After coming back from the vets this morning for his monthly flea and worm treatment we were informed by our vet that we should not take our 4 month old chocolate lab rolo on too longer walk or as she said "overwalk him"... so after thinking about it and stupidly not asking the vet while I was there...it got me thinking how long is too long ?....
The rule of thumb that I have read is 5 mins for every month of age. I know that if you search the website that this forum forms part of you will find something that will be good guidance.
You'll get different answers from different people. I loosely followed the 5 minute rule, so at 4 months it was 20 mins off lead in the morning, followed by short play sessions throughout the day, with some training, and I was just introducing a 10 min lead walk in the evening (which was basically practicing loose lead walking on the footpath in front of my house). Just be sensible! Don't overdo it.
Welcome Alan and Rolo from Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. Hattie was our first dog and I did stick to the 5 minute rule, but I know a lot of people don't feel it necessary. I felt it was the right thing to do because I wanted to protect her young growing bones from any potential damage. I gradually increased her exercise and by the time she was about 18 months old we were doing lovely long walks. I am sure there will be very mixed views on the subject x
I followed the 5 minute rule loosely too. The version I saw specified "forced" exercise. Forced being anything on leash, straight line, constant pace, compelled to keep up, on a hard surface. We were actually off leash till vaccinations were completed at nearly 5 months but it was cold, the snowmobile trails were hard packed, pretty well straight line so I heeded it. Funny thing is, I managed not to wreck the first puppy just by being sensible before ever hearing the 5 minute rule. Once I heard it I was looking at my watch all the time.
I work on 5 minutes per month of age for on lead walking twice a day. Off lead I am more flexible and work more with the distance covered rather than time and gradually build on the distance. I also discourage from jumping up or jumping for balks/Frisbees etc to help protect joints from the impact
I used to walk 5-10 mins on lead to the park, 20mins ish off lead playing / sniffing / recall etc, then 5-10 min walk home. I also done several short Trainng session at home.
