On odd occasions I meet owners of new puppies, aged about 12-14 weeks. We do all of ahhs and oohs that are rightly awarded but then my heart sinks somewhat when then say how well their pup copes with a walk that I know will take the at LEAST 30 minutes. Maybe I am wrong but all of my knowledge says it's too long. The one time I mentioned this was with owners of a golden retriever pup of 14 weeks who were walking for an hour. Their last golden retriever suffered hip displacer. I saw them again about 3 months later and the puppy was bunny hopping and limping. Today I saw a different person with a 14 month old golden retriever who was setting off for an hour walk. I didn't do my talk of how to follow the 5 minute rule. Last month I also didn't tell someone who owned a Labrador. Feeling guilty!!!
Hi Jane, how are you? I know how you feel people walking their tiny puppies for far too long. I'm afraid I really did stick to the 5 minute per month rule as I didn't want to risk anything. I very slowly increased Hattie's distance over the months and it wasn't until she was about 18 months that we really did go for much longer walks. I am really glad that I did as Hattie is as fit as a fiddle with no joint problems but of course she might have been the same if I had taken her for hours of walking, who knows. I think the person with the 14 month GR going for an hour is perfectly acceptable though. Don't feel guilty about not giving advice, you can't help everyone and some owners just don't want to hear it. Hope you and Chepi are well as we haven't seen you on the forum for a while. xx
Hi Jane , the 14 month old Golden will be absolutely fine to walk for an hour or even longer, so don't worry about that one I must admit that I didn't adhere strictly to the five mins rule with Sam, but took more care about the type of exercise he had, so restricted jumping etc . Of course ,I was careful and didn't take him for long romps until I felt happy about it and he was old enough for his bones and ligaments to cope . Its hard when your instincts kick in and you want to put someone right, so if you are really concerned about a particular puppy , maybe you could gently remind the owner that they can possibly do damage to young limbs if their pups are allowed to overdo things ? I have heard people say such daft things like " They will stop when they are tired " Well , most of the time they wont They will, given half a chance, keep going and going, because its what they want to do but not what they should be doing .
I call it biting my tongue. Sometimes I speak up, sometimes I don't, then I bite my tongue. Often the puppy is far too young to be out in dog intensive areas, then sometimes I will phrase it as a question, "Oh, are his vaccinations safe yet?" Even this can fail spectacularly, as when the response once was, "Oh, I didn't know they needed vaccinations" and off she went down the trail anyway. FWIW I did not follow the 5 minute rule to the letter either but some people have no common sense and for them the rule is better than nothing. Of course they are the ones who would never find out about the rule, or the vaccination, or socializing, or a whole host of things.
To clarify: the puppies are 14 weeks old not 14 months old. So a 30 or 60 minutes walk seems excessive to say the least. Sorry for putting months instead of weeks.
Hi Jane! It's so difficult to know what to say when you know that owners are not doing the right thing.
Sorry Jane , but your amendments did make me smile At 14 weeks , then an hour or more does seem far too long a walk . As I said before , I didn't stick firmly to the five min rule but I would definitely not have taken Sam for an hour or more at 14 weeks .
I had a similar experience with a neighbour on mine with a spaniel puppy who was on their second hour long walk of the day to tire the pup out. I'm afraid I bit my tongue. I am a first time dog owner. He was an older chap with previous experience. I didn't feel I could challenge him
As I understand it the 5 minute rule is not a rule, but general guidance and is not particularly supported by any scientific evidence. It's not even clear whether the rule relates to one or two walks a day, off lead walking or on lead walking only etc.etc. I kept an eye on Juno's walks, did not allow jumping or stairs but we went on a walk every week with our trainer and other dogs, the walk lasting around an hour each week. The walk was all off lead with lots of running around and play. We joined these walks from 15 weeks onwards.
