Running with me, at 19 weeks..

1034 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Sherush, Jun 25, 2008

ardavis324

Discussion Starter · Jun 24, 2008

I run the stairs and the track at the HS football stadium near my house in the morning. Today I took Rajko with me to see how he would do there. Since it is completely fenced in, I let him off the leash to run around on the field and chase birds while I did my workout.

I should have known this would happen, but Rajko ended up following me during my whole workout, up and down the stadium stairs, and around the dirt track, about 45 minutes total.

I know it is very important not to take a puppy on jog/runs, but what do you think of something like this? He was going at his own pace, which was sometimes even faster than I could go, so it was not like he was struggling to stay with me at all. Is this safe? Any suggestions?

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big_dog7777

· #2 · Jun 24, 2008

Don't take him again until he is at least a year old. Him running and playing in a field is great, but prolonged runs for distance are bad at this age and stairs are horrible.

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Elmo's Mom

· #3 · Jun 24, 2008

I second that! You do not want to put extra stress on the joints as your pup is growing.

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Elmo's Mom

· #4 · Jun 24, 2008

By the way, I really like the name Rajko.

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Helly

· #5 · Jun 24, 2008

I was just at the vet on Friday with Jackson and asked about going on walks..she said walks were fine, but no running until he was at least a year and a half old...of course me running isn't exactly an issue

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Amaruq

· #6 · Jun 24, 2008

You definitely do not want him running on hard surfaces for that long until he is 12-18 months old. It can be VERY hard on their joints as they are developing. Running and playing for short periods of time on grass/sand is ok but NOT recommended on hard surfaces that young.

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Cassidy's Mom

· #7 · Jun 24, 2008

Be very careful with the heat too. Dogs have been known to run until they drop - it happened to a friend of ours who took his aussie on a mountain bike ride. She'd gone with him many times before, but he was in a hurry to finish his ride because his wife had a doctor's appointment afterwards, and he just didn't think about stopping to give Sadie a break to cool down and have some water.

She collapsed at the end of the ride, and he rushed her to the vet, but it was too late. I know it gets pretty hot in Fresno.

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Timber1

· #8 · Jun 24, 2008

At 19 weeks, it does sound a bit young, at least until the dog's hips are evauated. At about eight months I had my vet take X-rays of my GSD's hips, because I did not want to cause any damage if there is a problem. The results were fine, and his final OFA certification was good, with no qualifications.

If you have a vet that you trust and has dealt with OFA and the Penn Hip Tests, have he/she take a few Xrays. At your pup's age there is no reason to submit them, but the vet can tell you if there are any concerns.

As for running up steps I would avoid that. For now, stick to grass and swimming.

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ardavis324

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 24, 2008

Thanks for the info everyone. I've been very careful with these things. Normally the only running he does is around the yard and school grassy areas when we play and train. Today was an exception, as I didn't know how he would be. I think I might go there extra early, play fetch with him on the field until he gets tired, and then tether him somewhere so that he can relax while I do my workout. As far as heat goes..we go out there at 6am, when it's relatively cool.

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Sherush

· #10 · Jun 25, 2008

Thing about a GSD is that they want to follow their pack leader to the end of the earth even if it causes them damage. The reason why your pup followed you instead of playing by himself is because a GSD follows. Tethering him in a spot while you run away might cause a problem ie he will probably freak instead of relax, I know Jesse would even though he is completely obedience trained and trained if I tether him inside Petsmart I can go down one isle and come back another and he will be fine for a minute (that was a test by trainer) But if I tied him up in park and told him to stay and I ran away, he would lose it.

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