How far do you walk with your puppy?

[Willza]

Most of us with puppies will have seen the advice stating that you should not walk a puppy out for more than 5 minutes per month of its life (i.e. 1 month old walk time = 5mins; 4 month old walk time = 20 minutes) To me this seems like a fairly good guidline BUT I think it should be taken with a pinch of salt after all how can you prescribe this same amount to every dog regardless of breed, size etc.

Sometimes if the weathers nice I like to take my pup a bit further than this (depending on how much energy he seems to have) and the other day I took my 3 and a half month old for 2 x 15 minute walks (amounting to less than 1.5 km distance in total for both) in one day. When this came up in discussion with a friend, who also owns dogs, they said they thought that this was risky and that I should stick rigidly to the advice or risk my dogs health.

I think they are being a bit too precautionary as I have never know of any problems caused by this, but I value this friend's opinion so I thought I would put it to the forum and see what you guys think.

 

[haycroft]

Just use it as a guide line as you said depending the breed and size of dog but you certainly dont want to over exercise the dog
i was told never take home a shattered and tired pup as youve over done it

and i was led to believe the 5 min per age month free runnning etc,walking on lead is fine as long your sensible

when ihad my first dog,we went everywhere or picked her up if we felt she was getting tired(couldnt do that if it was a larger breed though lol)

if you have a big enough garden thats usually enough for a young pup but of course you want to socialise and get him/her used to sounds of traffic etc so walking out for short sessions will be fine

 

[galaxy]

and i was led to believe the 5 min per age month free runnning etc,walking on lead is fine as long your sensible

that's interesting I was told the other way around! My vet said to limit the lead walking on pavements etc, but basically free running etc was fine as long as it wasn't hours every day....

 

[haycroft]

that's interesting I was told the other way around! My vet said to limit the lead walking on pavements etc, but basically free running etc was fine as long as it wasn't hours every day....

interesting
i suppose they can do more damage if free running as you know what some pups can be like..manic, some dont know when to stop..uneven ground, trip..then a trip to the vet??

lead walking is more controlled /they can get tired with mental simulation aswell

all in moderation

 

[soloabe]

that's interesting I was told the other way around! My vet said to limit the lead walking on pavements etc, but basically free running etc was fine as long as it wasn't hours every day....

Yep i agree with this.

Its the repetitive forced movement on the leash and on hard surfaces that causes the joint issues.

Free running is fine because you let it happen on softer surfaces and the pup will self regulate.

We just had a lecture on this from one of the top canine orthopedic surgeons.

 

[Willza]

The stuff about free running being self regulating and keeping the lead walking on hard surfaces to a minimum seems right to me but I can't quite bring myself to belive that 5 minutes a month or an extra minute a week is anything more than a rough yard stick thanks for the posts guys.

 

[echodomino]

I was led to believe that free running's also better than lead walking because pup has to keep up and go the distance on a lead but has some choice when loose.

I'll either take pup alone for a small walk or if with the others, go for a normal walk and pick pup up when it's tired, but I only have JRTs so appreciate that's not ideal lol.

 

[soloabe]

The stuff about free running being self regulating and keeping the lead walking on hard surfaces to a minimum seems right to me but I can't quite bring myself to belive that 5 minutes a month or an extra minute a week is anything more than a rough yard stick thanks for the posts guys.

Of course the extra every now and then is probably not going to cause a huge problem. Its when the dog is repeatedly exercised to much.

 

[FestiveBoomBoom]

My pup is just over 6 months old. She can do 45-60 mins easily, most of which is off lead and on very good surfaces (sand, soft ground on grass). She is very athletic for her age and is not puppy like in anyway, she can easily cope with her walks and never comes home knackered. but to be honest a 30 min walk would not be enough for her. She does like to have a good blast on our walks but it's not constant, she trots along for a lot of it too. I hope I am not doing too much, but I did pretty much the same with my boy when he as a pup and his hips and elbows ended up being 0/0 - They are both labs.

 

[CAYLA]

I never gone by the whole minutes per age malarky, but I don't let them pound the pavements for long, literally a 10 min session through the traffic/people (socialising time) twice a day and lots a free running field play.
unlimited garden play.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

At 10 months and with the associated issues, pups are currently having about 20 mintues on the lead on pavements. It's not ideal but the stress they endure in the woods is horrific-of course they want to run! We're limiting them to street walks, therefore, until the next set fo x-rays in a few months. It's hard work but is providing them with ideal walking to heel training and they are tons better already. Big dog goes with them and out separately to the woods.

 

[giveitago]

I wouldnt walk a small pup at all. Stick to the 5min per month sort ofratio for a yard stick measure but i understood it was for pups over 6 months, ie, 8 month lab will do a structured walk of 10 mins, the rest is play.

you wont notice a problem till the arthritis or hip dysplasia developes later in life.

Imho, theres nothing more tragic than someone parading their 16 week pup around for miles, poor thing

 

[CorvusCorax]

With a large weighbearing breed, only freerunning and small walks for socialisation/lead manners only, not exercise, until six months and then restrained leash walking to build up steadily to proper walking and steady biking after 12 months. As Giveitago, you won't see the problems till later with repeated pavement pounding and going mad up and down stairs, in and out of car boot, on and off sofa, bouncing from wall to wall.
Agree that once in a while won't kill the pup but it is impact and repetition that does the damage.

Just because a puppy CAN walk for miles and jump like a stag, doesn't mean it should, or it is good for it, just because I can eat McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and tea, doesn't mean I should, or it is good for me.

Seen too many broken dogs, even broken YOUNG dogs recently for me to be lax about it. Training the brain wears out dogs much better than just endless walking.

 

[EAST KENT]

My comparison for new puppy owners is always "one month of a puppy`s life to one year in a child`s" So no real long walks until 8/10 years/months.

 

[Vetty]

I bumped into someone with an 18 week old Golden Retreiver pup who was walking him for 90 mins at a time 'because he's tired when we get home then'..... I did make the point that it's really bad for his joints and she mentioned that her trainer had said the same...... Hopefully she has made some changes cos the dog is a big handsome boy.....

 

[shadowboy]

I was wondering about this the other day- ironically I was at vets for a check up last week (between the sickness bouts!) and vet said you should never take a tired puppy home - he said they should be 10 min before the point of tiredness.