Happy Sunday Can I please clarify something please. Have I got this right Hollie is 12 weeks old, so 15 mins walking time So we can walk her for 7 1/2 minutes take her off her lead and let her run around for half an hour as in free running, recall training and walk home for 71/2 minutes???? Thanks Xxx
Re: Exercise Basically, yes , but I wouldn't worry too much if you are a bit longer or shorter than 7.5 mins. It would sometimes take us 10 mins to get to the park (or 15 if she was pulling!). The 5 min rule is only a guide
Re: Exercise When we first had dogs no one ever suggested limiting walks and I can't say I do now if they can walk and don't look tired is how I judge it. Elsie has done an hour a day from the start, now at 7 months doing 1 1/2 hours week days and as far as I can walk weekends.
Re: Exercise Here is a link to Pippa's article - lots of good sense there http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/
Re: Exercise I thought the 5 min rule included any running around! So the total time would be 15 mins, walking and playing together.
Re: Exercise I used the 15 mins as lead walking to the park and back, but would spend about 20-30 mins sniffing and playing in the fields
Re: Exercise I'm doing the same as Naya.....I found that Maisie naturally rests if she is getting tired when out and about.
Re: Exercise agree with everyone... let your pup be your guide. the guideline, imho, was formulated to keep people from taking their little pups for miles and miles of runs or fast walking and sort of towing the poor critter along behind them... but if you're letting your pup sniff around, play, and lie down when he/she is tired, then i think you're okay. orion and i do a couple of 2-mile walks every day, plus lots of romping in the yard (tennis ball fetch is the big thing)... but when he's tired, he will plop down wherever he is and have a rest, and i'll sit by him and we'll discuss the state of the world while watching people go by.
Re: Exercise My vet said only 15 mins walk but could do more than once a day of up to it for 3 month pup x
Re: Exercise A slight word of caution. It can be hard to judge if your pup has done too much when they're little as the desire to stay with you is very strong so they will push themselves to stay with you. Like children they're not always the bed judge of when its time to stop ;D
Re: Exercise Of course you don't want to exhaust a puppy, but as I've mentioned on another thread, there is no evidence to support the suggestion to limit exercise so much. The only large scale study (Norweigan) actually found exercise on gently undulating ground to be beneficial. (The same study found an increased risk of joint problems with use of stairs.) We will all have very different sized gardens, so for someone like me with a tiny patch of grass, going to the recreation ground for half an hour was not much different from someone with half an acre of lawn letting their puppy run free at home.
