any of you have your gsd as a jogging/running partner?
At what age is it safe for them to start jogging with you? I have heard it can be bad for their hips if they are too young? How did you ease them into it once they are old enough?
Thanks
Rusty runs with my husband. He started to take him out when he was 8 months - a lot was on the sandy beach or dirt hiking trails. We do need to be mindful of growth plates still closing. But at the same time want to build strong muscle with activity - not limiting completely.
Now jumping when he was a pup and the impact from the land was not encouraged. To this day - we never even play Frisbee. I don't like how the dog looks when they land.
About 8 to 10 months if there is no sign of Pano, etc and the goofy growth stage has passed. Even then I would limit the distance for about 6 months. Maybe 2-3 miles. I had one boy with Pano at about 7 or 8 months and I waited till he was a year old. About goofy, not ever pup goes through this. My second GSD, Mac, RIP, was a great athlete and never had a goofy stage. My current boy [5th GSD] has never shown me a goofy stage and he is over 9 months old. If you don't see a goofy stage you still have to be careful. The growth plates have to be closed before you can expect any heavy long distance running from your dog. I always try to run the dogs on a natural surface.
I run with my dog five days a week (I let him have the weekends off). I started running with him when he was a year old, and I followed a modified Couch to 5K running program designed for humans in order to condition him. After that we increased our mileage by about 15% a week. His longest run to date is 13 miles, but generally we do just 6 - 10 miles at a time, so his highest mileage week is 50 miles.
Before we began getting serious about mileage, I made sure that his hips and elbows were okay via x-ray.
If you run in town or city, make sure you keep an eye on his paws. I run trail, so it's dirt and not really something I need to worry about. But in the summer you need to worry about hot pavement, and in the winter you need to watch for injury to the paws from salt or sharp ice.
The only times when I do not run with Niko, aside from his rest days, are when it is frigidly cold and single digits, or when it is excessively hot and over 75 degrees. In the summer I run with him early in the morning to avoid the heat.
Running keeps him nice and trim, and he is a joy to run with. He is the reason why I am so consistent with my running, because I know how much he enjoys it. I never skip a run any more.
Shadow is a bit over a year old and I jog with her as much as I can stand each day (which isn't much with chronic pain). Maybe a bit over a mile a day. She's excitable sometimes so I keep an eye on when she wants to check something out or to stop and pee.
thanks for the replies. Good to know theyre okay to run with. I dont do crazy running usually between 1 and 3 miles. lately its been on the treadmill, but would love to get back out on the road again. Its lonely out there though, so i think a dog would be a motivating factor.
only worry is the hot florida summers.. going to have to make it an early run
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