I have a 6 month old Border Terrier bitch.  She is a fantastic dog in everyway, easy to train (so far) full of energy but well behaved with it and a very loving nature.  She is just starting to come out running with me and has plenty of exercise and play time under the steady influence of my 11 year old Collie.  The only blot on her copy book is eating cat poop and my older dogs poop.  She doesn't eat her own or other dogs.  She is very good off the lead but when we are out running she scents some cat poop and keeps dashing into front gardens to grab it.  She will also eat dead birds, frogs, even a bat!!!!!  She is very greedy but is learning not to grab at food or steal the other dogs dinner, but the cat poop thing means she has some really smelly breath and is limited in her free time off the lead.

I would be grateful for any help or advise with this problem.

Hi,

She sounds lovely :-)  She is however far to young to be going out running with you, it really isn't good for frowing joints to be out running.  Really the guide for exercise for a pup is 5 mins of exercise per month of age and that should be gentle socilisation type walks training and playu but not running because of course she has no chance to just stop and rest and it is at a quicker pace.  This should be followed really up until a year old when there bones are more developed as it can cause problems later on in life if not taken carefully when they are pups.

With regards to the poop eating, if she's just doing this out on walks and is going off into peoples gardens to do this, she sould be on a long line until her recall is perfected.  This stops her being able to practise what you don't want her to do and it also means that you an encouragenher back to you qith the use of the long line whilst using your recall cue to encourage her back, for which she can then be rewarded.  Also do you have a seperate recall cue, ie, 'here' 'come' or are you just using her name?

I'm sure some people might get a bit annoyed at the thought of a dog in their garden particularly if they have cats.  Also the more she gets to practise this the more ingrained it will become.  So I would work on building up her recall using extra high value rewards and gradually building up the level of distractions.  If the gardens are ay where near a road then I would have her on a lead rather than a long line!

I would start working on a leave at home with higer value thigs (if she is already reliable with lower value things) then I would progress to the garden and then onto different walks.  Take things with you that you can use as distractions and always reward highly for her doing the right thing.  Always move on in very small stages as it's reall important to set them up for success and make it really clear to them what is required.

I can assure you that as I am such a slow runner she isn't under any stress when trotting alongside me and we are only out for about an hour anyway so the 5 minutes for each month of age is about right.  We run across fields most of the time and she is always waiting for me to catch her up!!!  I will try the longer lead recommendation, it is only when we are making our way to the fields that she is on the hunt for cat poop.  Otherwise she doesn't stray from me at all and hasn't done from the first day out. 
Thanks for the information.

I have a 6 month old Border Terrier bitch
we are only out for about an hour anyway so the 5 minutes for each month of age is about right.

sorry but when I went to school 6(months) x 5(minutes) used to equal 30, which is only HALF an hour

I can assure you that as I am such a slow runner she isn't under any stress when trotting alongside me and we are only out for about an hour anyway so the 5 minutes for each month of age is about right.  We run across fields most of the time and she is always waiting for me to catch her up!!!

Take the advice or leave it as you will but a 6 month old pup should not be out running for an hour if you wish to do the very best by their joints, you wouldn't know if it's causing stress to her joints now or not, that will show later on when it will be too late! They are not fused yet and running along particularaly if you are doing any road running is not advisable, there is plenty of eveidence to sugest that this is not a wise idea. Why take the risk for a the sake of being careful for another 6 months??

And yes as said above, 5 mins per month of age would mean a 30 min walk not an hour!

>I can assure you that as I am such a slow runner she isn't under any stress when trotting alongside me

Ditto the timings as others have said, it's half an hour and this would be a variety of speeds at her own pace not yours.  Also don't forget that the stress you are being warning about is internal stress to joints not the kind of stress/tiredness you can see.  Puppies don't always let you know they've had enough - it's your job as her owner to put limits on her exercise, for her own protection.

Please don't ignore the advice, your pup is still just a baby and you could be doing untold damage.  It's worth Googling to read up on the dangers of over exercise and there are members on here who've witnessed these problems for themselves.  I hope whistler sees this thread as she can tell you her story - she's discussed it before so I hope won't mind me mentioning it :)

My first reaction when I read this post, was far too much running for her age.  Then I read on! 

Please take some advice from Karen, rather than do untold damage that won't show until it's too late.

I see so many people running their dogs at a young age, and feel so sorry that the owners don't have more knowledge.

As to the reason for your post, Karen has already given you plenty of ideas.  Good Luck.

Have to agree with all that has been said about running with such a young pup. Karen has given lots of good advice re poop eating too. I would not let my puppy off the lead until recall was excellent though.

Surely if she is able to dash into people's front gardens she should be on a short (no more than 6ft) lead as front gardens are usually by a road? I agree with the others, and hours exercise is far too much for a 6 month old pup, especially jogging as they wouldn't stop if they were tired because the instinct is to follow you.