Proper Exercise for puppies

[Rerun]

I have always allowed my pups to exercise as they saw fit, within reason. I'm not asking them to jump anything (I don't know what I'd ask them to jump so this is kind of moot point for me haha) and I have a one level house so no stairs on a daily basis. But otherwise they seem to self monitor fine.

Regarding on/off leash, I don't have any real safe areas except one school playground that we are permitted on for off leash playtime and work (it is about 10 acres fully fenced). So my pups are always leashed, but I never take them so far I'm having to drag them or anything of the sort. On vs off leash they have to keep up with we the human anyway so as long as they're trucking along happily and not tired and wanting to lay down, I keep walking with them. I've never jogged with a puppy, but I wouldn't see an issue with it if the pup was being watched closely, was conditioned in a normal fashion and not a couch/crate potatoe before jogging two miles, and preferably not on hard pavement as already pointed out by other members.

[Kamahi]

Originally Posted by Melgrj7

I've always thought as much exercise as they wanted is fine, just let them stop when they want. And that it was best to avoid a lot of running on pavement and unnatural hard surfaces. Even for adult dogs (and people) pounding pavement can put a lot of wear and tear on joints. In other words: off leash at a park until puppy doesn't want to run around anymore = good natural exercise, jogging miles on pavement = bad exercise . . . ?

That's what I do too.

[HarperGirl]

I certainly never force anything on Harper, but that girl could go forever! 2 miles doesn't even phase her, and she'll come home and immediately want to be chasing her ball. I hope it's not harming her, because less exercise than that and she'd be a mad woman! (Great dog, just HIGH energy)

Also, with stairs, we have a 4-story home. She has always done stairs, and is too heavy to avoid it. She's 5 months, 60 lbs, and is fine as long as we can keep her from jumping the flights (they're all 1/2-flights, split level home).

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by HarperGirl

I certainly never force anything on Harper, but that girl could go forever! 2 miles doesn't even phase her, and she'll come home and immediately want to be chasing her ball. I hope it's not harming her, because less exercise than that and she'd be a mad woman! (Great dog, just HIGH energy)

Also, with stairs, we have a 4-story home. She has always done stairs, and is too heavy to avoid it. She's 5 months, 60 lbs, and is fine as long as we can keep her from jumping the flights (they're all 1/2-flights, split level home).

All the normal exercise she's getting should be fine. The only issue I'd have is the one you've noted, jumping the flights. That's the high impact that can cause issues but you can keep an eye on that.

[Dolus]

Also, it's a good idea to watch for signs of fatigue in the dog. For the most part (not always though), puppies can manage their exercise themselves just fine - however, if they start to sit down for no apparent reason during the walk, or if they start walking constantly behind you and/or stop being interested in the environment instead of sniffing around, it's probably time to stop the walk or take a break :-)

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by MaggieRoseLee

Here's Glory B at 10 months old, apparently surviving all the exercise As well as a guest appearance by Bretta Lee who's turning 6 and raised the same!

YouTube - Glory v Wildhaus - 10 m old Agility Class Sequencing

Wow, this is so different from what we do in Agility over here. I can't wait to join a REAL agility group. I have somebody come with me and film the class on monday. Seriously, no wonder I can't get any further. Maybe it's better to quit the obsticles completely and concentrate on the foundation, which I can also do from home, i guess?

I even thought about getting my own agility set, that I can build up at home and train them myself but I am not sure if it is a good idea to do that without supervision.

I love our trainers for the obedience and they are great in agility themselves but what I am missing is the foundation and what I've seen on your video. We don't do the contact thing AT ALL!

[Mrs.K]

I just went through your channel. I guess I have the supervision after all since you've got so many videos of the training up there AND IT'S FOR FREE!!! HAHAHAHA

[chicagojosh]

I've read 5 minutes walking for each month of age. Cody is currently 7 months old meaning a 35 minute walk.

If you ask me, not NEARLY enough exercise. He gets a 20-25 min walk in the morning. A 50-60 min walk when i get home from work, and another say 10-15 minute walk later in the evening. He is still bouncing off the walks.

I just make sure he doesnt run on concrete much.

[Superhero]

So I went to a training class and found out with large breed puppies you gotta be a lot more careful about their exercise.

From the time I got my puppy at 7 weeks old I was walking/jogging her around the block. When she would lay down after a little bit I would let her take a break, though honestly since she was always laying down any time I took her outside to play I thought she was just being stubborn.

I took her jogging one night and noticed that the whole time she lagged behind me, with a bit of tension on the leash for most of the jog. I probably went a mile that night and in retrospect, knowing what I know now, I feel bad.

I also started her on stairs from day one that I had her, and within a few days she was handling them on her own just fine.

She's a day shy of 10 weeks and since Sunday (when I found out to be really careful about their exercise) I have taken it a lot easier on her. Just short walks around the block a few times.

A lot of the walking/jogging was on pavement.

Without this exercise she would be too much to handle. I don't know how else we'd get her enough exercise without at least the walks.

Should I be worried?

[Dolus]

Originally Posted by Superhero

So I went to a training class and found out with large breed puppies you gotta be a lot more careful about their exercise.

From the time I got my puppy at 7 weeks old I was walking/jogging her around the block. When she would lay down after a little bit I would let her take a break, though honestly since she was always laying down any time I took her outside to play I thought she was just being stubborn.

I took her jogging one night and noticed that the whole time she lagged behind me, with a bit of tension on the leash for most of the jog. I probably went a mile that night and in retrospect, knowing what I know now, I feel bad.

I also started her on stairs from day one that I had her, and within a few days she was handling them on her own just fine.

She's a day shy of 10 weeks and since Sunday (when I found out to be really careful about their exercise) I have taken it a lot easier on her. Just short walks around the block a few times.

A lot of the walking/jogging was on pavement.

Without this exercise she would be too much to handle. I don't know how else we'd get her enough exercise without at least the walks.

Should I be worried?

Making her use her brain is much more effective at making her tired than making her use her body. First of all, you shouldn't "exercise" a puppy that age at all - off leash runs are fine as long as you monitor her body language - i.e. don't force her to continue when she sits/lies down etc.

As for making her tired, until she's 16 weeks, socialization will take a lot of her energy. Bring her to all sorts of places and just hang around and let her take in the surroundings. Fields, the city, parks, crowded areas, trains, busses, the subway, introduce her to lots of people and other animals (horses, cats, cows, whatever) - but don't push her, always allow her to take in the impressions in HER pace and make sure she only gets positive experiences with places, peoples and animals.

After the socialization-phase, you can do all sorts of exercises to tire her. Off-leash walks is good - use the time to train recall and contact exercises. Make her use her nose and start doing some tracking foundation work. Make her use her brain with puzzle toys and feeding her in the yard (spread some kibble in your backyard and let her search for it).

All this info is also available on these forums - just do a search on the term "puppy energy" or something like that :-)

Good lucky with your puppy and don't be too hard on her :-)