Exercise For Puppies How Much Is Too Much

[dogsonly]

I have bought puppies from registered and unregistered breeders. I received advice sheets that say Don't over exercise your puppy.

What does this mean to the buyer?

Obviously the breeder community know but we don't.

For instance how far at what age should the puppy be walking for say small, medium and large breeds.

Is it OK to walk a 14 week medium breed puppy around the block?

Is it Ok for a 16 week puppy to romp at the park?

Is a 20 minute walk too much....

What about a 1 & 1/2 hour walk?

It is most confusing for the buyer please clarify this issue for me.

[poodlefan]

I have bought puppies from registered and unregistered breeders. I received advice sheets that say Don't over exercise your puppy.

What does this mean to the buyer?

Obviously the breeder community know but we don't.

For instance how far at what age should the puppy be walking for say small, medium and large breeds.

Is it OK to walk a 14 week medium breed puppy around the block?

Is it Ok for a 16 week puppy to romp at the park?

Is a 20 minute walk too much....

What about a 1 & 1/2 hour walk?

It is most confusing for the buyer please clarify this issue for me.

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old. Very rough play, particularly with larger adults, should also be discouraged.

The size and breed of dog can also influence growth rate and development - smaller dogs mature faster and tend to have less bone development issues.

[dogsonly]

I have bought puppies from registered and unregistered breeders. I received advice sheets that say Don't over exercise your puppy.

What does this mean to the buyer?

Obviously the breeder community know but we don't.

For instance how far at what age should the puppy be walking for say small, medium and large breeds.

Is it OK to walk a 14 week medium breed puppy around the block?

Is it Ok for a 16 week puppy to romp at the park?

Is a 20 minute walk too much....

What about a 1 & 1/2 hour walk?

It is most confusing for the buyer please clarify this issue for me.

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old. Very rough play, particularly with larger adults, should also be discouraged.

The size and breed of dog can also influence growth rate and development - smaller dogs mature faster and tend to have less bone development issues.

I am not being critical of your advice but I need to understand why to explain......

No onlead exercise until 6 months old - wow... I don't think any buyer knows this. I see lots of puppies being taken around the block in urban areas under 6 months... I think the dogs would go banana's couped up in suburban back yards.

My neighbours dog was out as soon as the 2nd injection time period was over as was my puppy and I have a large backyard. Onlead as we are not allowed to go off lead in suburban Melbourne else we will be fined if caught.

Yes large dogs can be rough but I have found a newfoundland and a golden who are gentle with babies and we visit them. They lay down and the puppies jump all over them.

[BrunoBella]

I was told the opposite. No offlead exercise till they are 1 and minimal on lead exercise. The time factor is not so relevant for me as the distance and speed. I usually take bruno around our local block for about a 600m slow walk. This is more a training session than an actual walk. Up to 6 months we would go three times a week, now we go 5 to 6. I very occassionally (once every couple of weeks) walk both dogs to my sisters house which is a 4 km round trip. Takes us 2 and a half hours to explore and stop for coffee.

I also used to drive Bruno to an outdoor cafe to meet people without having to walk.

I used pretty much the same routine for Bella who is now nearly three.

My breeder provided very specific instructions on exercising still provides more information if I have questions.

ETA:

Bruno plays with Bella who is very gentle with him and also with my sister's whippets at times (who are smaller than him). I don't let him play offlead with any other dogs.

ET change off to on :_

Edited September 5, 2006 by BellasPerson

[samoyedman]

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old.

wow! Any Northern breed like my samoyed going without a walk for 6 months would go nuts. Surely its ok to take them for a walk around the block after about 12-14 weeks?

[ellz]

Making a puppy go for a walk onlead, anything beyond a few turns around the front yard, a gentle amble in the park (IF fully vaccinated) or at show training or in the show ring is akin to asking a 2 year old child to go for a jog around the block. You just wouldn't do it.

Gentle play, ball games and supervised activity are far more beneficial for a puppy than rigid walking and roadwork. They not only help with the exercise side of things but also with the social interaction and early training.

