How much is too much?

[theothersparticus]

I've been taking Bella, 4.5months(ish) lab/greyhound cross, for 2 walks a day. A quick wander in the morning and a longer walk in the evening (30 mins) with time for fetch games. She occasionally gets a walk in the middle of the day with OH but nothing strenuous. The great thing about the walks are they tire her out and she relaxes in the evening giving our cats a chance to come up to her without getting pawed by a hyper dog.

However, after reading a couple of threads I'm a little concerned that I'm setting her up for leg problems in later life. How much walking should a younger dog do? She does have huge amounts of energy and when walks are missed she becomes seriously boisterous.

[CalatalieSisters]

I'm not very well informed on this, so I won't be surprised if someone corrects me, but I think an important thing to consider is the intensity of the exercise, and that if for most of her outings she is simply walking, then it is unlikely to be doing her any harm. That is what my vet told me when my terrier was young.

The mental stimulation of her nicely frequent short walks will help to make her satisfied and settled without putting too much stress on her growing limbs, I think. I guess it is the fetch games that need to be thoughtfully rationed?

[Wolfiefan]

No expert here but it doesn't sound too much. We had a lab/setter cross who needed the exercise even when little. I agree it is about the intensity. A long potter is better than a quick blast. As you can gues from my name I really WANTneed a wolfhound. I know they need short walks gradually built up and no sudden changes of direction as pups due to the risk of damage to joints but then they will be huge!

[lisad123]

we have a labradoddle and told by vet, 5 mintues for every month per day until 1 year. We were also told to limit doing anything that requires him to swerve suddenly, like running in the woods, playing ball and agility training. HTH

[Lizcat]

I went on a veterinary orthopaedics course about 6 weeks ago taught by one of the vets at Fitzpatrick (one of the leading orthopaedic practices in the UK). The advice now is that the single most important management to prevent joint problems in your dog is keeping it's weight healthy throughout it's life, the amount of exercise given in early life has been shown by quite an extensive study to be of no importance. The most important thing is to get a puppy from hip scored parents.

[CalatalieSisters]

That is so interesting, Lizcat. So many people are very anxious about overexercising in puppyhood, and particularly with the smallish to medium-sized breeds I have sometimes wondered if all of the anxiety was necessary. I wondered whether just common sense might be enough to avoid exercise-related problems. Just avoiding long or intense exercise where the puppy becomes visibly tired.

[Elibean]

As per Lizcat (who first told me this when I was worrying about similar stuff with our lab cross, at 5.5 months) - I've since read more saying the same: the up to date info is, weight matters and exercise (unless, I suppose, its really extreme) does not.

Our pup is now about 8 months old and as he's a mix of high energy breeds, and has long legs, can easily potter/play/walk for an hour twice a day. We don't cover huge distances, but he plays a LOT with other dogs!

[theothersparticus]

That's good news Lizcat, I was slightly worried about the 5mins per month as I had taken her for a 1 hour walk (and it was at my walking pace) one day
Being part greyhound, she is a skinny girl with loads of energy and speed, I didn't really want to cut down on her exercise. I have no idea about her parents as she had been passed around several people before reaching us, we've got her full-life insurance just incase of genetic problems