Giant Breed Puppy Excerise

[dididog]

My 14 week old Dane cross is very energetic and we don't have a very big yard (maybe about the size of 2 double bedrooms but some of it is decking) and because she isn't out of the danger zone yet vaccination wise and I don't fully trust her to come when called we don't want to take her to a dog park.

Her daily routine consists of: - 2 or 3 short tug or chasing the ball sessions in the yard (5 or so minutes each)

- 2 short training sessions, 1 going through the commands she already knows and the other one going over the new command of the week (5 or so minutes each)

-I'd much rather her be doing free exercise so most days I will try to go to the beach where she mainly swims or go to the golf course where its safer to let her run around and practice recall as dogs aren't allowed (we go at night once it's closed and clean up after her) and there's minimal distractions except the birdies she gets to chase and their poop that she gets to sniff. We only go to the beach or golf course for about 15 minutes as by the end she's pretty tired. We do this most days (maybe 4 or 5 days out of a week) but when I can't get out there or the weather isn't that great we just go for a 10 minute walk around the block.

Is this TOO much? She's tuckered out for most of the day but still has energy to get a bit rowdy now and then but I'd like to hear other opinions on exercising large/giant breeds when you don't have a yard? I know a lot of people on threads I have read have said not to go on walks and just let them exercise themselves at least until their bones stop growing but this isn't feasible for me and my yard.

[SwaY]

Far too much exercise for a growing giant.

Heaps of free downloads HERE on exercise, diet etc

[dididog]

Far too much exercise for a growing giant.

Heaps of free downloads HERE on exercise, diet etc

Thanks, I have already read through most of those links and am aware of the risks associated with too much exercise but what do you suggest I do instead? She gets no exercise in our yard so can't exercise herself and when she hasn't done anything but some training sessions all day (which happened most of last week because of a heatwave) then she is really highly strung and runs around all crazy inside where Im worried she'll hurt herself from running into walls and furniture and slipping over. I figured swimming a bit and walking on sand for about 10-15 was easy on her joints... I also want to get her used to different environments but as she's so heavy I can't really carry her around.

[SwaY]

You say you don't want to take her to a dog park due to vaccinations etc, yet you take her to a beach??

Walk her around the street for 10min - that is it.

Do some training, mentally tie her out.

Babies run and play and have zoomies.

My Dane babies are free range, can walk around home as much or as little as they like.

You can socialise her by going to Bunnings, in the car, down the street, local shops etc.

I HATE dog parks.

And please don't take her to places where dogs are NOT allowed, that is a big no no and we all ( as in ALL dog owners ) will get tared with the same brush when you get caught.

[persephone]

several fun/training sessions :) This will make her relax mentally ... and, don't forget ...there is MUCH work in training/learning to be still !!!

Dogs don't normally self exercise in a yard - unless there are things/animals with which to interact ..like a partially deflated leather soccer ball , a sand pit , some opd cardboard boxes....

Dogs toilet anywhere .......

If you are concerned about her slipping while indoors..then keep her to a certain area , or on lead - both ideas are excellent training for a youngster!! .That way she can be with you, and learn to settle - then train /play/roll outdoors :)

Our pups are never allowed to run around inside ....if they are in , they are on their bed..it's just not worth the risk of something going wrong ,IMO

:)

[dididog]

several fun/training sessions :) This will make her relax mentally ... and, don't forget ...there is MUCH work in training/learning to be still !!!

Dogs don't normally self exercise in a yard - unless there are things/animals with which to interact ..like a partially deflated leather soccer ball , a sand pit , some opd cardboard boxes....

Dogs toilet anywhere .......

If you are concerned about her slipping while indoors..then keep her to a certain area , or on lead - both ideas are excellent training for a youngster!! .That way she can be with you, and learn to settle - then train /play/roll outdoors :)

Our pups are never allowed to run around inside ....if they are in , they are on their bed..it's just not worth the risk of something going wrong ,IMO

:)

Thanks for all that! She normally is very calm inside and we make her settle after play before bringing her in but sometimes she just gets too hyped up so I'll try getting her to stay on her bed when she's like that.

