Puppy Exercise

[natamalie]

Hey guys,

My Ridgeback is now 4 months old and FULL of energy. I am more than happy to take him out everyday but am wary of over exercising him and putting to much strain on his joints/bones etc. How long do people recommend I walk him for? If I drive him to a park, how long should I run around and play with him for? At the moment I'm limiting it to 10-15 minutes... can I increase this?

I play with him lots at home too, but I find this isn't enough to tire him out, especially after he's been at home all day by himself whilst I'm at work.

Thanks!!

[W Sibs]

Hi!!

Have you considered walking him twice a day.. about 10-15 minutes each walk? One in the morning before work, and one at night.

I do that with my puppy. I let him run around the dog park for once or twice a week for about an hour.

Also so some training with him. Teaching him tricks. Mentally challenging him too. If you exhaust his brain out with training and learning trick... you will get a sleepy puppy..

Pics please

(my next pup is going to be a Ridgeback )

Edited September 23, 2009 by charleswentworth

[natamalie]

Pics please

(my next pup is going to be a Ridgeback ;))

He's so gorgeous... but he totally knows it! hehehe

[W Sibs]

awww... he is gorgeous..!!!

[Red Fox]

Hi Natamalie. He's a cutie Where's he from??

At 4 months old you shouldn't really be walking him more than half a kilometre per day. If he has lots of energy burn it up with training, problem solving (Kongs, biscuit balls etc) and short play sessions in the backyard. For a large breed dog you really want to err on the side of caution with exercise whilst they are growing. Definitely not 2 walks a day!

Check out this link: http://www.ridgebacks.com.au/Bringing_Up_A_Puppy.htm Lots of info on Ridgie health and training. Your breeder will be able to give you advice on exercise too, it's often somewhere in your puppy pack but if not give them a call

From the Hodarirafiki Ridgebacks site:

How far should I walk my puppy?

Most Breeders and many Veterinarians agree that there is great danger in over exercising or walking your puppy while his bones are going through their main growth stage. The distances that seem appropriate and the natural inclination of most people are way to much.

From 3 to 6 Months of age we recommend only walking your puppy around a normal suburban block 1/2Km maximum between the ages of 3 to 6 months.

From 6 - 12 months of age it is recommended to only walk about 1 - 1.5Km maximum. At this age include some stony or gravel surfaces in the walk to help develop the strength and verticalness in the pasterns and to ensure the toes develop in a compact formation.

After 12 months of age he should be able to walk and run with you for substantial distances including where possible on some gravel or stony surfaces to make sure his toes stay up and compact. The pasterns should be well up but not totally vertical and the toes tight and well up.

NOTE: If your puppy is living with another pet which is very active and your puppy is running around chasing etc all day then it is advised to constrain him/her for a substantial part of the day in a pen, crate or chain so that over working of the developing bones is not adversely effected. Some free time to play each day is fine but not for hours on end.

[Erny]

Free running is ok IMO. Limit the walks as you do. But what you could do is fill in heaps of time taking him out on socialisation trips, gently/carefully introducing him to new and novel things that he is likely/potentially going to encounter at some stage during his lifetime. These trips don't have to involve lots of walking. I built my boy up to being able to cope with a good variety of things (public travel; traffic noise; airport noise; shopping centre activity; railway stations; etc etc) and by the age of 16 weeks, we'd been on buses; trains; to airports; cafe's; and the list continues.

The thing is that this style of mental stimulation had him happily exhausted and he'd often be clonked out asleep in his crate in the car even before we had returned home and anyone would have thought he must have run miles and miles, yet most of the time he was actually just with me without very much walking or held in my arms (ummm, yep - by 4 months old that was becoming more awkward and I remember my arms getting just a tad tired).

I also remember being flat out busy putting aside the time needed for all his activities in that period too.

So you can exercise him HEAPS, but it doesn't need to be tonnes of physical exercise. Mental exercise poops them out much quicker .

ETA: Pro-K9 is going to start up some Puppy Socialisation/Habituation Groups very shortly - this won't be so much about pup/pup socialisation (although that will occur simply by being in proximity of each other's company) as it will be socialisation/habituation to a variety of the things that I've mentioned above. It's not to replace puppy school, but it will be something that can be in addition to it and it won't matter which puppy school anyone's been or going to. Just need to finalise the finer details of the plans .

Edited September 23, 2009 by Erny

[W Sibs]

oops sorry.. i mean 2 walks doesn't mean full power walking... i meant, take him outside see/smell new stuff.

[teekay]

I was told 2 short walks, ie 10 mins twice a day was better than one longer one?. Is this not right?

[ridgiemum]

Pics please :D

(my next pup is going to be a Ridgeback )

He's so gorgeous... but he totally knows it! hehehe

He is beautiful, I am a sucker for a ridgeback. ;) I have to agree mental stimulation is good too, practice siting, fetch, coming when called.

Edited September 25, 2009 by ridgiemum