When and how long to run a pup? - Page 2

Sparrow I think you got alot of good info here. Yes it is better to nip his terrorizing the Terriers now. If putting him in his crate works by all means do it. I am working with my pup to quit terrorizing my adult male GSD. When we are going for a walk she gets really wound up and hamstrings him, bites his tail etc. He is very mellow and I hoped he would defend himself (I am right there) but he is way to tolerant. So I have been grabbing her and telling her firmly "no bite" before he gets sick of her, that is working for me pretty good. It will take some time but she is getting the jist. Good idea for your hubby to just take the Terriers for his walk, pups grow so fast, the time flies. Soon he will be able to ad the GSD too but for now go easy on those joints. Also on my walks I am not walking fast, more strolling. This way my pup can run back and forth, sit, lay down whatever. If she lays down I usually hang until she gets up to go, which is usually pretty quick. She is very active too.

Way to much to run a pup at this age.

If the dog has high energy and comes from structurally sound parents, there is nothing wrong with three 1 mile walks a day. (you did say walks, right?) If the dog enjoys it and does not seem to get too tired, or start limping. What is the problem? My 4 1/2 month old puppy walks a mile no problem. Started jumping too. These are working dogs; not lap dogs for god's sake. If they are not stucturally sound, and healthy enough for minor excercise as a puppy, bye, bye. Now if the dog has Pano, or is really big, that's a different story.

Hi Get a Real Dog, Yes I did say walks. Since this posting my husband has decided to limit his walks. He has extreme energy and never seemed to tire but I think we'll stick to the better safe than sorry mode at this point. More walks around the neighborhood and less on the trail. More playing in the yard also, we have about 1/2 acre fenced. He has just discovered chasing balls too, he bumps them with his nose and paws and chases them. Also loves to tug and as long as he's doing this he'll leave the terriers alone. When he does torment them I've been putting him in his crate for 5 min. and that also seems to be working. He's more dominant than my other one was so we'd like to lay a good strong foundation of control. Thank you all for the advice. After losing my other baby at less than 2 years I'm a little overprotective and want to do all I can to ensure a long healthy, happy life for this little guy.

Walking is not a high impact activity. If the pup is allowed to take it at his own pace - walk when he wants to walk, rest when he wants to rest, then I can see no reason for alarm. Jumping would be a high impact activity to avoid, and hard running. There's a lot of voodoo-hoodoo about not allowing young dogs to exercise rigorously until they are 1 yr plus old. I concede the point that they are growing and developing their bone structure during this time, and high impact activities should be limited. But walking or trotting should be fine. Funny how some people swear you can't let a young dog trot next to you while you're jogging, and then take their pup out to the SchH field and cheer like mad while the helper rags the pup and plays hard. There is way more joint stress going on there than what your dog would experience while trotting! Enjoy your pup, Sparrow, and let him dictate the pace and the distance and I think you'll be pleased with his development. Yvette

Puppy = Baby Sorry about the simplistic analogy, but some folks need it very simple. Q. Why do you need to do anything with a pup except play and imprint? A. Because of our ego. Puppies don't need to be in shape, they don't need to start their bite work early, they don't even need to track early, (but it doesn't hurt provided it's for fun with no compulsion). They need to learn ground rules, house breaking, socialization, prey play, obedience for food or toy, romping around like an idiot. Formal running, protection work etc. is crap. Play with your dog for the first 12-14 months and then get serious. Your dog will be heathier, happier and more willing to please. Why take your dog on the protection field before he is mature enough to physically, mentally or emotionally handle it. (Just to feed our f...ing ego.) The dog gets no quantum leap because you started him at 2, 3, or 4 months old. He becomes a prey idiot because he was never mature enough to handle the transistion into defense. (Watch and see how many dogs run into the blind and act like they are mesmerized by the sleeve.) Let him get old enough to be able to tap into his defense and you'll have a much more stable, real dog. That is one of the biggest problem with dogs today verses 20 years ago. How many times do you hear people brag about how young their dog got it's Schutzhund 1? Wake up. Yes there are a very few that can handle it, but it is very few. (I know your dog is that one in 10,000 dog.)