Hello,

I'm new to the forum and after a bit of advice!

We have a 12 week old Spanish Water Dog puppy, he's very clever and full of energy.  The problem we're having is that he's so full of energy that playing is not tiring him out and we can't take him out for walks for another week.  We play fetch and ball among other training for hours and he is still full of energy. 

Does anyone have any advice until we can take him on lots of walks?

Far better to tire his brain out than his body -you won't be able to go for lots of walks anyway as a growing pup can only be exercised for 5 minutes per month of age so 15 minutes at the moment. Try things like hiding treats and searching for them (start off simple like hiding one under a toy, under a bowl etc, so pup has to use his nose), working up to  searching for toys or other objects. Also obedience exercises like sit and down and stay - anything that requires the pup to think -that really does tire them out a LOT more than physical exercise. :)

>Does anyone have any advice until we can take him on lots of walks?

   

Sorry, but even when allowed out, you cannot take him on lots of walks.  Heaven forbid.

At 12 weeks, the rule of thumb for any breed would be 15 minutes walk.  71/2 mins there, and 71/2 mins back.

It doesn't matter if it is a Rottie or a Chihuahua, the rule is 5 minutes walk per month of dog.  :-)

You beat me to it Marianne!  :-)

Thanks for the advice, we'll definitely be giving that a go tomorrow! I didn't know we weren't supposed to take him on big walks so that has been great advice, we start puppy classes soon and hopefully gun dog training once he's  old enough to keep his mind active. 

Any other ideas for brain stimulation?  He's a very clever little pup!

Hi perrodeaguapepe, Congratulations on getting your puppy. Spanish Water Dogs are great fun and addictive! Be warned, we have four now!

As others have said too much walking and excessive playing and physical stimulation is not desirable at this young an age. It is very easy to break the off switch on a SWD and end up with an adrenaline junkie. They do need to learn to chill too.

Clicker training is a great way to train them. Start with the basic commands such as sits, downs and recalls and move on to 'tricks' like targeting your hand with paw or nose, going to a bed or mat, holding a toy, retrieving... If you plan to do gundog training a good wait and teaching him patience will be a big help ~ patience is a virtue SWDs don't have much of!

The SWD Club hold gundog training sessions that are a very good place to start. He can go once he's had his vaccinations. Details are on the Club website.

Hope this helps.

Hi madasarat,

Thanks for such a lovely reply - we love our spanish water dog, he's beautiful and definitely full of life.  I don't want to break the off switch :-) so we'll take that on board!

Clicker training sounds like a good way to start and we'll definitely have a look for gun dog training sessions!

You've been a great help!

What are you feeding him on as excessive energy levels can also be attributed to certain foods?

As madasarat advised - some puppies just keep going and going... so you need to try and encourage down time.... do you have a crate - or a special quiet area for puppy to go 'to bed'?  Try and encourage the 'down time' by calm praise when they are quiet and still.

Where did you get your pup from - did the breeder give you an advice sheet on food and exercise?  Have you asked them for some advice?

Good luck with your puppy - I know a few SWD's - my friend has the most beautiful girly pup at the moment !

What I found really useful for my pup (but is only much good when you CAN take him out!) was if I was taking him to a destination, such as the park or the woods, rather than just a pavement walk, I would drive up there (even though it is only a 5 minute walk) and then he can spend the full 15/20 minutes up there training! If you use a longline and do lots and lots of re-call with him, then you'll have a solid recall started by the time that he can go for a good hour's walk.

You'll also have the benefit of all the distractions that come with parks/woods etc and he will listen to you there :) I would take Nando for a training session, doing sit, stay, sit stays, down stays etc and playing a few games in between. He would be EXHAUSTED by the time we got back, whereas if my parents ever took him for a walk, even if it was longer than the 20 minutes, because they did no training, he would just not be at all tired and would play and play for hours.

Make her work for her food ... rather than serving it for her in a dish (assuming you're using kibble), scatter it on the floor, in the garden ... get her nose going and that'll keep her busy for a while. Also can put dry kibble in a 'buster' type ball.

This is the time to get basic training sorted out though, including learning to walk nicely on lead ... can do a lot in the living room or your garden, so that when you can take her out on walks (bearing in mind previous advice given) it'll be a nice walk, with no pulling :-) Enjoy her!

Make her work for her food ... rather than serving it for her in a dish (assuming you're using kibble), scatter it on the floor, in the garden ... get her nose going and that'll keep her busy for a while. Also can put dry kibble in a 'buster' type ball.

This is the time to get basic training sorted out though, including learning to walk nicely on lead ... can do a lot in the living room or your garden, so that when you can take her out on walks (bearing in mind previous advice given) it'll be a nice walk, with no pulling  Enjoy her!

