# How much excercise for a four month old pup?



## ben's mom (Feb 2, 2007)

Just curious what everyone thinks about this one as our breeder is QUITE strict, saying that we should not take him out for walks that are any longer than fifteen minutes at a time and no stairs until six months to protect his hips (he has to go down a long flight of steps to go outside).
Also, my boyfriend is looking forward to the day that they can start to run together. I have read that he should wait until Ben is at least six months old for this--what do you think?
Thanks!


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## Rocky (Dec 28, 2006)

I'll try and reply, even though I am no expert. I think walks a little longer than 15 minutes is ok, as long as it is easy for them. No running and such. We go on 15-30 minute walks. 

Last night I asked our trainer about agility training for Rocky who is almost 5 months and she said not to start until he is 1 year because of the joint and bone development. Agility would be too hard on them until then.

Like I said, I am no expert, but since no one responded, I thought I would tell you what we do.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

ben's mom said:


> Just curious what everyone thinks about this one as our breeder is QUITE strict, saying that we should not take him out for walks that are any longer than fifteen minutes at a time and no stairs until six months to protect his hips (he has to go down a long flight of steps to go outside).
> Also, my boyfriend is looking forward to the day that they can start to run together. I have read that he should wait until Ben is at least six months old for this--what do you think?
> Thanks!



I think the 4-5 month period is "tricky" as far as exercise goes. They're on the verge of changing from puppy to adult, but aren't quite there yet. I think I agree with the 15-minute rule... but you can have a couple of these sessions throughout the day. As Ben gets older, you can gradually increase the length of his walks. I believe around 6 months, Augie was going for three 30-minute walks/day.

Running at 6 months is a no-no. Sure, they can run and play in their backyard all they want, but running on hard surfaces is a repetitive motion that is not good for their joints at all. I wouldn't even consider it before a year old.

No stairs until 6 months? You're going to break your back trying to carry a 6-month-old dog up and down the stairs  The way it was explained to me is no running up numerous flights of stairs, numerous times/day.... an _excessive _kind of thing. You can certainly go up and down a reasonable amount of times.

The exercise question drove me crazy too. What I figured out is to let your dog be a dog, but don't place unreasonable exercise demands on him...such as continuous repetitive movements (eg, jogging), or lateral (side-to-side) movements.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Let me try and explain some of what I know about the CHD vs exercise dilemma... (also bone structure/formation vs exercise)

The ends of the longbones (these are any of the 'long' bones that compose the legs) have what are called 'growth plates'... these aren't directly attached to the bones but are connect by a soft cartilage type of material. As the 'cartilage' (I don't think its the exact correct term to use but it'll do) grows further out the part nearer to the bone, calcifies into bone... this essentially is how the bone grows. CHD can happen several different ways but the bottomline characteristic is that the bones at the joints don't fit together very well... and this can lead to arthritis and painful lameness. Puppies are never born with CHD, rather it develops during the rapid bone growth period (around 4 to 10 months of age). It is said that genetics determines whether a dog will have CHD or not, but diet and exercise can have a large effect/influence upon the degree to which this genetic defect is expressed in the adult... meaning a dog could have a mild case of CHD and yet never have to suffer from this joint defect (or the arthritis stemming from this) or maybe only suffer in old age because of a proper diet and exercise regimen during puppyhood... on the other hand if that dog had been allowed to become over-weight during puppyhood and participated in lots of bone jarring activities during growth he most likely would suffer a seriously painful life with arthritis and lameness.

When longbones grow too fast, the calcification process cannot keep up and too much soft cartilage is now between growth plates and real bone thus it cannot support the weight and pounding without 'giving' some and so is subject to bending and deforming near and at the joint so when it finally does calcify things aren't quite straight or won't fit together quite as well. That's why Large-Breed puppy food has lower calcium content as well as lower calories and often lower protein per Kg of food as 'normal' puppy food... this is to stem the rapid bone growth to something more manageable and to keep the puppy's weight down (resulting in less stress on those growing bones)... not to worry, the puppy will still grow to whatever height his genes have programmed him to be, it will just take a couple of months longer to attain.

