Hello forum! Thanks for your help on my previous post about toilet training... Pongo is making good progress! Now I have another question. I know that it will sound like I'm being an over-anxious parent, but this is our first puppy and I'm.... well... over-anxious! Pongo has been with us a week now, he is 10 and a half weeks old and settling in well. He LOVES our garden - we have a 2 acre plot on the side of a steep hill, with lots of adventures to have. Best game at the moment is seeing how many of the steep banks he can climb up and down. I like taking him out there because he is obviously so happy, and because when we come back in after a half hour's play he conks out and snores for ages (so I can get on with doing other things, ha ha!). I would guess that each day we are spending a good hour or so out there - not all in vigorous exercise, but quite a lot... But now I have been reading on-line that over-exercise is really bad for puppies - recommendations of no more than ten or fifteen minutes, twice a day!!!! HELP!!!! Now my panicking mind is thinking: have I been causing irreparable damage to my little lad's joints?? Do I need to ration him to just two little trips round the garden each day?? Do I need to feel guilty for the rest of my life??? Am I a Bad Parent??? Aaaaarghhh!!! I know - I'll ask the lovely labrador forum and see what they think. Can anyone out there give me some sensible advice to calm me down? Rosie <guilty> and Pongo <snoring>
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Hi Rosie, please dont worry , the five mins rule ( five mins for each month of life ) is just a guidline for those who would take a young pup out pounding the streets for hours The rule mainly applies to what I call hard surface walking like roads and pavements which can cause impact on young joints and bones, garden play doesnt count , I`m sure that Pongo isnt coming to any harm scampering around your lovely big plot
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Thank you SO much kateincornwall! The one thing we DON'T have here is a surplus of pavements or hard surfaces! (Mud, puddles, grass, muck, yes....) Rosie <calmer> and Pongo <still snoring>
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? The other thing to watch Rosie is not to let him jump too much , no running up and down stairs or steps or jumping in and out of a car, but the play you describe is fine, if mucky
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Hmmmm.... so I should be discouraging the death-defying leaps from bits of bank too steep to get down. Yes, that makes sense... I can do that most of the time I think! Thanks from both of us R
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Running and playing in a big garden is perfect puppy exercise I wouldn't be worried. Enjoy your sleepy puppy!
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? [quote author=Rosie link=topic=4546.msg55580#msg55580 date=1392890738] Thank you SO much kateincornwall! The one thing we DON'T have here is a surplus of pavements or hard surfaces! (Mud, puddles, grass, muck, yes....) [/quote]
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Harley often plays in our garden for hours (but it's nowhere as big as yours!). We stop her jumping onto the decking, but apart from that, it's a safe space for her I wouldn't be too worried, except for the jumping
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Puppies actually need quite a lot of running and playing, to strengthen their joints! Maybe you could just block off the spot where he jumps?
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Thank you everyone, that is very reassuring! I'm so glad I don't need to deprive him of his favourite games. Great forum, great advice. Rosie <chilled out now> and Pongo <woken up...>
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? [quote author=Rosie link=topic=4546.msg55651#msg55651 date=1392901632] Rosie <chilled out now> and Pongo <woken up...> [/quote] Time you went back outside then ;D Clare
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Yes, just as everyone else has said the five minute rule really only applies if you're walking in the street on pavements etc. Offlead running around the field exercise is perfect because if you watch he will run for a bit then wander around then run and then slow down again - he's having little rests in between the zooming. This doesn't happen if you're marching him round the block on a lead - he's forced to keep up with you constantly and that is what puts the unwanted strain on the joints. Do watch for jumping on and off things and running up and down stairs, but don't panic too much if he does it on the odd occasion - he still needs to build these muscles up too.
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=4546.msg55814#msg55814 date=1392933028] Yes, just as everyone else has said the five minute rule really only applies if you're walking in the street on pavements etc. [/quote] Where does this come from, I wonder? I have never been able to track down the source of this 5 minute rule, apart from it being vaguely associated with a gundog trainer called John Weller. So, obviously, I know nothing about it! Be grateful if anyone can post a link or reference. My understanding was that it should be applied to exercise where a puppy could not, or would not, decide to rest when s/he was tired. So it applies equally to playing off lead with another dog, excitedly chasing a ball, or walking on lead. Now, why did I think that though? Hmmm....might have been an article of Pippa's...I'll see whether I can find it.
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? I don't know where it came from either but I've seen it mentioned loads on another lab forum I was a member of for a while, that one is mostly American though. I think it went something like 'five minutes of exercise for every month of age plus five' so for example a three month old puppy should have 20 minutes and a six month old should have 35... It just seems to make sense though I've never seen an official study or anything. To be perfectly honest I didn't stick to it as it was nowhere near enough to tire Penny out!
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=4546.msg55823#msg55823 date=1392933948] ITo be perfectly honest I didn't stick to it as it was nowhere near enough to tire Penny out! [/quote] Me too, I was super careful at first but relaxed at about 6 or 7 months, when a vet told me he thought it was all nonsense and I had a great big dog that needed more exercise (I'm not at all sure about this though!). I was still careful-ish, and still no jumping. Found that article, suggests it's the total exercise that "counts": http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? That's a very good article actually. Basically you can err on the side of caution or you can just be sensible and careful. I was quite lucky when Penny was young as it was a five minute on lead walk to the park so I didn't have to worry too much about 'forced' exercise eg. Lead walking.
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Nothing really to add,just wanted to say Rosie you aren't an over protective/anxious Dogmum,your just being a lovely conscientious owner....I know where you are coming from,Dexter is our first dog and I worry about everything and do everything OCD by the book!!!!so of course I followed the 5 minute rule ;D....but it was very easy for me because our outside temperatures during the time I was guided by that were in the high 40's to 50's .I read,prepared,researched and organized for Dexter and I still feel like I don't know enough to do right by him! ;D
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? I love this forum! Feeling so much happier. I'll be back with my next crisis of confidence, I'm sure! Pongo and I have just come in from a lovely half hour going nuts in the garden. A few weeks ago we coppiced a couple of hazel trees so there is a puppy assault course of felled branches on the ground that need to be dragged to the bonfire patch for when it gets a little drier. Pongo is proving to be an enthusiastic gardener. I am quite sure he thinks he is helping. Got back in five minutes ago and the snores have started already. Now, where was that work I needed to do....? Rosie
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? I think that everyone with a puppy is now completely jealous of your garden
Re: Over-exercise or over-anxious? Our Oscar climbs the stairs with ease, while getting down them is a site..He launches himself off the top step and SLIDES down the entire flight of carpeted stairs on his belly, using his front legs to slow him down, his back legs are splaid out!!! It's so funny to watch !!
