How much exercise?

[Hurtwood Dogs]

I enjoy reading everyones views and past experiences.  I would never deliberately ignore advice if I thought it would hurt or inflict future health problems on Daisy however our creatures descend from the wolves after all and would not have a 5 minute rule in the wild, they will behave naturally and not hesitate in letting you know they are tired.  We like to compare them to children but they are dogs.  I can't help believing the ‘5 minute rule’  is perpetuated by breeders looking for a get out if a pup develops genetic problems.  

Yes, dogs are related to wolves.  But wolves aren't taken for walks... wolf cubs stay at the den and the rest of the pack bring food back to them.  Their early exercise is limited to play with their siblings... They gradually join the hunting as they mature...  So, yes, an 8 month old may join in some hunting.... but he's still not taken for an hour's walk every day.  

And at the end of the day, dogs aren't wolves... they are dogs.  
I fail to see how adhering to a highly recommended restriction on exercise for the first year of a dog's life is akin to treating it like a child...

Dogs don't let on they are tired... it is up to us to make those decisions for them.  I recall one walk which was a long one for Honey - it was a COL meet and much more than she was used to at her age... she was limping but still refused to rest.  

Totally agree that although hardwork at times, it is important to restrict puppies until they are physically mature, and the five min rule is a good guideline to work to - particularly where walking on hard surfaces or at a constant pace. It is soft developing bones and growing joints that you are trying to protect, I don't quite understand the 'child' reference either

I've run (and cycled) with all of my adult dogs and to be honest, the cockers have found it hard running on lead. Off lead is no problem for them at all, but on lead road running at a constant pace doesn't seem to suit them that well... my Weim can keep a steady pace up for a very long time, but the cockers seem to like stop/start running more, so if you can run with her off lead (once she is well over a year) then you'll probably find she prefers that as she can zoom ahead then rest when she needs to.

[MaggieR]

I enjoy reading everyones views and past experiences.  I would never deliberately ignore advice if I thought it would hurt or inflict future health problems on Daisy however our creatures descend from the wolves after all and would not have a 5 minute rule in the wild, they will behave naturally and not hesitate in letting you know they are tired.  We like to compare them to children but they are dogs.  I can't help believing the ‘5 minute rule’  is perpetuated by breeders looking for a get out if a pup develops genetic problems. 

Yes, dogs are related to wolves.  But wolves aren't taken for walks... wolf cubs stay at the den and the rest of the pack bring food back to them.  Their early exercise is limited to play with their siblings... They gradually join the hunting as they mature...  So, yes, an 8 month old may join in some hunting.... but he's still not taken for an hour's walk every day. 

And at the end of the day, dogs aren't wolves... they are dogs. 
I fail to see how adhering to a highly recommended restriction on exercise for the first year of a dog's life is akin to treating it like a child...

Dogs don't let on they are tired... it is up to us to make those decisions for them.  I recall one walk which was a long one for Honey - it was a COL meet and much more than she was used to at her age... she was limping but still refused to rest. 

Completely agree with Karma.  And would just add, if you find that your dog has a condition that has a number of possible causes,  you really want to be in a position where you can easily discount those causes you had some control over..... if you can't you can be left with a lot of self doubt and guilt.

[Karma]

Been mulling this over overnight and I think that, if you can honestly say your pup is in complete control of it's own walk - how long it's out for, it can stop and sniff whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and there is no playing with older dogs (only with pups the same age), no lead walking, no ball throwing - then, yes, a pup can regulate its own exercise. 
I think, with a medium sized breed like a Cocker, once your approaching 1 yr you can be a little more flexible in the application of the 5 min per month rule (Honey had several hour long walks when she was 10 months - but that's only 10 mins extra on a few occassions, not double the recommended amount every day.)

Yes, the 5 min rule applies more to on-lead exercise which is harsher on developing joints than pottering around a field, but it is worth having in the back of your mind.... we didn't apply it rigidly - for her first walks at 12 weeks, she was probably out for 20 mins, (10 mins lead walking, and 10 mins off lead when we got there) but then we didn't increase this until she was 5 months... She also did puppy romp, which was 1 hr off lead - but the important thing here was that they were all puppies, so there was no pressure from anything else to keep going - and they did rest when needbe. 

We all have to make the decisions we are happy with, but I sincerely hope you are never in the position that Maggie is talking about, having to look back and consider whether anything you have done has caused a health issue... 

[joanna84]

  I seem to have ruffled some feathers in some of you.  We each have our opinion however I would not make someone feel they were creating future problems for their dog.  I am a responsible owner and take advice from my vet who says it would be very hard to damage a puppies growth plates through exercise.  I live next to a beach, she is mainly off lead and walking on sand so I do not think this is a problem.

[Jane S]

I seem to have ruffled some feathers in some of you.  We each have our opinion however I would not make someone feel they were creating future problems for their dog.

