New to the Forum from San Diego

[big hoss]

Hello fellow GSD owners. One week ago I picked up my 8 week old Female which I named Kyra. After a GSD my parents had when I was 3 years old. My wife and I have been diligently house training, which, knock on wood, is going very well. Other than that we have been just letting her be a puppy so she can adjust to these new settings. In the next couple of weeks we will slowly be introducing training and socialization with other vaccinated dogs.
Quick question. I wanted to get her used to going for walks, but as it stands, I make it about 5 houses either left or right down the street, and she plants her little 8 pound body down and refuses to move unless it is in the direction of back towards the house. I am thinking it is just because she is a puppy but I thought I would throw it out there and ask.

[Wild Wolf]

Welcome to our community!

Do not worry about the walking issue right now. She is both getting used to the leash and probably getting tired easy... she is just a little baby, after all! Don't force her to exercise if she clearly does not want to. Let her go at her own pace at this age - they sleep a lot anyway, so you don't need to worry about tiring her out yet. Just give her as much as she desires in terms of activity. Sometimes when my pup was eight weeks and he was done walking, I would carry him home.

Sooo... where are the pictures?

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

I was told that you shouldn't really exercise your pup till they are at least 5-6 months old, that 4 months and under regular play is enough because they are developing. Where we live running and biking is really huge and we have several great paved and unpaved trail systems, our vet said he's noticed a lot of large breed pups coming into his office under a year old showing arthritis and signs of being over exercised and when he inquires he has found that the owners are runners or bikers and take along their dogs as companions.

That is about all I know, from what I was told, but from experience I noticed when our pups were between 6-12 weeks, it seemed like they would eat, pee/poop, play for 20 minutes, sleep for an hour, repeat, lol!

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by Flynn & Abby's Mom

I was told that you shouldn't really exercise your pup till they are at least 5-6 months old, that 4 months and under regular play is enough because they are developing.

I disagree with that advice.

I didn't hold my female back when it came to exercising. I let her run, jump and play as much as she wanted to. She also swam. If she didn't get to run and play she would have driven me insane.

I wouldn't take them for a bike ride or anything like that just yet but letting them run, taking them for walks, even long walks and letting them play is perfectly fine as long as they have had their puppy shots. JMO

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

LaRen, yes, I agree with you on they need to play and stuff, I just meant like excessive or training for running or full day hikes, ect., in our area it's a very outdoor community and dog friendly so it's common to see folks and their pets out and about together.

Unfortunately there are some folks that go hard core into it, and I was just pointing out more along that line, that the vet said not to push them or over do it for them while they are young.

I was wondering cause you mentioned your dog likes to swim, about what age did you take your pup out to swim in "deep" water or open water area? So far my Flynn has only played in a kiddie pool, but I think she probably would love to actually swim! Thank you for your help!

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by Flynn & Abby's Mom

I was wondering cause you mentioned your dog likes to swim, about what age did you take your pup out to swim in "deep" water or open water area? So far my Flynn has only played in a kiddie pool, but I think she probably would love to actually swim! Thank you for your help!

She hasn't gone in deep water yet, the water she goes in is about 3 or 4 feet deep. She hasn't gone swimming for about 2 months though, the water has been too cold.