social time.
“They run, they walk, they play with them,” mentioned Regan Blessinger, advertising and marketing and content material supervisor for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. “It’s such a nice enrichment.”
The dogs spend most of their time in a kennel, Blessinger mentioned, and wish extra bodily and psychological stimulation, in addition to social time with different dogs and other people.
“There’s a lot of benefits, and the dogs just love it. They get excited to go,” she mentioned.
The college students look ahead to it, too.
“It’s really fun,” mentioned Brady Peifer, 17, a junior at Steinbrenner High School. “I think it’s really good for our team; it teaches us to care more about others than ourselves.”
Brady’s mom, Margaret Peifer, volunteers and participates within the shelter runs. She and her son additionally go of their spare time to take the dogs out for some train.
“It’s been really wonderful for us as a family,” mentioned Peifer, whose daughter is a runner on the women’ crew and joins them for shelter runs. “We get to know these dogs; we keep track of them all.”
“I think my favorite part about it is getting to know the dogs and seeing them get adopted,” Brady mentioned.
Shelter employees mentioned the varsity runs have led to a number of adoptions over the years — by college students and by others locally who’re touched by the trouble.
“We absolutely love this,” Blessinger mentioned.
Other shelters and faculties — impressed by Escobar or applications modeled after his — really feel the identical method.
Jarrin Williams, the pinnacle coach of the boys’ cross-country and monitor and subject groups at Rock Island High School in Rock Island, Ill., has been main shelter runs together with his groups since 2019.
“I try to make sure that I provide every opportunity for my athletes to give back,” Williams mentioned. “This is one way to do that.”
Multiple instances all through the summer time and different faculty breaks — most not too long ago throughout spring break — Williams and about 10 college students will cease at Rock Island County Animal Care and Control to train with some canines.
“It makes the dogs better dogs,” mentioned Samantha Wiley, an operations supervisor on the shelter. “They just look so happy.”
The college students adore it as a lot because the dogs do.
“I’ve had kids who graduated come back and run with us and the dogs. That’s how much they enjoy it,” Williams mentioned. “It’s really cool that this one thing that is so simple could be so impactful.”
Escobar mentioned that in hindsight, he’s not shocked his brief video had such resonance.
“It was 60 seconds of genuine, organic kindness,” he mentioned. “The world needs kindness.”
