Puppy exercise
Discussion
Hi, our 15 week old lab x golden retriever puppy is loving being outside and off lead.
We are aware of how we need to be careful around the amount of exercise she has as her joints develop. The rule of thumb we have seen is 5 mins per month of age. She is nearly 4 months old so 15-20 minutes walking perhaps twice a day.
However I'm now getting some conflicted advice from reading online, is that pure walking time or does it include all her back tracking/exploring/sniffing?
For example earlier we did a walk along an old railway path which if I did without her would be 20 mins at an average human walking speed. By the time her exploring/sniffing/meeting other dogs was included the actual time for the same distance was double that (40 mins). She is off lead for 80% of it.
She's not showing signs of tiredness (e.g lying down) while on the walk although does konk out once at home.
Is that too much or is the 5 min guidance more relevant to 'forced' exercise? Any experiences welcome.
We are aware of how we need to be careful around the amount of exercise she has as her joints develop. The rule of thumb we have seen is 5 mins per month of age. She is nearly 4 months old so 15-20 minutes walking perhaps twice a day.
However I'm now getting some conflicted advice from reading online, is that pure walking time or does it include all her back tracking/exploring/sniffing?
For example earlier we did a walk along an old railway path which if I did without her would be 20 mins at an average human walking speed. By the time her exploring/sniffing/meeting other dogs was included the actual time for the same distance was double that (40 mins). She is off lead for 80% of it.
She's not showing signs of tiredness (e.g lying down) while on the walk although does konk out once at home.
Is that too much or is the 5 min guidance more relevant to 'forced' exercise? Any experiences welcome.
Will be following this thread with interest.
Our 3 month German Wire Haired Pointer loves walks, and is probably 50/50 lead / off lead. He doesnt seem to venture far from us or our Jack Russel Terrier when he his off the lead.
We got a bit lost on a walk today and ended up on a much longer walk than we had expected. He is already doing fairly long distances (6km ish) but isnt showing any sign of tiredness until he his home (and then we get a few hours of peace!)
I worry that we might be doing too much, but as he is just walking (not consistently running, jumping up and down) I do wonder how much damage this could do to him long term.
Our 3 month German Wire Haired Pointer loves walks, and is probably 50/50 lead / off lead. He doesnt seem to venture far from us or our Jack Russel Terrier when he his off the lead.
We got a bit lost on a walk today and ended up on a much longer walk than we had expected. He is already doing fairly long distances (6km ish) but isnt showing any sign of tiredness until he his home (and then we get a few hours of peace!)
I worry that we might be doing too much, but as he is just walking (not consistently running, jumping up and down) I do wonder how much damage this could do to him long term.
It's definitely good advice to be cautious and follow the exercise guidelines. The growth plates close at quite different intervals depending on the breed / size so it might be worth you looking up your breeds.
doing loads of sniffing is great, scatter feeding, snuffle mats and woody animal type areas are great too - just build up gradually
It is unlikely your dog will 'look tired' (in the same way that a toddler would keep going when at a playground) so you need to keep track.
More important though are surfaces - things like slippy wood floors at home or slippy logs on your walk or icy paths are very stressful on joints.
Avoid stick throwing (highly dangerous) or ball wanging (really bad for joints) -
you have a GREAT opportunity at this stage to teach a pup some really great 'games' on walks which can feed into solid recall skills as an adult - for example when your pup isn't looking randomly say 'what's this' and put a piece of (high value) food down at your feet - pup will love this 'game' and you're starting to build in a great response to you. (if your dog things you are randomly going to 'find' great stuff on your walk he will keep you in his peripheral vision (there's lots of stuff like that you can do).
doing loads of sniffing is great, scatter feeding, snuffle mats and woody animal type areas are great too - just build up gradually
It is unlikely your dog will 'look tired' (in the same way that a toddler would keep going when at a playground) so you need to keep track.
More important though are surfaces - things like slippy wood floors at home or slippy logs on your walk or icy paths are very stressful on joints.
Avoid stick throwing (highly dangerous) or ball wanging (really bad for joints) -
you have a GREAT opportunity at this stage to teach a pup some really great 'games' on walks which can feed into solid recall skills as an adult - for example when your pup isn't looking randomly say 'what's this' and put a piece of (high value) food down at your feet - pup will love this 'game' and you're starting to build in a great response to you. (if your dog things you are randomly going to 'find' great stuff on your walk he will keep you in his peripheral vision (there's lots of stuff like that you can do).
Edited by parakitaMol. on Wednesday 6th January 18:07
Thanks for the input. For even a relatively unfit adult human it would be very easy to over exercise a pup.
Being all retriever Pippa does like fetch, we are careful not to throw very far and next is having her wait for the object to stop first before she runs after it as I've heard this is less stressful. We only play it in relatively short sessions on grass.
Being all retriever Pippa does like fetch, we are careful not to throw very far and next is having her wait for the object to stop first before she runs after it as I've heard this is less stressful. We only play it in relatively short sessions on grass.
I was really concerned about this when our lab came along, especially worried around the dreaded hip dysplasia. I spent hours and hours trying to dig out any actual scientific evidence that says over exercise directly causes damage. I eventually found something from Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon from whom I’m willing to take advice, who says, and I hope he doesn’t mind me quoting him here:
“There is no evidence to support the concept that excessive exercise during puppyhood can contribute to the development of hip dysplasia.”
Full article here:
https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/orthopaedic...
