I have question in regard to the 5 minutes of exercise per month for puppies. I seen it said that this includes on lead not off lead. Does this include playing with other dogs as part of their limited exercise?
I think the 5 minute rule is open to interpretation. Essentially how I have applied this to our pups is 5 mins of active exercise per day, and this included play with other dogs. So, off lead walks for example, if they were just sniffing and pottering around within reason I tended not to include this, anything more energetic, running, playing with dogs I kept a sharp eye on. Actually at a young age (up to around 6 months ) I preferred Bramble NOT to play with unfamiliar dogs, happy for managed meet and greets though. I have kept strictly to this with both pups, up until around 9 months old.
I stick to it for lead walking, they get a little more on free runs. So Mollie, at 10 months, gets a total of 50 minutes a day. This doesn't include playing at home as she can stop/snooze any time at home.
We let Indy play about the house and garden as much as she'd like (providing we're there to supervise), but we limit our walk times to the 5 minute rule.
