How far can a puppy walk?

easyeason3

Hi, Hoping to get some help.

A friend of mine recently got a setter pup. She wants to know how far or how long she should walk the pup for?
Pup is about three months old.

seamus

Afaik they say no more than 5 mins for every month of age (per day).

If the pup is younger than 13 weeks and/or hasn't been given it's full round of injections, it should not be taken out in public.

toadfly

5 mins per month of age so 15 mins a day.

easyeason3

Ok, thanks.

Now the reason I asked is that she often walks her for 40 to 50 mins & the pup seems to enjoy it & doesn't sit down or stop. She has a lot of energy!!!

Is it normal for a young pup to be able to do this or should she just stick to the 15 mins for the moment?

Wisco

Exercise is key to keeping pups out of trouble!! I'm not advocating marathon walks, but if the pup is still really ready to go, by all means, go for more than 15 mins. There's no real formula for time, but I wouldn't do all the exercise with walks- play ball or throw sticks, etc, too and she can kind of go at her own pace then. Worries about severe joint damage at a young age is really more for large breed (ie, St Bernards, Danes, Bassetts, etc) puppies.

toadfly

The pup would have no problem walking that lenght but it isnt good for their joints and development to walk that much as bones are still very soft.

I think walking the pup on grass is slightly better as not as harsh on the joints.

easyeason3

Thanks I'll let her know.
Don't know if she will listen to me but I'll give it a try.
I have to say though that the pup does enjoy it, it's like a little social adventure for her to see what stranger is going to admire & pet her next

00112984

While the 5 mins per month of age thing is a good rule of thumb, I think it depends on the dog. Setters are the most energetic dog I've ever seen and I can't picture a squirmy, jumpy setter being happy with 15 minutes a day. I figure if the pup was still with its mother, she'd have them walking more than 15 minutes a day.

Saying that, it's good for young pups to exercise them in a number of different ways. Combining a walk with varied play in the garden (fetch, football, chasing) and also mental exercise like learning tricks or using particular puzzle toys will all help in wearing a bouncy pooch out.

morganafay

Does anyone know if the 5 minutes per month thing applies to all sizes of dogs? Because I'm getting a puppy soon enough, and it'll be a toy-small dog. Though I dunno why I'm even asking cos my experience with puppies walking is that they demand to be picked up and carried after about 5 minutes

Sigma Force

As said the 5 min a day is a good guide. Setter pups are nuts though but instead of taking the pup out for 40 mins at a time might be better to break it up in to two walks. 20 mins twice a day instead.

Saying that taking a pup out for 40 ish mins a day puppies don't tend to walk non stop there's a lot of stopping and starting and saying hello to other dogs so as long as the pups paws aren't hurting or sore after that lenght I wouldn't worry too much.

It isn't advisable to over work young pups and generally even things like agility aren't supposed to be tried until a dog is a year old.

@morganfay our youngest dog is a toy breed he's just hit a year old. But I found that the 5 minute rule worked well for him, being smaller and a more delicate breed he wasn't able for long sessions. He also spent more time sniffing and stopping and starting so eventhough you take a toy breed or perhaps any pup out for a 20 minute walk half of that is spent waiting for them to stop arsing about lol.

If you can at the start keep your new pup walking on grass for the first week or two I find that helps, although watch out for nettles and thistles. They soon toughen up. Our little fella gets tired also with the heat atm he likes to be carried after a while even still.

Xiney

I tried to only walk our labrador for 5 minutes per month of age per day but that went out the window as he was driving me bonkers.

I still was concious not not over walk him, but he got about twice the amount "recommended" - albeit in a few short bursts throughout the day.



Seriously though. He was batshit crazy without the walks.

paultf

easyeason3 wrote: »

Hi, Hoping to get some help.

A friend of mine recently got a setter pup. She wants to know how far or how long she should walk the pup for?
Pup is about three months old.

Found this on the Burns dog food website www.burnspet.co.uk John Burns is a vet and this is what he said about exercising pups:-

"Some health care professionals advocate that puppies should not be exercised as this will damage the developing bones and joints. This makes as little sense as recommending that children should not have exercise until adulthood. Exercise promotes good muscle tone and well-developed bones and joints as well as providing social interaction. Developmental defects of the skeleton are caused not by exercise but by poor diet."

I have got a 4 month cocker at the moment and I am following the 5 minute rule. I think it depends on the breed.

easyeason3

I met up with her last night for a walk. The pup actually needs this excercise, she's a livewire!

Walked for about 40 minutes on both concrete & grass, she didn't sit down once but she did have a good sniff around at different places. The walk is definately set at her pace.

I went back to the cousins house for a sup of water after the walk & we were chatting. The pup lay down in her bed, slept for ten minutes & was up looking to play again!

Iancar29

I walked my Mal about half hour a day from when he was first able to go out and there was no bother to him. we didnt walk non stop tough.

So ye i think that 5 mins/month of age is way out of poportion o the kind of dog you hav. Just make sure u hav water wit you. And a grassy area is much better for their young paws.

Chris_Heilong

I dont know who came up with the 5 min per month rule, even for my Pom this too short, I would say 10 mins per month is about right or 5 mins per run. Maybe these ideas came about in very warm places like LA or Miami were the weather would be a factor in how much the pup can walk.:)

lrushe

While I would agree that 5 mins per month of age is v.hard to keep to please be careful about over doing it. I met a friend of a friends Boerboel a few weeks ago and if I were to guess his age I would have put him at 8 or 9, you could have knocked me over with a feather when they told me he was 15 months, he had the worst joints I've ever seen in a dog, the dog couldn't even sit for any length of time he had to either stand or lie on his side, completely due to being over walked (at his owner's own admition) when he was a pup. Granded Boerboel's are one of those giant breeds where walking should always be limited as a pup but it really put into perspective for me how careful you have to be and how what happens to a pup in its first year really can effects how the rest of its life will be.