# puppy walking: distance vs time



## Sarah J (Mar 22, 2017)

Hi all!
The vet just gave Trudy (who is 13 weeks today) clearance to walk in their neighborhood last week. Since then, we've been out a few times. I know lots of folks have asked about how much a puppy can walk, but I feel like there is so much conflicting information. Some people measure this in distance (for example, on a "slow growth" plan, the recommendation is 1 - 1.5 miles 4 - 5 times weekly (see Retrievers)). Some people talk about this in terms of time (so, for example, 2 20-minute walks a day). 

Trudy is pretty easily distracted on our walks. She lags behind a lot and wants to smell and taste _everything_. As a walker/hiker, I tend to measure more in terms of distance than time. Her top-most limit seems to be about 1/2 mile (with a stop in the middle to sit and cuddle for a bit). This half mile takes a bit more than half an hour with all the stopping, sniffing and lagging. This worries me a bit when I compare to the recommendations for the slow-growth plan (1 - 1.5 miles at her age.)

Am I expecting too much since we really just started walking out in the neighborhood just this week? How far, in distance, do you think you are (or were) walking your pups at roughly her age? 

Also, any advice about the lagging behind while walking? I've tried luring with treats at my side, but she is so overwhelmed at everything going on around her that she isn't interested in the food. When she lags I'll tug her a bit and say "follow me!" and when she does I say "yessss!" with a long 's' (<- my reward word instead of using a clicker in all of our training, which I quickly found a bit too cumbersome along with treats, leash, and everything else.) Sometimes I feel a bit more like I'm "dragging" her on a walk instead of walking with her. I thought my problem would be dealing with pulling (which she does seldom - I stop like a tree and say "easy!"), but I actually seem to be dealing with the opposite.

Because puppy pics make everyone happy, I'm including one from our walk today (she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and laid down, so we cuddled for a bit next to the curb and took a selfie). Is she not the cutest?!?!?


----------



## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

The world is a new place for her, I'd just let her stop and sniff. She's not doing anything wrong and she will eventually get into the habit of walking on walks, but I see no reason why she "has" to do that now. The sniffing might actually tire her out more than walking will! Even at almost 2 years old, my boy likes to sniff some flowers on our walks and even has a favorite sniff spot. When he was a puppy, he used to stop and sniff something (or put it in his mouth) and then drag me over to the next good smelling spot he could find. Walks sound a lot more enjoyable with your girl!


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Thinking back to that time... we would have JUST started going to the park (post final shots), so we would have walked about 10 minutes, played at the park with a ball or with other dogs for anywhere from 20-40 minutes, and walked home 10 minutes.

A straight walk at that age was probably no more than 20 minutes - but it would have been sort of meandering, exploring the world, meeting people. I LOVED those early days when she would be discovering new stuff. We still did a before bed walk, too, to sort of dial down, calm down before going to sleep - that one was just about 10 minutes up the road and back. 

I didn't really adhere to any strict guideline - just went by her, her energy, etc. We were outside a lot at that age, but we weren't always walking somewhere. But I was always training and teaching - leave it and drop it would have been prime focus at that time!


----------



## Good as Gold (Nov 30, 2016)

My pup is now 5 months and I struggled (and still) with all the questions that you have. We had "neighborhood" walk clearance about that same time - 13 or 14 weeks, and I started off happily with my Yeti in tow, ready to put into play all the leash walking skills we had been learning in puppy class.... and then Yeti sat down every three steps so he could listen, watch, observe the world! And, I'm like "Hey, this is exercise time and you need it!" We still struggle with this on neighborhood walks, although it is a little better. Pretty much can only stand to go around the block (about a half mile) because he stops so much. HOWEVER, at 18 weeks we finally got clearance to adventure more places and I have a lot of parks and trails near me. He does awesome at those and now at 5 months we usually do about 1 3/4 -2 miles a day, probably 5 out of 7 days. Weather permitting. I don't get it - he doesn't sit down like he does in the neighborhood. So, I've no answers to that issue. As to the "how much", I really think it is just common sense and watch your dog. You're not going to take a 13 week old on a 2 mile hike or a 1 hour walk... and I'm not going to take my 5 month old on a 6 mile hike or a 2 hour walk. I like it best when we go to open fields in the parks with nobody around (which is easy and often where I live) and I just let him do whatever he wants to do - run, walk, stop, sniff, repeat - while dragging a 25 foot leash so I can get him easily. Great for recall practice too. Doing it this way means I can't be pushing too hard. The backyard is okay, except he runs at 100 mph + (should I allow this??) and for some reason is more prone to mischief there. So continue on your very reasonable neighborhood walks and in another month you'll have clearance for more adventuring. I know that it is a very long month!


