Walking A Large Breed Puppy

[Red Fox]

After reading a few threads it seems that everyone has a different oppinion on how far you should walk a dog whilst it's still a pup (esp. with the larger breeds), what age to begin walks etc.

I would love to hear others oppinions on this.

This is the advice I have been following for my Ridgie:

3-6 months 1/2km maximum (around a normal suburban block)

6-12 months 1 -1.5km maximum (including some stony or gravel surfaces)

Running and longer distances okay from 12+ months

No agility training before 18 months

I started taking him out at around 14 weeks for very short walks and have gradually built them up.

He is now 7 months and occasionally we may have a slightly longer walk (around 2km) but most walks are kept to the 1.5km maximum.

The majority of our walks are fairly slow paced and I often stop for a few minutes here and there to talk to people along the way.

Usual routine is drive to the park, walk up along the river and back, then settle down on the grass and rest for 15-20 mins while my son has a play on the playground before driving home. Other days he might just get a short walk around the block or some offlead time down near the river on weekends.

I dont exercise him at all on Wednesdays as he has obedience training that night.

What do others think of this? Is it too much? Too little? Appropriate? What advice (if any) were you given by your breeder?

[Dogsfevr]

Sounds pretty good.The only thing i would say is i wouldnt suddenly do running at 12 months unless the pup is in good condition & even then i would take 2-3 months to build up.Longer distance no issue if it has been on a good exercise programme.

Agility training yes & now for the simply reason,You can do weavers,/tunnel many in good clubs have al earner course where things arent full scale but a stepping stone till latter.Certain pieces can be trained to like even walking through atyre jump because again its confidence.

For example i now top agility people who have the see saw made into puppy size so they learn to use it early with no fear but it isnt going to damage .

It just using common sense of what things are safe as pups but are good to learn.

[VJB]

I find this kind of a hard question sometimes. I have a GSP and her walks from about 5 months were for about 20 minutes, not necessarily at a leisurely pace, but not full speed either. Usually this consisted of walking around our neighbourhood streets. She may have also had 2 or 3 off leash runs per week for the same duration.

Now she is just on 11 months, and our walks range from half hour, thru to 1 hour. She continues to enjoy a free run too a few times per week. I have not thought that I have ever over-exercised her, and she copes perfectly fine with the amount she is getting. I think recently we've done 5 km... (have yet to check actual distance in km's, it could be slightly more). We don't "rest" along the way unless I happen to walk past my in-laws and I can drop in for a coffee. We go to Agility and have done since she was 8 months, but she is restricted from doing anything that may cause her any harm. In fact, because we are only in the beginners class, there has been nothing of any danger presented to her at this stage anyway, so I think agility is fine too. If weave poles come in over the coming term, she may miss out on that till she is a little older.

Our breeder gave us good advice and we restricted long walks while she was really young, but once she was 6 or 7 months, I felt like she needed and benefited from the length of walks she was getting. Mental stimulation is great,,,, but then so is a nice walkies. Made her and our day better, and much less mischief to contend with.

[Ellie1]

My ridgeback x bullmastiffs grew to be about 50Kg's, they are 9 years old now. As pups i used to not walk them far but i took them to a horse stable and they used to run around for hours! The ground was mostly soft though and they have no joint problems as such. Dont know if this is helpful but this was my experience.

[Tassie]

Just a caution about agility. Personally I won't be putting my Border Collie on any obstacles - other than the flexi tunnel - until he's over 12 months. The weavers, if you're going to do them properly, put a lot of strain on a pup's spine, so many top trainers leave those till 13/14 months - and that's with BCs.

That said - there's heaps of preparatory flat work you can do while the pup is growing, so that they have really good focus and teamwork, they learn to follow your body, learn to target, and do plank work, rear end awareness work (especially important for larger breeds), and jump preparation, using speed humps (half large diameter PVC pipes.

I'm trying to mix and match with my 7 month old boy - we probably do a couple of long walks a week - mixture of bitumen and soft surface and stoney bush tracks. Then we have shorter walks, and some free running in off leash areas.

(But I tend to be ultra onservative, as I plan to be still doing stuff with my dogs until they're 12 or so - like I did with a previous BC.)

[luvsdogs]

Sounds like a good plan to me. When I look back at my 1st border collie, I used to walk her every day to & from school with my son from about 4 mths & it's 1 km each way.

I've heard of ppl walk their pups 5 kms twice a day. Poor dogs when they grow up.

[Danois]

I have a giant breed and while he is still growing there is no 'forced' exercise as such - ie long walks on lead. Exercise is free exercise in the park, the cemetery (yes it is off lead dog) and the beach.

We do go for walks on lead around the neighbourhood but these are max 15 mins and are obedience training so stopping, starting etc.

I will not consider long walks on hard surfaces until my dog is over 12 months and will still then be conservative until 18 months.

I would not take a dog running until after it's growth plates have closed. Too much impact on soft joints and if it saves a dog from years of arthritis when they are older then surely it is worth the wait?

[ridgiemum]

Seems like good advice, I was given similar advice from my breeder, my ridgeback is nearly 11 months old.

Edited April 27, 2009 by ridgiemum

[joelle]

Just on the agility, my local one has a puppy foundation class. they take them from 12 weeks. no jumping though, and it is mainly to train the human! also to lay the foundations.

[black sooty]

hi, I have a little Labrador who is 13 weeks who we introduced to our brother's 6month old border collie last week & they would have wrestled and puppy played with with for at least 2 hours non-stop. Would this type of exercise be similar to the long walks? normally at home when I play with er its usually only for about 10 mins each time, but she looked so happy playing and in fact, i think she was the starting it and tiring the border collie out! Should I not be encouraging so much play?

[luvsdogs]

I think for one so young I would put a stop to it after about 15 mins, give her a rest & back to it for another go.

We tookTilba swimming in Jan when she was just about to turn 1 yr & after about 45 mins I tried to put a stop to it because she hadn't been swimming b4 but she was having so much fun chasing a ball & the other pup with us but she was getting a little washed out looking (pardon the pun). We left after an hour.