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Exercise for a puppy

Exercise is important, but with a puppy – not too much and not too soon.

To let you understand why we say not to give your puppy too much exercise, we will explain a little bit about a puppy’s bone and joint growth.

• A puppy’s bones aren’t fully formed or hardened until he is at least 12 months old.
  
  
• Until his bones are fully formed and hardened, his hip and elbow joints will not be fully “set”.
  
  
• Until the setting of the joints takes place, any over exercise, jarring or rattling of the joints will result in a loose and irregular final fit.   So even if both parents have no joint problems, it is still very possible for a puppy to develop problems with his hips and elbows caused by over exercise and over use.  This can cause your puppy to have very painful arthritis.
  
  
• Now we will explain best how to try and avoid any future joint problems in your puppy.
  
  
• The rule of thumb for walking your puppy on pavements/road surfaces is 5 minutes per day for every month of his life – so if he is 3 months old, he should only be having a maximum of 15 minutes road walking per day.  This might not sound much but your puppy will burn off lots of energy running around the house and garden. 
  
  
• During these street walks, your puppy may be a little frightened of cars and buses going past.  If he does become frightened, kneel down and reassure him.  Look at it from his point of view – there’s a big, scary, noisy thing rushing towards him!  In doing this, as well as being a loving owner, it shows you to be a caring pack leader.
  
  
• If your puppy stops and sits down and refuses to budge any further, then you’ve definitely overdone it with the walking and he will need carried home.
  
  
• Don’t allow your puppy to have extended periods of free running with older dogs.  He will do his best to keep up and will end up over tiring himself and perhaps even do himself an injury.  There’s nothing wrong with allowing 5 – 10 minutes of play with an older dog – this is good for his socialisation but try to keep this play to a relatively confined area and always be watchful for your puppy tiring or struggling to keep up and stop play.
  
  
• Do not allow your puppy to go up and down stairs – there is nothing worse for his developing joints than to allow him to run up and down stairs.   If you need to go up or down stairs, then carry your puppy.  Ideally, he should not be allowed to “do” stairs until he is a year old but we do realise that carrying a one year old medium or large dog isn’t going to be easy!  Carry him for as long as possible, but it is preferable that you avoid stairs for your puppy altogether until he is a year old. 
  
  
• In the same vein, do not allow your puppy to jump up or down from the car or furniture – this has the same risks as him going up and down stairs.
  
  
• Never allow your dog, at any age, to have vigorous exercise for an hour before or after a meal.  We would get indigestion, but for your dog, he could be at risk of gastric torsion and this could be fatal (see Bloat)

Copyright © Dogs & Co 2009 unless otherwise stated

Updated July 2009