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Proper Exercise for puppies

162K views 108 replies 74 participants last post by  Joys 
#1 · (Edited)
Because this is such a frequent topic for all new puppy owners. And I see mis-information from breeders going from 'NO stairs for our breed until a year old (?????)' to 'Only short leashed walks around the block for the first year' (?????)

I thought it would be a great idea for the 'truth' to come out from us what a normal healthy pup (of any breed) should be able to do.

I know my pups can off leash hike for miles by the time they are 11 weeks old....

 
#3 ·
This is going to be an interesting topic. I try to break this into a couple of different topics that have highly varying opinions:

Stress management-i.e. things like the stair issue. what can you do in terms and relation to the development of a dog's growth plates and maturing of their bone structures. For smaller dog breeds the closing of the plates occur much sooner than the gsd or larger breeds. So the gsd/large breed owners need to manage stress induced exercises for a much longer period.

Vaccinations schedules - when during the early vaccination period can you get the puppies out and about and what you need to continue to protect them from. This can go from the (IMO) extreme of "I have to keep my puppy isolated and protected from everything until after they complete their vaccinations and get their rabies shots" to getting out and socializing after the first/second round of shotts. The timing of getting rabies also varies from around four months to six months these days.

My puppy - I allowed to climb stairs from the day he came home but I carried him down the staris to avoid stress on his joints for the first few weeks. And then he went down with a leash for a while to keep him from racing down and launching off the stairs. Next phase was placing obstacles at the bottom to keep him from launching off the bottom of the stairs. He was in a puppy class at about 11 weeks and going to a local park to run and socialize with dogs of owners who I knew but I kept him away from certain owners or dogs who I hadn't known previously. Also kept him in the center of the parks and away from the bushes from areas where the animals were likely to defecate more. He was at the regional parks and hiking/swimming in the lake at 3.5 months.
 
#91 ·
I was going to post something close to this until I saw this post. I was having my puppy run with me for about 2 minutes to run out the rest of his energy on some days. But I went to his puppy class yesterday and they told me to limit play and no running because of his growth plates. I'm very clue less since I never had this breed. Just a boxer, that needs a lot of exercise because they can be overly hyper. I'm I to wait a certain age to run or exercise with him?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App
 
#4 ·
Agility people know who Silvia Trkman is. She's a top agility competitor in the world. I like to read her web page because it covers everything on dog training, pretty much. Now, keeping in mind that she has a smaller breed of dog (Pyrenean Shepherds), I still think her philosophy on exercising puppies can still be applied. I think it's well worth reading her entire website, even if you aren't interested in agility.

"When people ask me when good old Lo will deserve retirement, I always tell that good old Lo certainly deserved to never be retired. She is in agility since her 7th week, she is over 10 years old now and still easily beats much younger dogs on grass. "

Go to "Our Training" and scroll down to "Agility is good for dogs."
http://silvia.trkman.net/
 
#5 · (Edited)
to see what I expect as a NORMAL level of exercise and activity for a puppy.

And just 2 weeks later at 13 weeks old

Glory B is only 11 weeks old and we've been hiking like this since I got her 2 weeks ago. Only increasing the distance and pace.
 
#6 ·
Wow, that video clip was an eye opener.
I had always understood that a puppy should be moderately exercised until their limbs matured.
I had a lab puppy years ago and even the vet told me to do restricted exercise for the first few months. I was led to believe that over exercising contributed to hip dysplasia, if the dog was pre disposed to the condition.
Obviously thinking has changed.
Kerchaks exercise regime is going to alter:)
 
#7 ·
I exercise my pup who is 5 months now for a 20 min walk in the morning and we go for about an hour at night or spend an hour at the park with the ball and I was always worried that it might be to much. If I didnt exercise him like this he would be running around like a little devil getting into everything.
 
#9 ·
my puppy came home at 9 weeks old. i think we started the stairs
at 10 weeks or 11 weeks. coming up the steps i would put him
on the 3rd step from the top and let go from there. going down the steps i put him on the 3rd from the bottom and let
him go from there. we slowly starting adding more steps.

his walks were very short. he definitely wasn't going a mile at
10 or 11 weeks old. my Vets office is 1 mile from our house. one day we had to walk home from the Vets office. my puppy just stopped and flopped. he also got a little abrasion on his pad. from that day on i took it very easy on him. my the time he was 6 months old we were walking miles. he's now 2 years old and he can
go 5 miles with no problem. we walk in the woods a lot
so my dog has to jumps over things, crawl under things and climb
some steep inclines.

i don't know when they're able to do what but i
don't push my dogs early on. i let them work up to going
miles.
 
