Our Lab is out every day for 3-4 miles. Golf course, rail trail, hiking. 5 to 6x a week, she is completely obsessed with chasing balls. I use a Chuck It and the ball can go 50 to 100 yds. Her run out is at breakneck speed, desperate to beat other dogs to the ball. Does the same thing when she's with just me. I read somewhere on a Lab site that one of the contributors to dysplasia is too much exercise. She's one of the fittest dogs I know, but when I walk the mileage, she may sprint another mile at full speed. Her parents and grandparents have great hip scores and now I'm concerned she might be getting too much running.
Re: Too much exercise ? Hi there ,welcome to the Forum ,how old is your dog ?she sounds just like mine although mines not obsessed by balls,but he is obsessed by being the first to get to a ball/ toy if he's around another dog,he loves to torment the other poor dog and be chased!Dexter is 2.5 and he's very,very fit,I hike out with him in the desert every morning and he probably has as much excercise as your dog at least....it's taken me the length of his lifetime to work up to this though and when we have been away and his excercise has been reduced I cut back and build him up again .Im also careful of the surfaces we walk on,I choose trails or firmer sand mostly so he's not pounding his legs and joints on unstable sand.Dexter gets a few ball chucks on his walks and he does run out like a streak of lightning but because he would lose interest quite quickly he only gets a few....I would limit them if he would keep going and going ....Generally he keeps a good close distance to me ( unless I'm not quick enough to call him back whennhensees another dog :) and he's pace is a steady trot alongside me Best wishes Angela
Re: Too much exercise ? If your dog is really fit then she is probably lean too (ie not at all overweight). The most important thing as far as joints go is keeping your dog lean, so I'd say you've got that sorted. The other important thing is the quality of her joints (hopefully good given family history) and the angles of her front and rear limb arrangements (well angled to act as shock absorbers). A dog with good joints and conformation should be fine with the level of exercise you're describing. With the ball chasing she's probably doing a lot of fast deceleration. If anything, that will be the thing that's putting pressure on her joints (shoulders and elbows). Maybe you might need to cut down on that when she's much older. For now I'd just carry on as you are. You and your dog are obviously getting on with enjoying life together
Re: Too much exercise ? [quote author=Oberon link=topic=10280.msg150965#msg150965 date=1426917815] With the ball chasing she's probably doing a lot of fast deceleration. If anything, that will be the thing that's putting pressure on her joints (shoulders and elbows). Maybe you might need to cut down on that when she's much older. [/quote] This is definitely the case, for various reasons I've had my dog x-rayed a few times and can compare the development of his elbow joints over time. Because he is subject to these kinds of deceleration impacts (he does a lot of retrieving) he has actually built up a thicker layer of bone through part of his elbow bone. This isn't a problem, his elbow joints are in perfect working order, but it shows the effect of this retrieving shock over time. These days, out on walks, we do as many fetches as we can into cover so Charlie slows down and has to search for the ball. This avoids that sudden deceleration shock - even in a dog with great joints, I just don't think it's sensible to do it over and over and over.
Re: Too much exercise ? My friend's dog, Zaba (2 years old) gets about three miles walk/run a day. He's also ball obsessed, so my friend has him swimming for his ball - great for joints but also good fun for him. We are lucky because we live near lots of reservoirs.
Re: Too much exercise ? Hi and welcome to the forum. Exercise by itself does not cause dysplasia although it may have an impact if dysplasia is present. Dysplasia is a catch-all term for what is a malformation of either the hip or elbow which can be genetically carried. That her parents and grandparents have great scores is a bonus but doesn't ensure that a puppy will not have dysplasia as I have recently discovered with my girl who is just 9 months old. General advice is to keep them lean and manage their weight, exercise is good. I think I would reduce the amount of time chasing balls as it is the deceleration that could impact on the joints, and if you can regular swims. Apart from that just keep an eye out for any limp, particularly after exercise at which point check with the vet for cause.
Re: Too much exercise ? The thing you need to be aware of when worrying about hip dysplasia is the impact on the joints of 'forced exercise'. This means things like chasing after and retrieving a ball, or being made to walk long distances on lead beside you. If your dog is off lead over these long distances it's not so bad because they can go at their own pace and it's not 'forced', however retrieving a ball multiple times can have a detrimental effect on their joints if they are prone to joint problems. My lab is like yours and would chase a ball until she drops from exhaustion, however she has bad hips so we are not supposed to do any retreiving at all. As others have said it's not so much the running, it's the impact of the stopping, also Penny tends to jump up to catch the ball in mid air which is really bad for her. However we are naughty sometimes and do still take a ball on occasion, however we only do a handful of retrieves and ONLY if we are only walking a short distance - we choose between a long walk, or a short walk where we get to play ball.
Re: Too much exercise ? The jump to get a frisbee etc. is definitely dreadful... The best is a proper retrieve with the ball/dummy placed in cover. They get the fast runs there and back but they have to stop sensibly and search for the ball. It's great mental exercise too - helicopter tails while searching.
Re: Too much exercise ? She's 16 months old and is a little Lab, about 48lbs. She is fast, athletic, and as one person mentioned, insistent to get to a thrown ball or stick before any other dogs. She is incredibly fit, and been in the woods with me, walking, from the time she was 10 weeks old. Short distances, very gradually working up the durations, and starting climbing mountains at 8 months old. Ascents that were easy. She comes from a wonderful breeder who checks the health of parents and grandparents and further back. She is such a great companion, I don't want to do anything to inadvertently harm her. Our last Lab, another 50 lb dog, came from the same breeder. She was a 'hunter' while out in the woods and just about ignored other dogs, sticks or balls.
Re: Too much exercise ? [quote author=Peakbagr link=topic=10280.msg151026#msg151026 date=1426945015] She's 16 months old and is a little Lab, about 48lbs. [/quote] Having just got my copy of "what's your angle" (thanks Barbara ) light doesn't equal healthy or fit for intense exercise. Underlying structure and correct ratio of bone to muscle equals fit for intense exercise. A very fit, fast, wolf with great structure as nature intended, will weigh on average 100lbs and the very largest up to 150lbs... Sorry, back to my reading about dogs. I mean, back to work.... ;D ;D ;D
Re: Too much exercise ? I have a skinny fit 4yo (Tarka) who does 4-5 miles a day with me of pretty intense exercise. She is an obsessive retriever and will do at least 30 (I know, I know) water retrieves a day plus loads of memories, blinds, etc on land. She is bold and fast and slightly mad. She has 0/0 elbows and 1/2 hips. However, she did develop bicipital tenosynovitis 18 months ago, which is essentially an overuse injury of her biceps tendon in her shoulder. This was almost certainly due to dragging herself out of the river onto steep banks to return to me with a retrieve. Three months of absolute rest followed by a gradual return-to-fitness programme has seen her return to 100% sound. It has also seen me review quite how fast, mad and obsessive about retrieving I allow her to be. In particular I am especially careful about where I let her get out of the river, and avoid rapid deceleration onto a seen ball/dummy wherever possible. The injuries they can give themselves are not all about ED/HD in these dogs.
Re: Too much exercise ? [quote author=Lochan link=topic=10280.msg151035#msg151035 date=1426949450] She is an obsessive retriever .... The injuries they can give themselves are not all about ED/HD in these dogs. [/quote] I couldn't agree more. Truly obsessive retrievers will keep going until they hurt themselves and then some. It's not sensible to repeat, repeat, repeat those retrieves, just because they'll keep going.