[dogsonly]

I was told the opposite. No offlead exercise till they are 1 and minimal on lead exercise. The time factor is not so relevant for me as the distance and speed. I usually take bruno around our local block for about a 600m slow walk. This is more a training session than an actual walk. Up to 6 months we would go three times a week, now we go 5 to 6. I very occassionally (once every couple of weeks) walk both dogs to my sisters house which is a 4 km round trip. Takes us 2 and a half hours to explore and stop for coffee.

This seems to me a novice like a lot of exercise but it may be breed specific?

Edited September 5, 2006 by dogsonly

[poodlefan]

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old.

wow! Any Northern breed like my samoyed going without a walk for 6 months would go nuts. Surely its ok to take them for a walk around the block after about 12-14 weeks?

There are other ways to exercise a pup - offlead being the obvious one. "No onlead walking" doesn't mean no walking, and no time on the lead, and no time out of the backyard - you just don't use pavement pounding as the primary method of exercise. The problem with "a walk around the block" is all those growing bones and ligaments on concrete. Do you know what an appropriate pace for a pup is? Do you know how far is enough? Can you tell when the pup is tired? Most people can't, hence the rule.

Short walks would be fine but your primary method of exercise should be offlead play. It may require you to be a bit more creative with your exercise regime but it can certainly be done.

Some people simply don't know when enough is enough and you can end up with pups with serious bone and joint issues from over exercise. That's why "no onlead" is the rule of thumb for growing pups.

Breeders of giant breeds generally have even stricter recommendatons to make.

I am not being critical of your advice but I need to understand why to explain......

No onlead exercise until 6 months old - wow... I don't think any buyer knows this

Anyone who follows Dr Ian Billinghurst's advice for puppy raising does.

Edited September 5, 2006 by poodlefan

[Skipy]

I have an amstaff and this is the advice I have received and it seemed to work OK. No long walks, for more than 15-20 minutes until they are about 1 year old, key word being repetitive work such as non-stop walking that can put stress on their joints. If you go for low joint stress walk around the neighbourhood where your pup can sniff around, stop for a while, that kind of thing, 30mins should be fine but when you get them I would start 10-15 min walks.

In the backyard, they will play to the extent that they can and will stop when they get tired so I dont think you should prevent this, they also get tired very quickly and will have many naps during day. Hope this helps.

JMO

[cowanbree]

I don't exercise my puppies at all until around 7mths. Even then I just start with gentle ambles on soft surfaces and wouldn’t take them for real walks until around 12mths. As a result my oldies are very sound and are not crippled with arthritis at a young age

[dogsonly]

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old.

wow! Any Northern breed like my samoyed going without a walk for 6 months would go nuts. Surely its ok to take them for a walk around the block after about 12-14 weeks?

There are other ways to exercise a pup - offlead being the obvious one. "No onlead walking" doesn't mean no walking, and no time on the lead - you just don't use pavement pounding as the primary method of exercise. The problem with "a walk around the block" is all those growing bones and ligaments on concrete. Do you know what an appropriate pace for a pup is? Can you tell when the pup is tired and has had enough?

This is helpful advice but I walk my puppy around the block using the green areas for them as to me the whole point of the exercise is training., toilet training, lead training and obedience. I teach it as I go not to pull on the lead (at least try to!). I teach it to sit when asked to. I teach it to drop and to come on command. I also am teaching it to toilet outside the house. The exercise is minimal and it is also a social event... saying hello to others as we go around the block. It is also out in fresh air becoming socialised.

[dogsonly]

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old.

Anyone who follows Dr Ian Billinghurst's advice for puppy raising does.

Where do we find Dr Ian Billinghurst's advice for puppy raising???

[honeychild]

For me the point of walking my puppy is not for exercise but for training and socialisation. To have a happy dog who is not couped up in the house all day, to be around people and have her see what goes on. In my opinion, to only start walking at 6 months just would have been too late. If i had not of gotten her used to walking onlead i would have had no chance. Taking her out on lead for the first time at 6 months would have been a huge shock, i dont think it would be fair, the breeder told me to get her used to it as soon as possble after vaccinations.

