As Edsel gets bigger and more mature, I am finding he literally has infinite interest in activity and exercise. He will retrieve, chase, hunt, and work on obedience and mental stimulation games until I make him stop. And then he is still jumping, barking and begging for more. I have to simply ignore him for 10-15 minutes until he finally unwinds. I don't want to dampen his enthusiasm for these things but also worry about his growth, joint health and overall state of mind. As I work at home I have always taken several short play or training breaks during the day and try to give him time after work and dinner. But he will go to the point of exhaustion and beyond if I don't stop him. I'm trying to determine an adequate amount of exercise and training to keep him happy but not overdue it. Help!! Anyone else with a non-stop puppy out there who can share some advice?! Lori
Re: How much is too much exercise Hi Lori, how old is Edsel now? I know he's still a pup. When Penny was younger she had a lot of energy and the 5 minutes per month of age thing just wasn't anywhere near enough. Also she had a very high retrieving drive so she would go til she dropped if we let her, so it was very much a case of finding the right balance. At that point I was still in my old job so she wasn't being left as long so only had one walk in the evening. It would be ten mins to local park, then half of he park running after a ball, half just regular off lead, and then ten minute walk home. All adding up to an average of 45 minutes, sometimes longer if we stopped to meet other dogs, sometimes shorter if it was raining. This seemed to be enough for her but she was getting a lot of mental stimulation at home as for the first five months we did an average of four short training sessions a day - one in the morning, one when I came home at lunch, one after work and then another later in the evening if possible. It might be worth teaching him some sort of 'settle down' cue - perhaps if you give him a chew or stuffed kong to keep him quiet for a bit you can start adding in the command. With Penny we have (almost inadvertently actually) made an 'off' switch lol whenever training or play is finished we say 'no more' and everything gets out away and she gets ignored until she settles. We don't need to use it now she's that bit older but it only took her a couple of weeks to pick up on what it meant. That might be worth giving a go?
