I know it is often mentioned that the general rule for exercise in young dogs is 5 minutes for each month of age.

My question is this - Is this backed up by any scientific evidence? This question only recently occurred to me and I have done a very quick internet search and came up with a few articles attempting to answer the question of how much is enough and how much is too much. Some of them contradict each other slightly and most of them promote the need for exercise. I could not find anything particularly scientific, but one tentatively draws evidence from studies of children and exercise, but of course a direct comparison cannot be made.

I guess I am playing devils advocate a little in asking what evidence we base the afore mentioned rule on, but I am in no way trying to aggravate anybody or discount this guideline. I am more interested to know if there have been any studies and if anybody has any links to such information then I would be very interested to read.

Also (and of course I am not a dog!) I have joint problems and have been advised by professionals such as osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors and surgeons to do exercises to strengthen the muscles around the joints for extra support. Would this be similar in dogs?

> one tentatively draws evidence from studies of children and exercise

We allow our toddlers to play to get thier excersie, we don't force them to walk the pavements or fields, most toddlers would refuse to walk very far and kick up a tantrum untill back in the buggy!!, but most pups wouldn't notice thier bodies feeling tired at the time of a walk making it easy to over walk them past thier personal limits.

> Some of them contradict each other slightly and most of them promote the need for exercise

Forced excersie (ie lead walking/treadmill) and free excersie (allowed to run & play in a safe area) are different things.

> Also (and of course I am not a dog!) I have joint problems and have been advised by professionals such as osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors and surgeons to do exercises to strengthen the muscles around the joints for extra support. Would this be similar in dogs?

Yes, same for dogs.

Buster was diagnosed as a pup with elbow displasia (he was crippled with it, courld barely walk :( ). A short, slow daily lead walk was prescribed for the very reasons you have said, but it was VERY short, only about 10 yards to start with (couldn't manage any more), this was built up over time very slowly. It was a carefull juggling act between getting the speed & distance right, too fast and he'd pay for it after, too far and he' pay for it. I couldn't allow him to walk at the pace he wanted to start with, I had to slow him down.
Now as an adult (4 & half years old) the pace of his walk rarely effects him and to my suprise he has even recently ran his entire route (gets with his rottie buddy and he turns into an energetic dog!) with no ill effects :) Lots of energetic play-bows can still give him a bit of a limp though :(

> one tentatively draws evidence from studies of children and exercise

A child grows at a much slower rate than a puppy which grows at an incredible rate for at least the first 6 months of life.  In my medium breed a 12oz puppy is a 10lb puppy by 8 weeks of age, by 5 months it will have doubled in weight again, so the damage to growing joints is much more of a consideration.  More so in large and giant breeds where the rate of growth is even more incredible

In children I don't think most of us allow them to do more than a few minutes formal walking until over 3 years of age, developmentally similar to a 3 month old puppy?

I have had two similar size breeds, the one the puppy would walk itself into the ground if allowed, the breed I have now would flatly refuse to walk any further, and have found the times/distances corresponded fairly well to the rule of thumb, but with a very energetic one I might stretch that to twice a day, but they are only medium size and reach adult height by around 9 months.

one tentatively draws evidence from studies of children and exercise

but why would one? Apart from everything else that has been said a child will not think about walking at all until it reaches a year and puppy is entering adulthood - it is a silly and fruitless exercise to try comparing a canine with a human.

Canine 4 legs - Human 2. Canine sexually maturity at about 6 - 9 months - children at about 12 to 14 years. You could continue but there is little point as it is clear to all that dogs are not people. 

Just to clarify, I did not mean 'one' as I, but one of the 'studies' mentioned children

Even play I put a stop to, some young bassets do not have a pause button let alone a stop button. Heavy pup bouncing around not knowing when to rest up & the damage is for life, just not worth it.

Sorry did think you meant one as in a person but it makes no difference if one of the studies mentions children when they are studying puppies then IMO their study does not deserve to be taken seriously, in fact, it does not even deserve to be read.

Exactly, but the real point here is, are there any studies that are worth taking notice of?

Don't know I have my own conclusions based on years of being involved with dogs.

If you are in doubt I would follow the rule everything in moderation remembering the amount of stress the rapid increase of weight and the rapid lengthening of the long bones will put upon the puppies system - the larger the breed the more care is needed.

Edit to say in a way I hope that a study has not been done, just imagine having half the number in the study exercised until they are damaged beyond repair just to prove a point, not for me thanks - the years of watching dogs has convinced me.

funny you should ask that,ive just read a similar question in a dog mag-albeit  the march 08 issue!the response was that" appropriate levels of exercise are important for the developement of the muscularskeletal system.experiments in young dogs have shown that extreme exercise(for example,running for 40km each day for15 weeks)can cause some mild degenerative changes in joints,but while excessive exercise could therefore be damaging in the long term,i am not sure,if the dog is otherwise healthy,that there is any scientific evidence that restricting exercise is necessary.  of course,some dogs may have developmental orthopaedic disorders as they grow,and it is possible that,given relatively more exercise,some of these disorders may be exacerbated"written by vet John Innes.

Thanks colliepam, this is more what I was looking for. I don't suppose you are able to scan and email the article? Don't worry if you can't.

Im not that good im afraid!but if you want to pm me your address im quite happy to post the actual page to you,if you like?