Yes.. walking to heel is something they pick up really quickly as pups but it is harder to teach an older dog! As a puppy they are more fixated on you and your treats, where as an older dog usually knows where they are walking to (be it the park, or just around the block.. walks are always exciting!) so are more inclined to pull and be less interested in you and your treats.

If you spend a week or two doing it in the garden by the time you are out and about on walks s/he'll be an expert at walk to heel :))

I'm hoping to get a puppy over the next year or so and have read about the 5mins/month age for walk duration. Can someone clarify if this is per day or per walk ie could a 12 week old pup do two or 3,  15 min walks a day or is it just the one? Also totally seperate but why are we not supposed to mention breed of our dog on here?

Lynne

I'm hoping to get a puppy over the next year or so and have read about the 5mins/month age for walk duration. Can someone clarify if this is per day or per walk ie could a 12 week old pup do two or 3,  15 min walks a day or is it just the one? Also totally seperate but why are we not supposed to mention breed of our dog on here?

As far as I'm aware they can have two or three of those smaller walks in the day, it is about letting them rest so their joints aren't overworked completely. I gave Nando two of those smaller walks. As to mentioning the name of your breed, you can mention it if you're not a breeder or you don't have a litter of puppies, however if you breed and mention the name of your breed it is somewhat seen as advertising so it is best that you don't. I don't know for certain but I think there is also a security aspect for doing so.

Lynne2012 ... it's 5 mins per month per day! Else you could do 10 x 15 minute sessions and WHOA you'd be up to mega amounts of formal exercise per day :-o :-o

So, for a 12 week pup it's around 15 mins formal exercise PER DAY. We're not talking normal play here, this is formal exercise, ie going for a walk with you on a lead. Might seem over cautionary but it wont when you have a dog still doing mountain walks (if you don't do mountains then replace that for good, long country walks!) when it's into its teens.

You can mention breed, I believe, unless you are discussing a litter/prospective litter, etc, when it would be deemed as advertising.

I'd suggest that, at the moment, you focus on socialisation for your pup:  Socialisation and new experiences will tire him out, even without physical exercise.

It is perfectly possible to carry your puppy around everywhere with you, to meet new people and new environments and situations, without going down on the ground.  Every day you should be having a 'socialisation outing' before you can go for walks.  No puppy should be cooped up at home until 14wks, if you want him to grow up to be well adjusted.

yes as others have said 15mins per day ..

As rabid says .. take the pup out where ever possible .. we always  take a new pup to our local tesco where hubby stands outside while I do some shopping a great place for socialisation , lots of strokes and strangers chatting to pup , noise of cars and because schools are on thier break plenty of children for pup to see as some pups can be wary of noisy kids.Carrying at all times of course.

We also go to the park and sit on a bench or walk around the lake to let them see the swans and ducks all noises and sights they need to get used to. You will be surprised at how tiring this is for a puppy ..

Also for down time have you got a crate which if you cover it making it into a den this  will help calm pup down and be somewhere for him to go for a sleep, if it becomes a ritual then he will automatically curl up and have a nap.

We also walk to the main road and sit by the bus stop to let pup see traffic and more people.     All this of course depends on the type of area you live in.

Good luck with your puppy.

Thanks everyone for the really helpful replies to my query re amount of exercise and the ideas on socialisation.  That's the kind of thing I'd been thinking carrying it round when I walk my older dog and going to busy places so it can learn etc. It's a while of me getting it yet still at the research stage but its so exciting planning it all!

Hi again, does anyone know of any good books about the developmental stages of puppyhood to adult dog and what a pup needs at each stage? As stated in my initial reply on this post I'm looking at getting a puppy in the coming months and am interested in all the information I can get, in particular the impact of the different stages and experiences/lack of on future behaviour and links between issues at developmental stages and future behavioural problems. I've already got some knowledge from internet and experiences with my rescue dog but would love a really good book about these stages if anyone could suggest some?
Thank you, Lynne

If you go to the dogstardaily website you can donwload Ian Dunbars book Before and After you get your puppy, this covers the whole area of development and socialisation/training.  http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

Fabulous! Just what I was after, thanks.

There is also some good info on the APBC articles: 
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/puppysocialisation1
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/puppysocialisation2

And Sophia Yin has a great downloadable 'socialisation check list':
http://info.drsophiayin.com/puppy-socialization-checklist/

Another one to give a thumbs up for the Dog Star Daily & Sophia Yin websites. Also a really nice book I found last year, called Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell. Basically covers what to do with pup from day you bring it home for the first 6 weeks - can use as a sort of schedule if you wish, so you have something to aim for within each of those weeks.

Thanks everyone, lots to keep me busy there. Ideal!