----------



## Anne Y. (Jan 6, 2017)

Bodhi was walking around a mile-1.5 miles a few weeks ago at 13 weeks. He's now at 2 miles + dog park + fetch and run games in our hallway every day, and he is sufficiently pooped in the evening. 

As far as your pup being distracted-yeah. Just yeah. She will be. Sounds like you're doing exactly what you should be doing with her in getting her attention and rewarding with praise for a follow. 

And she is ridiculously cute.


----------



## Sarah J (Mar 22, 2017)

Thanks everyone! I've taken her out a couple more times. We can still do about 1/2 mile in a shot, but I think I could safely do that twice a day (perhaps even with a short, pre-bedtime walk added on, as well). She still is pretty distracted; every time it's like it's something new. Yesterday it was tires on cars. Today it was wind chimes on porches (she doesn't seem happy with them at all! pretty funny, really. I have to calm her and coax her past them. It hasn't been an issue before since it hadn't really been windy before.) Any time a car goes by she's both curious and scared. She can't figure out why every single person doesn't stop to pet her, and seems to get upset if she can't greet _everyone_.

She is really coming into an age where she gets these spurts of energy that last longer than they had before. This morning I walked her (a bit less than 1/2-mile) then played with her (tug, fetch). In all, it was almost 2 HOURS! I thought she would be tired after our walk, but she wanted to play more when we got home. I thought 10 - 20 minutes or so of interactive play would do the trick. Nope!

I actually just won a "FitBark" through my pet insurance company, so it will be pretty interesting to track the relationship between her activity and rest. I'm a sucker for anything that shows me data like that, so it should be fun.


----------



## oceanlady (Mar 29, 2017)

Robbie is 14 weeks. We took him to ocean yesterday, vet said ok as long as he stays in wet sand near water. He was curious about everything, the broken crab bits, pieces of shells, rocks, birds all around, kids and other dogs. Mostly we were alone and the one family walked over to us.

We gave him treats for walking by our side and drop it leave it when he tried to eat shells. We let him sniff and stop when he got tired and we just sat with him and showed him the birds.

Our area has a bit of a problem vet said to keep off trails for a few more months. I was disappointed but don't want him to get sick.

I haven't taken in neighborhood yet because he just got final shot Tuesday and I thought you had to wait till a week after?


----------



## Sarah J (Mar 22, 2017)

oceanlady said:


> Our area has a bit of a problem vet said to keep off trails for a few more months. I was disappointed but don't want him to get sick.
> 
> I haven't taken in neighborhood yet because he just got final shot Tuesday and I thought you had to wait till a week after?


Yes, out vet wants us to wait to take her on trails and such for a bit, as well. Her final shot will be May 22 and we should be ok after that point. 
Not sure how long you have to wait after the shot, since this last one wasn't our final one. We did wait about 5 days after the shot to take her on sidewalks and such throughout the neighborhood. Like you, I can't wait for more trail walking. I especially am excited to be able to go longer distances with her. I like to walk on trails quite a lot, and haven't been able to since we brought her home, since we're pretty tied to her schedule.


----------



## RufusTFirefly (Feb 17, 2017)

Like your pup, our girl is walking about 1/2 mile, twice a day (she is 11 weeks old). I agree, the walk isn't really enough. After she gets water and takes a break, she's usually to play for a while. I'd say our morning routine lasts for 1 1/2 hours and probably a bit longer in the evening.


----------