Exercise is a two-edged sword... it's absolutely necessary for strengthening the leg muscles... its these muscles that hold the leg joints tightly together. This is important because a tight joint will lead to a deep socket formation in the joint (a highly desirable thing for sure) and will allow less 'slippage' which could otherwise result in micro-fractures to the growth plates and even deforming these plates, which can surely result in painful, debilitating arthritis in later years. The development of these muscles must keep up with the bone growth rate otherwise there can be problems... so exercise is vitally important. One the other hand, too much exercise or more importantly, the wrong kind of exercise, can also cause micro-fracturing of the growth plates. So the 'conventional wisdom' usually states... no forced exercising (which means encouraging puppy to continue past his/her natural limits), no jarring type of exercises (like jumping, descending stairs, running on hard surfaces, jumping into and out of the car, etc), and finally to avoid any dangerous conditions where your puppy's legs could splay out and really stress those soft joints (like slippery floors, ice, etc.).

Now to my own recommendations...
Avoid *excessive* stair climbing and descending when possible... avoid *all jumping* movements until at least 10 months old and then introduce it very slowly over the course of the following 6-months... some walking on hard surfaces is okay if your puppy is not over-weight but use your common sense here... if your pup likes swimming (its a zero load bearing exercise which strengthens the muscles with minimal joint stress) do all he/she wants... Finally, have many short play sessions per day, every day and quit when puppy quits (puppies tire very quickly but also recover very quickly as well... so take advantage of this). For a really young puppy (like 8-10 weeks old) 6 or 7 short (10-15 minute) play sessions a day isn't too much... and as your puppy ages SLOWLY increase the time duration (still according to your puppy's natural limits) and begin reducing the number of play sessions per day. Suggestion is 3 sessions (20-40 minutes) for a 5-7 month old and 2 sessions (30-60 minutes) for a 9-month to a year old... remember these are just approximate suggestions and not rigid rules... always use common sense about these things. And BTW, running on hard surfaces for extended periods of time in consider very jarring to tender young joints so the 'jogging with puppy thing' would not be a good idea until puppy is at least 10-months old and even then it must begin at very short distances and SLOWLY the distances can be extended over time as puppy's pads and muscles get conditioned for it... there is also concerns about weather conditions because dogs cannot cool themselves anywhere near as efficiently as humans and so many dogs have died while out jogging with their owners... this is especially true of 'colder weather' types breeds such as Goldens.

EDIT: I'd like to add that though growth plates can "close off" as early as 10-months in smaller breeds, typically for Goldens it is suggested that growth plate closures most likely happen around 14-18 months. So I think its safe to begin slowly introducting more jarring type of activities after about 10-months to a year of age but shouldn't be fully participating "all out" until closure is complete... that would be stuff like full height jumps in agility or jogging 8-miles on hard pavement, etc.


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## DaisyMay's mom (Feb 27, 2007)

*wait until 6 months or so*

Hi. My vet told me to wait until Daisy is about 6 months before taking 20-30 minute walks outside. She is too young to be "exercised" before then unless its like literally a 5 minute walk. She gets plenty of exercise chasing squeaky toys and balls inside the house or in the backyard.


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## GoldenShamus (Feb 26, 2007)

I have to agree with the above poster. Shamus's breeder gave us a lengthy contract that included exercise and she specifically states that not to take them runninng or jogging until they are, either 18-24 months old, I forget which. She also talks about limiting the stairclimbing and jumping. 

I think at that age, that you should let them run around and play as much as they want to, but not do any 'forced' exercise. By forced, I just mean a lot of leash walking, etc.


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## ben's mom (Feb 2, 2007)

*Thank you!*

I have read four books so far to learn as much as possible about understanding a Golden's needs and found that none of them agreed when it came to excercise--so an enormous heart-felt thank you, most especially to Menomer, not only from me but from our Ben, whose bones and joints will hopefully grow healthier from your advice. Being a city dog, we will keep his walks on concrete up in frequency and down in length. As for the stairs, we will try to find a good compromise between my (now aching) back and his strength. And Remi will have to jog on his own for quite some time...
We actually took him for his first walk in the countryside this afternoon and he LOVED it so we are going to make doubly sure that he can stomp around in the soft grass at least once a week!
Again many thanks, and if any of you feel so generous as to reply to my post "Peeing for attention?" under the Main Discussion I would be most obliged!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

We read about and have tried to adhere to exercise restrictions for Brooks (who will be 2 this summer). 
We have always taken him on walks which started at 15-20 min daily when he was a few months old. Gradually we increased to 2X day walks and now usually do a total of 1 to 1 1/2 hours. We don't jog with him (I have no desire to jog myself), but when we take him where he can safely run off leash, he runs runs runs on his own as we walk. His hard running usually lasts about 20 minutes......and he can go straight up long hills or steep banks without it fazing him. (It is astounding how very fast he can run).


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