5 month puppy...how far?

[ratfink]

...how far can our 5 month puppy go?

i thought a pup would be self limiting on exercise and if asked to do too much would sit down/look tired

but a bit of research indicates that they don't self limit and too much exercise could be bad for their physical development and lead to problems later in life.

molly is a bedlington terrier - whippet cross, she has been for a few 2 mile jogs (hopefully to no permanent damage) since the weekend.

should we hang fire on this til she's older?

hoping IainR and other dog owning forumites can advise.

[Graeme]

I'd hang fire until a bit older, a friend of mine told me once we'd got our dog to take it easy for the first twelve months, it's a lab, and then do what you want. He did however say once the dog has passed the stage where there are no longer any massive growth spurts they shuld be ok for exercise. As such I was taking mine out from about ten and a half eleven months old. He loved it, but he wasn't allowed off his lead because of his fondness for sheep. Hope that helps.

[Bob]

We were advised by our vet, who knew we went out on the hills with our previous dog, not to take our then new Lab puppy up any "mountains" until he was a year old to let his bones grow and settle. (The vet is possibly the same that Iain uses as we lived near Caernarfon at the time)

He was more than ready for it and his first birthday was a trip (hare brained run for him) up Moel Eilio. In the long run (sorry no pun intended) it was probably a good thing as he was fit and active until he was eleven, running alongside us on mountain bike rides and going for longish runs in the fells. For a Lab he was very fit.

Just be patient - this time next year you'll be posting about not being able to keep up with him!

[ratfink]

thanks guys - any feel for how long time/distance is ok for walkies?

in google research i think i read 5 minutes per month (rule of thumb) - does than sound right?

i also read that the stairs, jumping, and stop start games like fetch can be bad for them.

[IainR]

We took ours out a bit earlier, just before she was 6 months, but only for shortish fell runs where we were taking it easy, she's always hated the roads. But didn't let her jump styles, or too much steep rocky ground to save her joints.

Things like Eilio were perfect for her because it was just nice soft grass. For a fit collie our slow steady run was basically her walking pace anyway.

We asked the vet and she said just see how she goes, just avoid styles etc because there is a risk of hip displacia.

We also didn't take her out that often. We'd run every day and she's be out a few times a week running with us I think.

She did pick up a knee injury but the vet reckoned she'd done that by running up and down the steep stairs in our house. She's very injury/accident prone though. Fell over and had a cry last night as she fell in a river running in the dark..

[ratfink]

poor dog in a river!

our stairs are really steep too.

focus currently on the "not puling on the lead" (basically stopping when she starts pulling) and "recall training" - any tips gratefully accepted (random bumper treats of cheese or ham instead of normal biscuit working quite well)

[IainR]

any tips gratefully accepted (random bumper treats of cheese or ham instead of normal biscuit working quite well)

Just concentrate on sheep, a sheep chaser is the biggest impediment to aving a nice relaxing day out. Take them to sheep as soon as possible, really work on it. Saves a lot of stress and easier to do sooner rather than later.

[Graeme]

thanks guys - any feel for how long time/distance is ok for walkies?

in google research i think i read 5 minutes per month (rule of thumb) - does than sound right?

i also read that the stairs, jumping, and stop start games like fetch can be bad for them.

We used to give ours three ten-15 minute walks a day, once he'd learned to walk on his lead. He refused to go anywhere on his lead until he quickly learnt that we may be going fun places like the park, the we had the nightmare of getting him off the park, not eating everything he found.

Looking back on it, it was really funny.

[ratfink]

Graeme - she is better than TV!

Iain - what do you do with sheep? Do you have to scare her? (i'll go search for that thread on UKC)

[Alf]

I had a Beagle I took on runs once she was fully grown and she loved it till one day we were caught in a mini blizzard in the hills just a few miles from home.
She sat down and wouldn't budge for me despite much encouragement, lead tugging etc. In the end I had to pick her up, stick her under my cag and walk back!.
She liked sheep as well unfortunately