[BrunoBella]

Exactly like dogsonly said.

I think the advice is very confusing partly due to terminology.

The meaning of off-lead walk and an on lead walk varies between people so I think descriptions should be clearer.

eg, walk your dog at a very slow pace on grass stopping to sniff all the bushes. Do not take pup for non-stop walk. Or something like that. There are so many people I meet who have no idea and who overexercise their dogs. They just don't understand so we have to be able to make it clearer.

[poodlefan]

General rule of thumb is no onlead exercise until the pup is at least 6 months old.

Anyone who follows Dr Ian Billinghurst's advice for puppy raising does.

Where do we find Dr Ian Billinghurst's advice for puppy raising???

In his book "Grow Your Pups With Bones" - its the raw feeder's puppy raising bible.

[poodlefan]

For me the point of walking my puppy is not for exercise but for training and socialisation. To have a happy dog who is not couped up in the house all day, to be around people and have her see what goes on. In my opinion, to only start walking at 6 months just would have been too late. If i had not of gotten her used to walking onlead i would have had no chance. Taking her out on lead for the first time at 6 months would have been a huge shock, i dont think it would be fair, the breeder told me to get her used to it as soon as possble after vaccinations.

Perhaps you need to reread my post more carefully. "No onlead EXERCISE" doesn't mean that:

* The pup never leaves the yard

* The pup is not socialised or trained

* The pup spends no time on lead

It means that the pup is not EXERCISED by being walked on lead. Am I making myself clear? If you are not doing it for exercise then you are doing it the right way IMHO.

Before the age of six months, Darcy went to regularly to shows, dog club, friends houses, the river, the beach, on holidays and a bunch of other places. He was shown and he attended obedience training. However he was not exercised by being walked around the block on lead.

[samoyedman]

For me the point of walking my puppy is not for exercise but for training and socialisation. To have a happy dog who is not couped up in the house all day, to be around people and have her see what goes on. In my opinion, to only start walking at 6 months just would have been too late. If i had not of gotten her used to walking onlead i would have had no chance. Taking her out on lead for the first time at 6 months would have been a huge shock, i dont think it would be fair, the breeder told me to get her used to it as soon as possble after vaccinations.

Perhaps you need to reread my post more carefully. "No onlead EXERCISE" doesn't mean that:

* The pup never leaves the yard

* The pup is not socialised or trained

* The pup spends no time on lead

It means that the pup is not EXERCISED by being walked on lead. Am I making myself clear? If you are not doing it for exercise then you are doing it the right way IMHO.

Before the age of six months, Darcy went to regularly to shows, dog club, friends houses, the river, the beach, on holidays and a bunch of other places. He was shown and he attended obedience training. However he was not exercised by being walked around the block on lead.

Point taken and thanks for advice.

[dogsonly]

My puppies stop to smell the flowers

Thanks for all the advice poodlefan I will go get Dr Ian Billinghurst's book.

[nobul]

It is a lot to do with breed specific, reason being is it does put a lot of pressure on joints and growth plates, a lot of owners are over eager to have their puppy clock up 2 miles in a day to "make them bigger" .

I recommend only gentle excersize until 1 year of age, bit of a romp in the yard or down the park, never on hard surfaces. Nor do i recommend any form of excersize like tossing the ball to my breed under 1 year as they are able to turn very sharpley and suddenly and can do great joint damage. EG cruciate ligament ruptures , patella problems etc.

With my breed too i recommend NEVER to let them off lead, even when older, they are not the most obedient of breeds, however i do recommend short obedience training periods from a young age and plenty of socialisation (fully vaccinated of course)

[bikle]

OMG wow.

i am really REALLY really suprised by this.

i have been taking douglas on walks around the block, and in the park, twice a day since he was fully vaccinated (16 weeks)

he is now 19 weeks.

should i stop? am i gonna break him?

he seems to love it. he gets so excited when i get out his lead...