We've heard some conflicting information on this topic granted every pup is different, but I thought it would be great to hear what everyone else is doing with their puppies at different stages. I find myself wondering if we're giving our lab enough movement a few times a day but we also want to be careful about her body as to not over do it. Our 12 week old pup Rosie loves going to the lake and yesterday was her first big walk at the beach. Usually we are going to neighborhood parks during the work week but we love to fit a small adventure or two on the weekend to tire her out. How much can a lab puppy handle before it's harmful to their physical development? How much do you exercise yours?
The rule of thumb is 5 mins per month of life, so at 12 weeks, that would be 15 mins. Each to their own, and this is not my advice, but my pups tend to run free for a lot of the day around the garden/small holding but I do not take them for 'walks' over the 5mins/month rule. I have always let my pups regulate their activity and always had good hip/elbow scores, but I would avoid long walks/pavement pounding. For tiring them, brain work is much more effective than physical exercise.
My 4 month (16 week) lab is super-hyper and needs his exercise. On a standard day I do a 25min 6am (long leash walk/off-leash soft ground). 20min free off-lease around 1pm (soft ground) and final hard pavement walk for 20min in evening at 7pm. He goes through 4 Kongs in the day where I split his food between meals and kongs and has an activity/slow feeder for another mental challenge. Together with some training he is a tired pup and very happy pup. On a weekend I usually do one longer walk somewhere cool like the woods for around 40mins to mix it up and so he sees lots more dogs for socialisation. He will then just have a short 15min walk in evening as careful not to overdo it on that day. Some other labs on here may be more calm than mine. Mine is the devil... exercise = calm pup for me and that routine works for us.
Our 9-week old lab puppy we got a week ago walks a mile with us and our 14-week lab puppy almost every day with no problems. In fact, she loves it and is already sleeping through the night for 8-9 hours. She naps a lot during the day as she and our older lab like to play together often. We do have separate play times for them too (puppy playing with another pup can be rough and exhausting for the dogs, though they tell each other when it’s too rough). I think a good balance between playing, napping, and sleeping works.
I used to religiously adhere to the 5 min per month rule (twice a day)... and then Odin hit 6 months old and became a ball of energy Now he gets either two 30 min walks a day, or, one hour long woods walk at the weekend a day (plus a wind down walk towards the end of the day for about 20 mins). I think he’d happily walk for longer but I’m trying to err on the side of caution.
