[Madakira]

I have a puppy and its breed is bred to run/exercise 3-4 hours at a time. My dog is only a puppy. He is 14 weeks, and I take him out for walks daily. We walk about 400 meters from my place over to the Starbucks. He does fine and walks next to me fairly easily. A few days I decided to run him on my bike. Same distance. He was easily keeping pace and at time would actually run ahead. Mind you we weren't going that fast. About the speed of a fast run or jog. I am too lazy to run, so I ride my bike. When we got there he didn't seem winded or anything. I decided to try this pace for the next 3 days and he has been fine every time. He goes faster and faster each time and we get there sooner and sooner. I don't want to run him more than this because he is so young and is still developing. For now we walk there in the morning, and bike there in the afternoon. I wanted to know at what age do you usually take your dogs on longer walks. Some other dogs of his breed are out 3-4 hours a day at a year old. I don't want to rush home into it, but I am assuming there will be a stage withing the next 6 months where he will just be able to run for hours. I just want to make sure I don't rush him there too early.

 

[sassafras]

IMO fourteen weeks is too young for forced, high impact exercise like biking or jogging. I would limit him to walks and free play in a yard with or without other puppies or stable adults for now.

I don't think the length of the walks is critical myself, since it's a slower pace, although many disagree. I started walking and interval walking/jogging with Squash in harness around 6 months, which is pretty common for mushers with sled dogs although sooner than many people recommend. You'll hear 12 months recommended a lot, personally I think it depends more on the size and purpose of the breed, working vs show/pet lines than one specific arbitrary age.

 

[Madakira]

IMO fourteen weeks is too young for forced, high impact exercise like biking or jogging. I would limit him to walks and free play in a yard with or without other puppies or stable adults for now.

Ok. I will probably just walk or jog with him to the Starbucks. I don't have a yard because I live in an apartment. The main purpose of the breed is to hunt wild boar and big cats. He is of show lines, and has generations of champion lines in him. Many of his relatives have been used and are actively used in hunts to this day. Since I don't have a yard I thought this would be a good way to get him his exercise. I will probably start to play with him more often on the greenbelt in front of my apt.

 

[sassafras]

That's a good idea. I don't like to see puppies too exercise restricted, because they need happy strong muscles to grow happy strong joints. But you just want to limit the high impact stuff until later.

 

[Madakira]

Thanks. As tempting as it is to get to Starbucks quicker, I think I will just stroll or do a light jog/brisk walk there. It is hard to tell when he is tired and I would feel better knowing I am under exerting him, rather than over exerting him. I do a lot of speed work pulling a sled at the park, so he can get some quick bursts running behind me and playing that way. I am usually not going too fast pulling a 70lbs sled behind me.

 

[Shell]

I agree on limiting the higher impact running and "forced' (aka- straight line, repetitive vs freely running ) running till closer to a year.

The problem with biking is that the dog is running on pavement which is fine for an adult dog but its better to spend more time on dirt and grass which are lower impact on the growing joints. Try things like hiking on hills (dirt trails); get a long lead and play fetch (since I assume you don't have a fenced area in your apartment complex)- a horse lunge line is an inexpensive and durable long lead; swimming if that's an option and in general, build up both time and intensity of exercise slowly.

Once he's older, running while you bike will be great exercise and you could also try weight pull for really burning some energy.

Mental exercise will help tire him out too (of course it isn't physical conditioning) so training and making him think is a good thing to combine with the physical exercise.

 

[Madakira]

I agree on limiting the higher impact running and "forced' (aka- straight line, repetitive vs freely running ) running till closer to a year.

The problem with biking is that the dog is running on pavement which is fine for an adult dog but its better to spend more time on dirt and grass which are lower impact on the growing joints. Try things like hiking on hills (dirt trails); get a long lead and play fetch (since I assume you don't have a fenced area in your apartment complex)- a horse lunge line is an inexpensive and durable long lead; swimming if that's an option and in general, build up both time and intensity of exercise slowly.

Once he's older, running while you bike will be great exercise and you could also try weight pull for really burning some energy.

Mental exercise will help tire him out too (of course it isn't physical conditioning) so training and making him think is a good thing to combine with the physical exercise.

I actually have a 30 foot lead that I play with him and practice his recall with. Good thinking about the grass. When I do my speed/sled work, I am on a field. I used to anchor his lead to a 10 lb weight, but eventually he would end up dragging it. Now I just let him run beside me as much as he likes. I know when he is tired because when I hook up the sled for my next set, he sometimes just sits there and waits until I get back. I was thinking about doing some weight pulling with him when he is about a year and a half, but just light stuff to build muscle and keep him in shape.