Now whether this is the same for other types of joint damage I admit to not knowing but, as I said, I could find no scientific evidence that states categorically that over exercise directly causes damage. Clearly if a puppy has something like hip dysplasia then over exercise will make the condition more visible and, hypothetically, allow it to show at an earlier age. However, if the hip scores were fine with the parents then, according to the literature, over exercise is not going to ‘cause’ hip dysplasia.
Saying that, I won’t over exercise Lila (7 months now) to the point where she is visibly tired but she loves playing fetch and I’ll continue to do so with her.
“There is no evidence to support the concept that excessive exercise during puppyhood can contribute to the development of hip dysplasia.”
Full article here:
https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/orthopaedic...
Now whether this is the same for other types of joint damage I admit to not knowing but, as I said, I could find no scientific evidence that states categorically that over exercise directly causes damage. Clearly if a puppy has something like hip dysplasia then over exercise will make the condition more visible and, hypothetically, allow it to show at an earlier age. However, if the hip scores were fine with the parents then, according to the literature, over exercise is not going to ‘cause’ hip dysplasia.
Saying that, I won’t over exercise Lila (7 months now) to the point where she is visibly tired but she loves playing fetch and I’ll continue to do so with her.
Yep what you’ve found is specific to over exercise relating to exacerbating or acceleration of a specific condition
The puppy exercise guidelines are general and relate to growth plates which need to mature and close. Rather like in human babies whose skills have a soft part that close after a while.
Growth plates close /mature at different intervals depending on size and breed. You may not need to stick rigidly to them (as the evidence isn’t absolutely certain) however I would not recommend ignore these guidelines because there is generally agreement that you can cause strain and damage. Hope this helps
The puppy exercise guidelines are general and relate to growth plates which need to mature and close. Rather like in human babies whose skills have a soft part that close after a while.
Growth plates close /mature at different intervals depending on size and breed. You may not need to stick rigidly to them (as the evidence isn’t absolutely certain) however I would not recommend ignore these guidelines because there is generally agreement that you can cause strain and damage. Hope this helps
Ps with regard to stick and ball throwing, obviously it’s your dog and your choice
but I’d still recommend you do a bit of reading about why they say that and what you can do to lessen the impact. There are hundreds of articles written by vets, physios and referral specialists who see and treat all the shoulder/back/elbow injuries caused by this type of activity. Only saying this because I care
but I’d still recommend you do a bit of reading about why they say that and what you can do to lessen the impact. There are hundreds of articles written by vets, physios and referral specialists who see and treat all the shoulder/back/elbow injuries caused by this type of activity. Only saying this because I care
I never knew puppy's had an exercise guideline. My dad walked his lhasa apsos form being pups on walks a big dog would struggle. Only thing iv ever noticed 13 years later is how much bigger his two are, compared to the old ladies ones who Potter around the street once. Still sprint around like fit puppies aswel. Nobody believes me when I say there age.
Apparently they now get grumpy if you try to take them out past 10 and they was a sleep haha. That's all.
Apparently they now get grumpy if you try to take them out past 10 and they was a sleep haha. That's all.
I have to carry my Dachshund out after about 9pm
Well, thing is, we are constantly learning new things. That’s the whole point of science.
So for years vets have vaccinated at 6m, in very recent years there’s been a number of studies around the impacts of that both emotionally and physically. Most of this has been driven by breed specific studies, looking to improve outcomes for genetic conditions. So, for example the Retriever club looked at hips and Dachshunds at backs and behaviourists at behaviour referrals (and a few others)... and found a significant reduction of incidence in dogs neutered later.
This is a growing area of study but 11 years ago I had my Dachs castrated at 6m, from what I know now my youngest will be 3 at least before the snip.
It takes a while (and often bigger studies) for culture /practice to catch up with things.
As a trainer myself who specialises in sports dogs I pay a huge amount of attention to warm up, cool down, and safe activity. I observe surfaces ground conditions, gait, proprioception, jumping correctly, landing correctly, turning, running, timing - I’ll often see issues with dogs before their owners notice and suggest a check up, only to find the dog has indeed got a sprain... etc etc
In agility we (most trainers, not the idiot ones) only take foundations from around 8m and do not permit jumping low till 12/14m.... I don’t start weave training till 16m. That’s all because of joint, ligament and muscle development and getting them fit and strong gradually
Well, thing is, we are constantly learning new things. That’s the whole point of science.
So for years vets have vaccinated at 6m, in very recent years there’s been a number of studies around the impacts of that both emotionally and physically. Most of this has been driven by breed specific studies, looking to improve outcomes for genetic conditions. So, for example the Retriever club looked at hips and Dachshunds at backs and behaviourists at behaviour referrals (and a few others)... and found a significant reduction of incidence in dogs neutered later.
This is a growing area of study but 11 years ago I had my Dachs castrated at 6m, from what I know now my youngest will be 3 at least before the snip.
It takes a while (and often bigger studies) for culture /practice to catch up with things.
As a trainer myself who specialises in sports dogs I pay a huge amount of attention to warm up, cool down, and safe activity. I observe surfaces ground conditions, gait, proprioception, jumping correctly, landing correctly, turning, running, timing - I’ll often see issues with dogs before their owners notice and suggest a check up, only to find the dog has indeed got a sprain... etc etc
In agility we (most trainers, not the idiot ones) only take foundations from around 8m and do not permit jumping low till 12/14m.... I don’t start weave training till 16m. That’s all because of joint, ligament and muscle development and getting them fit and strong gradually
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