No feathers ruffled - members are just stating their reasons for disagreeing with you Yes you're entitled to your opinion but other people are entitled to theirs too and it's not like we are alone in advising caution when exercising puppies - this advice is pretty much universally accepted these days.

[Karma]

I seem to have ruffled some feathers in some of you.  We each have our opinion however I would not make someone feel they were creating future problems for their dog.  I am a responsible owner and take advice from my vet who says it would be very hard to damage a puppies growth plates through exercise.  I live next to a beach, she is mainly off lead and walking on sand so I do not think this is a problem.

As I said, everyone is entitled to make their own decisions on this and I sincerely hope you don't regret your decision in future - the fact is dogs have been damged by over-exercise, and if people are to make their own decisions, they need to know this.... how much weight you want to give the risk of damage is up to you, but it would be irresponsible of us not to mention the risks on a thread about how much exercise a pup should be given....

Certainly no feathers ruffled here  (and I'm not sure I understand your need to use the "Evil" emote to respond to people who have disagreed with you with perfectly reasoned and polite posts...    ...but again, still no ruffled feathers!)

One final thought, though.... I have very bad joints myself, and have always found walking on sand much harder work for my joints than walking on grass... 

[SuperCat]

This is a really interesting thread. I'm enjoying reading it. But I really feel I need to have my input too!  

I remember when Murphy was a pup my mum wanted to take him all over the place on walks she had done with her Springer but other than the odd time I was very strict about the 5 min rule and I think he's better off for it. Also if he were to develop any problems, as Maggie said, I could virtually rule out over walking as a pup.

With dogs being descended from wolves, they were bred out about 7000+ years ago so in that time with selective breeding dogs are actually almost completely different from the wolf, and as Karma said a young wolf wouldn't be going out on huge hunting trips until it was much older.

So people don't like dogs to be compared to children but I remember watching a programme about incredibly bright children, some could do maths, english, chess, science, music. etc. I remember one girl in particular who was an exceptional pianist and violinist at about 8yrs old. When the programme revisited all the children the next year this girl had awful carpel tunnel syndrome and could no longer play the piano or violin and doctors were warning if she didn't stop playing them she would never recover. Obviously the parents wouldn't accept this. But as a dog owner and as the dog can't understand why it is feeling pain then I would want to try to limit any factor that may potentially cause the dog pain. Like over walking on soft bones and under-developed joints. In that way puppies are like children and if they enjoy something enough they will keep going until something hurts so much it's impossible to do anything.

[LindyLou]

This is such a simple guideline which is recommended often, I cannot begin to understand why someone would ignore it and "possibly" run the risk of damaging their pup's joints?

Why over do it? Just doesn't make any sense to me 

[Jessie_Pup]

I only knew about the five minute rule when I joined Col.   I was not told by either the breeder or my vet about restricting exercise.  Dylan and Jessie were both off-lead as soon as the proper time after vacs.   We walked them in a country park not a lot of pavement walks except to get to the country park.  BUT they were not allowed as pups to jump on to furniture or run up and down stairs babygate put across the bottom stair or jump into the back of the car they were lifted in.   They did not start any flyball and fun agility till they were the right age. 

I have never had any joint problems with them. In fact the vet said they had excellent muscle tone,  when I had their hips checked to start agility.

[mark1]

If one wanted to make a comparison between children and puppies there is plenty of evidence of overuse injuries in youngsters who have played too much sport. I'm a football coach by trade and the amount of young players we see with complaints such as osgood schlatters disease is amazing. This is directly linked to too much too young and can have a lifelong effect. The five minute rule seems a sensible rule of thumb for puppies and probably the sort of sensible limit that most people would stick to anyway even if they weren't told.

[mlynnf50]

Hello Sarafina,
I have always tried to stick with the 5 mins rule, and like you we do not have a garden Selby is 8 months and he goes for a walk at about 8 ish for about 30 mins then I take him for about 5 mins just really to do what he has to about 12 and then about 4 another 10 mins and then about 7 for about 5/10 mins just to do his business and then for a wee before bed, but we do alot of games and  just having fun he loves searching for things, and I am quite proud of him he is really good at it.  Hope this helps

[ruraich]

Jessie I'm glad you brought up the jumping issue. I think thats as important if not more important than the 5 min rule.

[Jessie_Pup]

 Look at the Burns website on care of puppies. exercise section makes interesting reading.

[mark1]

Burns website is simply another opinion as valid as all others I've heard. There seems a lack of real scientific evidence and that then opens itself up to people manipulating the issue for their own reasons. Could unscrupulous breeders/ blame over exercise for joint problems and could pet food manufacturers encourage more exercise to encourage bigger appetites. mmmm surely not 

[mooching]

Well, I for one am not prepared to take the risk. My 3 month old pup is getting a 15 min walk 2-3 times a day. If it happens to stretch to 20mins, I'm not going to beat myself up over it, but I won't be making a habit of it. I will take lots of care till he is a year old, for me the risk just is not worth it.