Excercising On Hard Surfaces

[Double Lab Love]

Hi Guys,

Apologies if this has been asked before or if it sounds a bit silly BUT

My question involves power walking / slow jogging on hard surfaces... and the long term effects if any...

I know with humans quite often shin splints etc can develop in the below instance (it has happended to me in the past )and so I started thinking would this type of excercise be detrimental to dogs over a long period of time and could they / do they they develop something similiar.

I walk very early for over an hour every morning with my two Labs - both are just over 2 yrs old...

We probably power walk for about 40 mins and slow jog 20 mins which involves lots of steep hill work.

This is usually a longer walk on the weekend with no running...

I think we cover around 8-9 kms....

Bc it' so early and I live in a very quiet suburb I can run on the streets which means that most of our time is spent on bituman and pavement- there are very little grass verges to be had.... We have been doing this routine for the last 6 months...

Their evening excercise involves swimming laps and water retrieving so non weight bearing - in winter though this will be another 30 min quick walk bc it is too dark when I get home

Will this cause any long term damage to their legs - bearing in mind the time we spend out every day ?

They seem fine - Tippi is always fine and chirpy and go go go but Tango seems to have good days where he is all keen and bouncy and days when he seems more lethargic and I have to encourage him to quicken his pace...

He had patella surgery early August last year and had a complete and succesful recovery...

Then again he is a bit of a grumble bum at 4.45am in the morning he is NOT a "morning dog " :D

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this and would be grateful for any input..

Thanks in advance :)

[dee lee]

I'm expecting you will get a lot of negative responses about running on hard surfaces.

However, I run with my 5 year old GR on footpaths for much of our daily 6km run & so far we are both fine.

I stick to the smooth concreted paths mostly & interestingly I find when given a choice of grass or path mostly my dog chooses the path.

Possibly for the same reason I do- the grassy surfaces can be uneven & covered in unseen obstacles/sharp objects. I get injuries when I go "off road".

I'd advise keeping your labs nice & lean and their joints will be better able to handle the impact. Just my 2 cents worth.

ETA: also, my dog trots to keep up rather than running, added to the fact she has four legs to distribute her weight, Id say that saves her joints a lot more than mine! (which incidentally are just fine). I have no doubt one day she will get too old to run with me but til then we are a great team.

Edited March 21, 2012 by dee lee

[Double Lab Love]

I'm expecting you will get a lot of negative responses about running on hard surfaces.

However, I run with my 5 year old GR on footpaths for much of our daily 6km run & so far we are both fine.

I stick to the smooth concreted paths mostly & interestingly I find when given a choice of grass or path mostly my dog chooses the path.

Possibly for the same reason I do- the grassy surfaces can be uneven & covered in unseen obstacles/sharp objects. I get injuries when I go "off road".

I'd advise keeping your labs nice & lean and their joints will be better able to handle the impact. Just my 2 cents worth.

ETA: also, my dog trots to keep up rather than running, added to the fact she has four legs to distribute her weight, Id say that saves her joints a lot more than mine! (which incidentally are just fine). I have no doubt one day she will get too old to run with me but til then we are a great team.

Thank you Dee Lee for responding.... no other responses - negative or otherwise

Having finally owned my own dogs after waiting so many years I am always paranoid that I am doing the wrong thing. I would hate to be inadvertently harming them in my ignorance hence why I was after people's thoughts/experiences... good or bad !

I would so love to have the option of letting them free run on soft grass but I don't like to take them to the local dog park for various reasons and I never let them off lead bc my girl is slightly DA so I won't risk it. So not living on acreage, I guess like the majority here, it's hitting the high road re onleash walks. Like your girl DeeLee, my two trot as I am not a fast runner by any means and when they have the choice will often take the path option too...

I guess the weight distribution for four canine legs is better than for two human legs :D

Yes good advice too keeping them lean - I do try and keep them trim too - hence the walking / hill climbs and swimming and am very conscious of their diet esp after Tango's patella op and the Tippi's tendancy to weight gain....

They just love their walks so much and really enjoy being out especially as mr DDL and I both work long hours and they are home alone for most of the day. I felt it really important to give them a good hour's excercise before I leave for work so they are more settled and can chill out during the day.

DeeLee - I feel comforted that you and your GR and still fine - so will keep on keeping on but carefully !

I can put up with the odd shin splint as long as they are OK :D

[Chequeredblackdog]

I'm not a lot of help, as I don't do much pavement work (rural area) but here's my bit.

I've heard that dogs do a lot of 'pavement time' can have problems with wrist/elbow injuries, but that would involve a hell of a lot of pavement time.

Another point is seems to crop up is the heat in summer. Pavement/bitumen can get VERY hot, so watch out for that.

IMHO if the dogs are happy doing it and your not overdoing it, I don't see much of a problem.

ETA: didn't read that you go early in the morning so heated up surfaces probably aren't applicable....

Edited March 22, 2012 by Chequeredblackdog