for more information on this topicThe Forum RecommendsPuppy Exercise How Much Is Too Much? I am trying to help my 3.5 month old black lab work off his energy. Just wondering what would be a sufficient amount to tire him out temporarily and also after some advice on encouraging him to walk. After going potty, I spent about 25 minutes all up walking and training. It was two laps around my block of apartments - about 150m and I stopped every now and them to train - about 10 to 15 minutes all up. Is this enough or should I be doing more? Also, he isn't good at walking yet. He usually keeps stopping or sitting down, so much that it can be quite frustrating. Had a bit of a breakthrough today, as he walked with only a handful of stops! YAY! but I wonder if you have better methods. I am encouraging him walk by asking him to 'come' and I reward him with treats as we walk - I praise him and give him a treat about every 5 - 10 meters. Is doing this okay? or is there a better way? oh... and one more thing. He takes a lot of naps during the day; mid-morning, in the afternoon and usually before his last potty break at night. A nap sometimes lasts for 2 hrs. Is this okay? Thanks everyone
Hi Teresa, he sounds like a completely normal young boy to me 25 minutes is a long time for a young puppy to concentrate, so don't expect too much. Training sessions at this age are best kept short and frequent. It's best if you don't have any destination in mind when you're teaching them to walk with you - just walking ten paces, turning round and walking back the same ten paces, or round in a square of that size is fine for training. It will help him concentrate on the job in hand, rather than all the new smells he's coming across as he goes. Stopping or sitting down is his way of trying to communicate to you that he's not happy about something. Maybe he's a bit nervous of the environment, maybe he's feeling a bit stressed with the training, maybe he's just a bit confused, maybe he's just had enough. When he does this, try changing it up a little bit - change the activity or add some more energy into it. You can try running a little bit with him alongside and see if that ups his enthusiasm. Make it into a game where the goal is for him to keep pace with you, whatever that pace is, with lots of treats and praise for getting it right. If you make the game rewarding in itself, that's great, too. Keep the rate of reward really high at this stage to pay dividends farther down the road; don't be in too much of a hurry to fade. If he's struggling at any point, start streaming the treats one after another. If, however, he's staying attentive and focussed at your current rate, that's saying it's fine, too. Puppies sleep a lot. Don't worry about it - take the opportunity to have a breather yourself
At that age I was only training about 5 minutes at a time but a couple of times throughout the day. I only trained one thing at a time too. For walks I loosely followed the 5 minute rule. We did not take leashed walks at all till vaccinations were over but we did go out off leash to the bush and it was winter so sometimes our outings were even shorter than the 5 minutes per month of age. Sometimes they were longer. I heeded that rule, somewhat, just playing in our backyard too.