#11 ·
I too have read and wondered about restricted exercise, but I trust my breeder and she said to let Zuzu do what she could, and let her rest when she was tired. I did and still do avoid paved roads, but at an early age, she was going on long off-leash strolls in the woods, learning to swim and playing with other pups.

She rarely slowed down during a walk or romp, but would snooze in the car and be pooped at home before recharging her batteries. we also played on playground equipment to get her used to surfaces and unfamiliar objects. She loved it all.

She started the carpeted stairs at about 9 weeks, slowly.

Now at five months, she's fit, muscular and has amazing stamina. She runs and runs on the beach after birds, swims like an otter and is calm and happy the rest of the day---mostly.

I'm lucky to have access to great off-leash areas to romp, not sure what I'd do without them!
 
#12 ·
Originally Posted By: JenniferDI too have read and wondered about restricted exercise, but I trust my breeder and she said to let Zuzu do what she could, and let her rest when she was tired. I did and still do avoid paved roads, but at an early age, she was going on long off-leash strolls in the woods, learning to swim and playing with other pups.

She rarely slowed down during a walk or romp, but would snooze in the car and be pooped at home before recharging her batteries. we also played on playground equipment to get her used to surfaces and unfamiliar objects. She loved it all.

She started the carpeted stairs at about 9 weeks, slowly.

Now at five months, she's fit, muscular and has amazing stamina. She runs and runs on the beach after birds, swims like an otter and is calm and happy the rest of the day---mostly.

I'm lucky to have access to great off-leash areas to romp, not sure what I'd do without them!
Sounds like your pup and mine are on the same exercise regime. And both doing just fine!!!
 
#13 ·
Originally Posted By: MaggieRoseLee
Originally Posted By: JenniferDI too have read and wondered about restricted exercise, but I trust my breeder and she said to let Zuzu do what she could, and let her rest when she was tired. I did and still do avoid paved roads, but at an early age, she was going on long off-leash strolls in the woods, learning to swim and playing with other pups.

She rarely slowed down during a walk or romp, but would snooze in the car and be pooped at home before recharging her batteries. we also played on playground equipment to get her used to surfaces and unfamiliar objects. She loved it all.

She started the carpeted stairs at about 9 weeks, slowly.

Now at five months, she's fit, muscular and has amazing stamina. She runs and runs on the beach after birds, swims like an otter and is calm and happy the rest of the day---mostly.

I'm lucky to have access to great off-leash areas to romp, not sure what I'd do without them!
Sounds like your pup and mine are on the same exercise regime. And both doing just fine!!!
Same here.
 
#14 ·
wish i saw this thread when Josie was a pup pup. My breeder did tell me, no stairs, no jumping no excessive exercise like taking the puppy out for a walk around the block. Although i did break the rule and had Josie walking in a nice easy pace around 1 block. Let her sniff the world etc.. But i did restrict her jumping. I got so worried when she kept jumping off the deck when she was playing with my husband's aunt's lab. They both ran on the deck and jumped right off and i had to keep telling Josie to stay off the deck! lol.
 
#15 ·
An update

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!

 
#26 ·
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!
 
#16 ·
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 . . . ?
 
#17 ·
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 a good way to put it. :thumbup:
 
#18 · (Edited)
I agree. I didn't get a video camera until Halo was close to a year old so I have pictures, but no video of her running around at the park. Because she tried SO hard to keep up with Keefer I had to keep reminding my hubby to not throw the ball as much or as far as we usually did because we didn't want her to run that hard when she was really little. Swimming is great exercise because it's low impact. She started going to Point Isabel at 15 weeks old, here she is a few weeks before her first birthday:



 
#21 ·
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.
 
#23 ·
Overdoing it?

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).
 
#24 ·
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.
 
#25 ·
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 :)
 
#28 ·
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.
 
#85 ·
Well I have totally broken that rule. Tygo is almost 8 months old and he goes for 1/2 day hikes regularly. And like others, I live in a stair master house. Oh well. I'll report back in 10 years to see how it is going.
 
#29 ·
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?
 
#30 ·
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 :)
 
#31 ·
My pup now 19 weeks loves the flirt pole and chasing his tug. We go into the back yard and he runs up to it right away. He'll play with it for a long time but I worry he's gonna hurt himself because he'll tackle it sometimes and even rolls over sometimes after diving after it.

I try to not overwork him but he doesn't ever seem to want to quit. After he catches it he'll chew on it but if I move it he's right back on it again. I've been making him take breaks every couple of rounds we go. If he doesn't get worn out he'll pace the house and I have to end up putting him in his kennel so he'll chill out.

Is the flirt pole too intense for a pup?
 
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