My working lab, Roxy, is 6.5 months old. I'm wondering how much exercise she should get. She has about 40 mins - 1 hour per day running/sniffing round the local park or in a forest nearby off the lead. She jumps up into the car boot now (a Volvo with a relatively low sill - not an SUV), but I always lift her down. Some friends' lab (a bit overweight) has arthritis in the shoulder joints at 8 years, they believe from jumping down from their SUV as a puppy. Roxy looks good and seems to be the ideal weight and shape. But I can't find any guidance on just what exercise she should be getting and whether jumping up/down is OK at her age. Any advice welcome!
Hello and welcome . Looking back , I probably gave my boy about the same amount of exercise per day . There is a guideline saying 5 mins per day for each month of life , so if you were to adhere to this , it would mean about 40 mins , but I didn't stick religiously to it , it is just a guide . My lad was also off lead for much of his exercise , and running around on soft surfaces is much easier on their joints than pounding hard pavements ! I did used to help Sam in and out of the car, until he got to around 10-12 months of age though , to protect joints , not saying I lifted him as he was a big boy but I did try to support him on his way in and out . Repeated running up and down stairs is not advisable , for the same reason , but its all about common sense really !
Meant to add , mental exercise as in short training sessions is just as good for tiring them out as physical exercise !
Sounds good to me. This is a good article on the subject - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/ .
I would be looking to protect puppy joints until around a year old. I used a ramp in and out of the car by choice but without I would lift out if at all possible and definutely it was onto a hard surface.
Many thanks for all your replies According to the research cited by Mags, the 5 mins/month is just a guideline without much evidence behind it. But Roxy's being getting that more or less. She does play quite roughly with another lab at the park. They bundle each other over and try to lie on the other and pin it down by the throat! But they really enjoy this and it's great fun to watch. I did get a ramp and used it for a couple of weeks, but it was quite a faff and I've reverted to lifting her out of the car. She jumps back in on the basis that it's the jumping down onto a hard surface that really damages the shoulders.
Jumping in put stain on rear end knees and cruciates of a young dog,. I don't let them jump in and out until the hey are at leat 12 months.
My working lab is 5 months and we're fairly good at keeping daily exercise broadly within recommended ranges (up to 30 mins). However, one day a week he has to go to day care and this week they have to put the dogs together (normally puppies are seperated out on reduced exercise). This means that they will all be out walking (and playing together off lead) for around 2 hours. I'm not at all keen, but we have little option as both of us are tied up elsewhere. As a one off, do people think this is acceptable or would you avoid like the plague?
Hi @HAH I have to say I wouldn't want my 5month old pup in a general melee of pups and older dogs for a couple of hours. The level of supervision needs to be high to ensure that there is no bullying or intimidation etc of smaller/younger pups and it sounds as if the level of supervision is unlikely to be there.
Thanks Jojo83, good advice - happily we found a workaround and the daycare won’t be in that position again.
