Pawsome Track Team Ran With Shelter Dogs During Practice

A Santa Maria, California track team went the distance for a few shelter pups.

Students on St. Joseph High School’s track team took a few lucky dogs from Santa Barbara County Animal Services out for a run while they trained on August 4.

“I am not sure who was more excited and having the most fun … the dogs or the kids,” Luis Escobar, the team’s coach, wrote on Facebook. “Either way, it was a great time and I am sure we will do it again sometime soon.”

Stacy Silva, the shelter’s community outreach coordinator, came up with the idea when she saw Escobar post to Facebook about the start of the new season. Escobar is a known animal lover, so Silva figured the two groups could work together, Silva told BuzzFeed News.

Silva reached out to Escobar with her idea and he loved it.

The dogs clearly did too.

“Their excitement was growing, you could actually see it in the dogs’ eyes, you could see they were happy to go out,” Silva told BuzzFeed.

Each team member was paired with a dog and they all ran a few miles around the shelter, according to Escobar’s post.

Though one pooch, named Fred, preferred to chill than canter.

Guess he just didn’t want to ruff it.