Conditioning a dog for running

[Good_Karma]

Niko is nearing the time when he will be old enough to start running with me. I did a quick search of threads but didn't get all my questions answered.

First, is it like with people, where it's best to do a gentle warm-up before getting up to speed? And a cool-down as well?

My pace is kinda slow, say a 9 minute mile on average (8 if I'm feeling fabulous). Any reason to slow it down for him?

Would it be a bad idea to have him eventually do two runs a day, one with me in the morning (7 am) for six miles and then a second run in the late afternoon (4 pm) with my husband at about the same pace (he's generally an 8 minute miler) for a four mile run? Do we risk an overuse type injury? He has no joint issues and his hip x-rays were fine at 12 months old.

Our vet said he'd be okay to start running with us at 18 months old. Is she correct? He's a lean 86 lbs (28" at withers).

Any reason to increase his calorie intake to compensate for the extra exercise? And if yes, how would we calculate what is appropriate? I can't let him just eat until he's full because he would not self-regulate his food intake.

Sorry for all the questions! I just want to do this right.

[Runswithdogs]

From what I understand, you'll have to build him up to it the same way you would a human- my pup, Regen, is just now ready to start running and I am starting with a slow mile and building from there. It's kind of a pain in the butt because I'm a distance runner and right now, even 3 miles is pushing it for her, especially in anything over 65 degrees.
You also can tell a lot by watching your dog- 10 miles/day may be totally fine for a high-energy dog, but way too much for a lower energy dog.
My vet said to just watch her weight as we increase exercise- if she seems to be getting thin, add in some calories.

[GSDSunshine]

I would slowly work him up to running with you. 4 miles right of the bat would be way too much to begin with. Depending on how much you walk now, you can try what you think he can handle now... maybe 1/2-1 mile at first and see how he is afterwards... if you get to a mile and he is still going strong you can go a little longer... just don't try to push him past what is comfortable.

Also remember that he is not used to running for a long distance so he might be sore for a while until he builds up his endurance.

For food, I would offer a bit more a day (1/2 cup, split between 2 meals) and see how he is after a few weeks, if he starts getting ribby, you can up is 1/4 cup and see if it help, then a week later add 1/4 more until he has a nice body condition. He might not need much more though.

[TaraM1285]

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

First, is it like with people, where it's best to do a gentle warm-up before getting up to speed? And a cool-down as well?

I always do a short warm-up and a bit of a cool-down with Tara.

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

My pace is kinda slow, say a 9 minute mile on average (8 if I'm feeling fabulous). Any reason to slow it down for him?

8-9 minute miles should be just fine for him.

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Would it be a bad idea to have him eventually do two runs a day, one with me in the morning (7 am) for six miles and then a second run in the late afternoon (4 pm) with my husband at about the same pace (he's generally an 8 minute miler) for a four mile run? Do we risk an overuse type injury? He has no joint issues and his hip x-rays were fine at 12 months old.

Eventually, this would probably be ok once in a while, but I'm not sure I'd do 10 miles every day. I don't run Tara more than 3-4 days a week to avoid overtraining/overuse injuries.

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Our vet said he'd be okay to start running with us at 18 months old. Is she correct? He's a lean 86 lbs (28" at withers).

I'm no expert, but by 18 months his growth plates should be closed and he would be ok to run.

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Any reason to increase his calorie intake to compensate for the extra exercise? And if yes, how would we calculate what is appropriate? I can't let him just eat until he's full because he would not self-regulate his food intake.

Yes, you will probably need to increase his calorie intake if you are running regularly. I add about ½ cup a day when we increase activity. If he looks like he's gaining too much weight and looking chubby, back off. If he's losing weight, add another ½ cup. You'll find the correct balance eventually.


What kind of surface will you be running on? Make sure you start him off pretty slowly so that he can build up the toughness in his pads and endurance. Check the pads for cuts or scrapes regularly.


Also, don't forget that they overheat much more easily than we do, so be careful if it's hot. I generally don't take Tara out if it's over 80 degrees. She doesn't really enjoy going for more than about 6 miles or so and her longest run has been about 8 miles. When we do a longer run, I stop about every 20-30 minutes to offer a few sips of water.

[Stosh]

My vet is also a chiropractor and she reminded me to watch it when I first started if I was running on pavement, especially the paws and toes. Even walking long distances on pavement took some adjusting to. With my knees and feet, I prefer to run on trails, the dogs love it!!

[Good_Karma]

Originally Posted by TaraM1285

What kind of surface will you be running on? Make sure you start him off pretty slowly so that he can build up the toughness in his pads and endurance. Check the pads for cuts or scrapes regularly.

We walk six miles in the AM now on a dirt road with a grassy shoulder. He gets another hour walk (with DH so not sure how far he goes) in the PM. I've jogged short distances with him just to see if he'll run loose leash (he will) and he has never seemed tired. At most we've jogged five minutes at a time so probably he will be able to go a couple miles when we start.

Is one to two days off per week enough rest? He'd still get a walk, but not a run on those days.

Honestly, I can't tell if he's a high energy dog or not. It seems like he's a lot less restless in the house if he gets a couple long walks per day, but the rest of the time he sleeps if there's nothing interesting going on. Then again, if I let him dictate our daily activities, we'd be on the go all day long. (I tried this once when we were home alone for a week, he ran me ragged!)

Thanks for helping me out with these questions. I'm sure once I get started the questions will answer themselves as we learn together.

Oh, and the food thing! He's only eating two cups of Evo total per day, plus 1/3rd of a lb of cooked chicken. If I added half a cup of Evo, that seems like a huge increase. I may just have to do as suggested and add more food if he starts looking too lean.

[Melgrj7]

We did this with our dogs 5K running with dog to get them used to running. Even though they got a lot of other exercise prior, we chose to start them this way with jogging.