Is It Possible To Overwalk

[sarah25]

i agree.
they do love there walks but dont walk them 4 hours.you also have to think of there hips when u get them tested  

[gc]

i've read somewhere that puppies must not have too much exercise, until their skeleton system fully develop. Generally speaking they already jump in the house all day long and have 'enough' exercise    

[tobycat]

You've all made me think I might be over-walking Oscar now ::  but the trouble is, if I don't walk him as much as I do then he's pinging off the walls and ceiling in the house instead and I think he could do more damage that way than walking slowly on flat ground outside    

[Sara]

Liz, I feel the same. My two are nearly seven months old and they have two 1/2 hour off lead walks a day and about an hour a day at the weekends.....if we walk them any less than this they go mad !

Sa xx

[taniac]

When Neo was about a year and half we went up to Coniston in the Lakes for the weekend, there was a big group of us and our friends took their cocker too.

Neo won't 'go' without a walk    so he'd have an amble round in the morning and then all of us walked up the 'Old Man', of course the dogs must have walked up and down it twice the twoing and froing they do.. They loved every minute of it getting soaked in the springs and charging about.

Day 2 Neo had his morning constitutional and then he went out again when Charlie (the other cocker) had his walk half an hour later.. and then we did another walk round another lake..

Even though we spent the rest of the time in side lounging around, by the time we went home on day 3, Neo was really stiff and walking badly.    It didn't seem to affect Charlie (who was younger and in my opinion shouldn't have been walked so far).

I wasn't sure if this was due to the hills as it's mostly flat in Herts, but this really worried me and we've been careful ever since.  He wasn't walked huge distances as a puppy but this didn't stop him being affected.

I personally found it much harder when we got to dog no. 2 as Neo expects to get half an hour morning and evening off lead, whereas Jovi couldn't have this long.. We did alot of carrying (as much as you can with a wriggling cocker) however he probably did get walked more then he should have    

[subeeloo]

......just to reiterate what I said earlier.....months ago when Sammy was around 5 months old there was a topic similar to this one, and on it someone said that you times 5 mins. to each month of your dog, i.e. 5 times 5 months=25mins. Not sure if this is correct, but i do seem to remember something like it. Anyone out there heard this b4?    

[Magic Star]

......just to reiterate what I said earlier.....months ago when Sammy was around 5 months old there was a topic similar to this one, and on it someone said that you times 5 mins. to each month of your dog, i.e. 5 times 5 months=25mins. Not sure if this is correct, but i do seem to remember something like it. Anyone out there heard this b4?  

  Yes thats the basic rule of thumb!  BUT, for larger breeds, you have to be really careful with the amound of excerise they get and its also important not to let them climb stairs, this can be very damaging for a large dogs joints and can lead to a number of problems later on.

[Laura]

we walk about an hour a day now - 40 mins or so in the morning and a shorter walk in the afternoon - most of which is onlead.  We have had the odd long walk though  ::  although to date these can still be counted on one hand.  If I know I am doing a longer walk than usual - I usually leave Bailey at home.  

Gorgeous winter sun, bounding cockers and chatting - it's far too easy to lose track of time  ::    

[PollyKay]

This is quite interesting to read.  I was wondering how long a puppy should walk.
As Sammy was 5months old when we got him and Sidney will only be 9 weeks (and a smaller built dog) I hadn't got a clue at what age he should start his walks (apart from knowing that you wait until after their injections).
I'll probably just start by walking him round the side road and to the front of the shop to meet our staff and customers.  That should help with the socialisation bit.
He'll be taken with us when we visit relatives so he'll have a few gardens to explore as well.  

[Emma&Harry]

Perhaps i am walking harry too much, he's almost 6 months - 30/40 mins off lead in the morning, he runs quite a bit with any other dog that'll play. 20 mins lunchtime usually much more sedate with a bit of training and 20 mins walk in the evening. hell usually have an hour walk in the afternoon at weekends instead of 20mins at lunchtime.

he also needs playing with for at least 1.5 hours in the evening now - retrieving mostly; as well as him amusing himself. given the chance he will run for most of his walk - we cant give him free access to the garden as it is at the side of the house.

do you think this is too much off lead time?

his apetite is really picking up now as well!!

[JoHarborne]

Woody is ten months old.  He generally gets 40-45 minutes per day with me and then at the weekend we go a little further afield in the car with my H and he gets no more than 2 hours.  He can play in the garden whenever he asks and usually has 10 minutes or so of structured retrieve play.  

We followed the rule of thumb 5 mins per month of life until he was about 8 or 9 months old and we had reached the 45 minute target.  That was about my limit too!!  

 

[subeeloo]

................ no problem there........we live in a bungalow    

[Georgie]

Bailey gets taken on walks three times a day, all adding to about two hours.  

[sweetie]

i,m paranoid about this very thing,as i learned a hard lesson through over walking as a pup once before, lesson learned,,mabe,s is 7mnths now she has 25-30 min walk everyday,,with jasper,



  xxxxx

[Rhona]

Oh dear, when I'm wrong I'm wrong in a big way.  I really thought by Sam's age we were doing him a favour with lots of walks.   Sam goes mad whenever you go near the cupboard that houses shoes and jackets etc and I thought we were really being kind to him.

You live and learn!