Exercise during early pregnancy - Page 1

Do you think moderate rate of trotting, me jogging she trotting, at about 10 minutes per mile for 2 miles, 20 minutes, two days and then skipping a day, is too much for exercise for a bitch three weeks pregnant?

I hope I am not over-exercising my bitch.

She does not appear to be exhausted at the end of an exercise routine.

That doesn't sound like too much to me, my vet says to keep them on their "usual" exercise routine till about 5-6 wks along.

your dog will tell you when she's had enough....watch her closely

A 9 month pregnant women ran in the Chicago merethon.  She delivered shortly after the merethon, next day or something like that.  A Dr. friend of ours was there and said he rooted her on.  I thought this was over the top, but as a long time Dr. he seemed to be OK with it.  So if a women can do this, then proper excersize should not be a problem for a dog.  As SitasMom stated, she should let you know when she has had enough.
Personally I think we pamper too much today, but I would check with a good vet to ease your mind.

Highdesert,
Forgot one thing.  Are you in Ca. highdesert?  Weather is something to be looked at as well.

A reasonable amount of excercise is necessary to maintian your female in a good state of muscle tone and health to deliver the litter, and help to avoid delivery problems.  As the due date draws near, just take her for long walks, off leash where possible, and she will exercise herself as appropriate until the last several days before due when she will not want to leave home and has begun nesting behavior.  No guarantee for a trouble free dellivery, but a good plan.

I think it's more the intensity, bitework, running around with other dogs that I would reduce, probably reduce throwing the ball to short distances.

As she progress's into the pregnancy I would divide the exercise into twice, then 3 times a day.

Likewise to get her fit again start with 3 small sessions, then 2 longer ones, building up back to her original condition.

The key to keeping an animal fit is variety, trotting the same route, same distance/time regularly will quickly plateau a dogs fitness and only working a small group of muscles/ligaments through the same range can lead to higher risks of injury and artificial levels of performance.

Keep the variety, jogging some days, long walks others, playing games, bit of swim if you can etc.

Ronin

Exercising her three times a day with short walks will maintain muscle tone but not cardiovascular fitness, I think.

Which is more important during whelping, muscle tone or cardiovascular fitness?