[dididog]

You say you don't want to take her to a dog park due to vaccinations etc, yet you take her to a beach??

Walk her around the street for 10min - that is it.

Do some training, mentally tie her out.

Babies run and play and have zoomies.

My Dane babies are free range, can walk around home as much or as little as they like.

You can socialise her by going to Bunnings, in the car, down the street, local shops etc.

I HATE dog parks.

And please don't take her to places where dogs are NOT allowed, that is a big no no and we all ( as in ALL dog owners ) will get tared with the same brush when you get caught.

So are you saying that I should take her for a 10 minute walk on concrete rather that 10 minutes of swimming and walking on sand? While Im aware that the beach risks exposure to disease, in a dog park poo and the nasties lingering in it remain there until it is picked up or is absorbed into the ground, at the beach the tide comes in and out every day, the sand moves around etc. so while she could still pick something up at the beach I don't view it as bad as a dog park and she is just as likely to pick something up on a walk up the road. We avoid the dog park mainly because her recall isn't great around other dogs and I don't want her to have a negative experience while she's still so impressionable. The dog park we live near is more of a huge reserve that is offleash rather than a tiny fenced in square of grass. The golfcourse is actually a public one with no fees or fences and has extensive walking tracks alongside it and I probably shouldve rephrased that dogs aren't prohibited persay but the offleash dog reserve is right next to it so nobody takes there dogs to the golf course and wouldn't during hours people are playing. Also her 'rowdy' behaviour extends a bit further than just being silly and doing.zoomies, she jumps up and bites and barks and while obviously I try to rectify this behaviour Id prefer to prevent it by having her tired and content. Thanks for your input though, I will scale back the amount and frequency of her exercise and work more on tiring her our mentally/through play - the last thing I want to do is open her up to possible health problems...

[persephone]

if she ONLY gets certain treats/chews/bones when she is in her space ..then it will be somewhere she wants to be ;)

[persephone]

..and ,after having read your last post ..I suggest you start today, making your house a N I L I F zone . read about how to do it HERE :)

[dididog]

..and ,after having read your last post ..I suggest you start today, making your house a N I L I F zone . read about how to do it HERE :)

I try to put NILIF in place as much as possible, she has to sit and wait for dinner, sit and only start tug/play with toys when I say 'take it', sit and wait for me to go through doors, only get a treat/bone if she goes on her outside bed and sits etc. etc.

She is great with me and my dad, the jumping and biting and not listening is mainly directed at my mother and brother who despite me asking them again and again still don't follow NILIF as much as they should.... They want to leave all of the 'mean, boring stuff' as they see it to me and then wonder why she doesn't listen to them!!!!

[persephone]

perhaps explain that doing N I L I F means they can spoil pup as much as SHE dictates :) Whenever she has 4 feet on teh ground etc ,,they can hug her/pat her .... so it may work that way?

[SwaY]

So are you saying that I should take her for a 10 minute walk on concrete rather that 10 minutes of swimming and walking on sand?

I would be walking her on the nature strip/grass.

Sand and swimming takes more effort then regular walking.

[dididog]

perhaps explain that doing N I L I F means they can spoil pup as much as SHE dictates :) Whenever she has 4 feet on teh ground etc ,,they can hug her/pat her .... so it may work that way?

Oh if only that would work.... you see my mum's dogs have always been 'perfectly well behaved' and she never had to do 'all this new age training crap'. She's getting better though since she's seeing how much NILIF and crate training have helped but still a bit of a struggle sometimes.

[Esky the husky]

Well if you're dog is going to be as big as you expect, it needs to know rules and boundaries!

Can't get away with a giant spoiled pushy dog :)

[dididog]

Well if you're dog is going to be as big as you expect, it needs to know rules and boundaries!

Can't get away with a giant spoiled pushy dog :)

She knows her boundaries... she just takes advantage of the fact some people in my household don't enforce them They're getting better though and her naughty puppy moments are few and far between nowadays but I think I spend more time telling my family off than her!