"Forced" excercise???

jamie8dc · Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 11:43 am Post subject: "Forced" excercise???

Everybody has told me "No forced excercise until theyre 18-24 months!"

I know I can't take Logan jogging. I know I should keep him from running on concrete as much as possible. But then I start thinking and getting down to the "nitty gritty" and I can't figure out where to draw the line. I don't want him to have hip problems but I feel like I'm walking on eggshells whenever we're outside.

I mean, I'm allowed to walk and have him follow me right?! Somebody on here said not to take your guy for a walk until he's like 6 months. But I mean, WHAT?! I gotta get him out and about! I mean most of the time he's off leash, we just go to the park and he follows me around and we stop and play and all that. And I took him to a nature preserve and most of the trails are concrete... so I walked on the dirt next to it. But should I not be walking him? I mean it's never for more than, say 25 minutes or so.

I've just never had such a tall breed and I REALLY don't want him to have joint problems later in life, but at the same time I gotta wear him out somehow.

I mean I could see how "forced excercise" could even include fetch. I mean I'm encouraging him to run back and forth repeatedly, how is that any different than jogging with him. See what I mean?

Some guidelines and "NEVER EVER do this..."s would be nice. Confused

BEANSnBERRY · Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:59 pm Post subject:

I'm having the same problem with my Logan! LOL I'm not sure where to draw the line either, cause this guy is needing more excercise (as he gets older, obviously he's almost 6 months old). I wanna take him out and make him get the demons out somehow, but I'm soooo afraid of breaking him!

For you with such a young puppy, I'd socialize him a lot, carry him, if necessary to places that allow dogs, but becareful if he's not finished his vaccinations yet, of course. Sometimes just being out and about wears them out.

I take my guy for up to 2 mi walks, but I only do up to 1 mi on concrete/sidewalks, the rest is in the grass. But, at this point I'd like to do like 10 mi. so he's not so energetic at home! ... I'll be watching this thread, I'd like to know, too. Sorry I'm not more help!

peppernaei · Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:30 am Post subject:

i was told by my vet that "sidewalk" walks shouldn't be longer than 20 minutes at a time up to three times a day but that we could play on the grass as his energy allowed. when we started going to the dog park at 4.5 months i didn't stay longer than a half hour since he loved it so much he wouldn't stop to rest. now at almost 7 months we walk up to 30 minutes twice a day plus off leash park time once a day for up to an hour if he feels inclined.

since we lived on a farm with our other large dogs i wasn't sure about this either. we never limited exercise like this because they were always out with us and just rested as they wished. there also wasn't any concrete around.

from other people's posts i guess this might not be enough exercise to wear some puppies down but it has been enough for marvin. also i think our few short training sessions each day help keep him mentally stimulated.

DukesMom · Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:48 am Post subject:

I agree with the training sessions. When Duke starts bouncing off the walls I often times start a training session. It re-focusses his energy and seems to work quite well.

wrigleys · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:53 am Post subject:

you know I brought this up to our trainer and they said that it was ok to run with him as long as I was breaking him as consistently as possible...i started to do interval training with him and he seems fine....nothing more than 30 minutes and we jog and walk mostly he runs in the grass....the trainers and my vet said it would help him develop strong muscles and buold up strength so that he wouldn't be not accustomeed to it when he was older to do more intense training.....as long as you don't decide one day to start running miles with him i think you are ok to walk and play and jog!

2kids2weims · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject:

This is may be wrong, but it's what I did: After about 9 months I did my run at the dog park early in the morning when nobody was there. I was running a short loop around a field so he could see me the whole time and run the tangent. He was in control of his effort and he did the same start stop thing he would have done on a walk at the off-leash.. it was all on grass.

I did not do any leashed running until he was over a year and then we built up like you would with a person, 1 min run, 1 min walk etc. I've never gone beyond 4 miles (about 30-35 mins) with him once we did leashed running. He's always the one feeling fresh at the end ("Is that the best you can do Mom?")- the only thing that seems to affect his running is hot weather. We don't do much of it then.

jaegertheweim · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject:

i dont know if what i'm doing is right but we havent seen any problems in him

since he was about 4 months old our weekday routine has been:

morning: 5-10 minute walk around the block. (time varies depending on how slow he is since sometimes he likes to sniff around and take his time)

afternoon: 30 min exercise session consisting of 10 min walk to school, a 10 min session of fetch on the school oval (with rests in between each fetch.. so he really only fetches his stick about 5-6 times), 10 min walk home

we can't not exercise him because too much of his energy builds up and he'll start bouncing off the walls at home

anne · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:27 pm Post subject:

RJ,
OK, first, relax. Smile

Second, the biggest way to protect your dog is to get a dog that comes from a line of dogs with healthy hips, #1. Genetics plays a much larger role in hip problems than exercise does.
"Forced" means that the pup won't stop because you are "making" him keep going. When the pup is off leash and running about, he will stop when he's tired. "Forced" means you keep going encouraging him along even after he's tired, you pull him on a leash etc. In the fetch example you gave, you keep throwing the ball and "make" him continue. That's what is meant by "forced."
I "run" my puppies in the field. I have hiked with them. I have had a pup tire out on me when we were on a long hike, he quit, we stopped.
You are a smart kid, use your judgement, he'll be fine!

oregonweim · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:50 pm Post subject:

Unless you are a professional runner, after the first few months I can't imagine you overworking your pup. If you live in the concrete jungles then there are things to be concerned of (pad damage, etc) but long walks and/or runs are imperative to help burn the energy. Training is a great substitute, and dog parks are nice but they should be for socialization not exercise.