Sorry folks, I know this has been covered somewhere but I can´t find it.  How long should a 7 kg mongrel puppy be walked and how many times a day?  I´m asking this on behalf of someone living in Spain who has found a Spanish trainer who wants to take the dog out for 2-3 hours in the evening "with his pack".  I´ve already expressed my shock but please correct me if I´m wrong.

General rule is 5 mins for every month up to twice daily. 2-3 hours is way too long IMHO

Thanks klb

I tend to think the 5 minutes for every month thing is something someone plucked out of the air really(I don't mean you klb) No one ever tells human children they shouldn't run around too much or jump off of things or it will damage their joints so why should that be with dogs? What is going wrong with dogs if they are going to damage their joints going up and down some stairs? Someone with a 4 month old puppy will find it has hardly broke sweat after 20 minutes walking! Having said all that I think a 2-3 hour route march would be too much all at once for a pup under 6 months. Building up fitness gradually is another thing entirely. I have never limited my puppies activity at home and would usually do around 45 minutes free running often twice a day. I take it slow and will usually stop and have a little rest and give a really young puppy a carry if I think it is tired, although they will usually resist that. I have never ever had a dog with a joint/development problem or whatever other terrible thing is meant to happen from exercise.

"Veterinary Notes for Dog Owners" By J.E.F. Houlton MA, Vet MB, MRCVS, DVR

'As far as I know there is no published evidence on the relationship of exercise and developmental musculo-skeletal disease in dogs.

My advice to owners has always been that puppies should have normal exercise - including free running - but not an over-concentration on any one activity and always with the option to self regulate - i.e. they can always flop down and rest rather than being dragged across the Downs on a route march at the weekend.

What we do know for sure is that conditions like hip dysplasia involve the muscles, bones and joints and that puppies that have minimal exercise may be overweight and have poor muscular fitness meaning that they can put more strain on their joints and have poor muscular support for them.

My conclusion is that a lean fit puppy is in better shape to resist the clinical effects of HD and thus reasonable exercise is good.

Finally HD and elbow dysplasia are genetically driven diseases - if a dog has the genes to get the problem its going to get the problem all the other effects are marginal - they make a bit of difference but not as much as the genes.

>No one ever tells human children they shouldn't run around too much or jump off of things or it will damage their joints so why should that be with dogs?

I don't think anyone encourages toddlers to jump down from something taller than themselves, and there are rules in 'proper' sport about the ages at which it's safe for children to do certain activities. No children are allowed to run marathons, but some people think it's fine for a puppy to do the equivalent.

"My conclusion is that a lean fit puppy is in better shape to resist the clinical effects of HD and thus reasonable exercise is good.

Finally HD and elbow dysplasia are genetically driven diseases - if a dog has the genes to get the problem its going to get the problem all the other effects are marginal - they make a bit of difference but not as much as the genes. "

Excessive walking doesn't cause ED or HD, but does damage the growth plates in puppies.

When a puppy has free running when it is tired it will rest, if out on a walk on a lead it is coerced into keeping going. I have seen a good few dogs whose growth plates have been damaged by over walking as a puppy & most of them are labs or similar

No one ever tells human children they shouldn't run around too much or jump off of things or it will damage their joints so why should that be with dogs?

When the human child gets too tired and says so, the parent will either carry it or pop it into the pushchair. For the pup people will just drag it along and may even call it dominant and say it needs to be shown who is the boss, when it is too tired and sits down and tries to refuse to walk further. People don't take 2 year olds on hour long walks, but seem to think nothing of dragging a 10 week old pup along for the same amount of time.

Also the BVA explains how wear and tear on the joints can cause further deformity to an already bad hip, see under "Developmental demands": http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/CHS-hip-dysplasia-feb-2014.pdf
Few people, if any, would know if their puppy had bad hips when they buy it (low scores from both parents being no absolute guarantee), so by exercising too much could easily make it worse.

The rule of thumb that made sense to me, and I found it here on this board, was a bit more specific.

Forced exercise limited to 5 minutes per month of age twice a day.  Forced being anything on leash, hard surface, constant pace, straight line, compelled to keep up with you - either/or/and.

Free play on soft surface unlimited as puppy can rest, change direction and pace at will.  Though I did have to limit free play as I once watched my happy puppy run around at Christmas time till he was wheezing for breath.  When I stopped him to put him in his crate for a rest I think he was asleep before his little body hit the crate floor.  Little devil, harbringer of things to come.  :)

Rules of thumb like this are necessary.  I've seen people running with puppies down concrete sidewalks.  You've probably seen someone with an overly tired child at a fair or some such event.  Some people just don't think.  The rules are for them.  Sadly, they are probably not the ones who ask.

Link to notes on a study conducted by the Norwegian Veterinary School on environmental factors ,growing puppies, and HD.
[url=].http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120326112842.htm  [/url]

It's a good rule of thumb as it means that your going from 15 minutes (when pup first old enough to take out on lead), building up to an hour by a year old.

As others have said this advice is for formal exercise not romping at home in the garden, resting whenever they tire.

Certainly the same advice is given on the Kennel club website: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-puppy/general-advice-about-caring-for-your-new-puppy-or-dog/puppy-and-dog-walking/

"Puppy exercising

Puppies need much less exercise than fully-grown dogs. If you over-exercise a growing puppy you can overtire it and damage its developing joints, causing early arthritis. A good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppy is fully grown, i.e. 15 minutes when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old etc. Once they are fully grown, they can go out for much longer.

- See more at: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-puppy/general-advice-about-caring-for-your-new-puppy-or-dog/puppy-and-dog-walking/#sthash.ehPrGHml.dpuf"

I too have seen many puppies dragged around for long walks to tire them out, as they are bored and destructive at home.

And yet gymnasts are pretty much veterans by the time they are 14. I wasn't talking about children jumping over head height I meant they are not restricted or discouraged from normal running around. I wasn't aware that there were so many people out there that force puppies to walk when they don't want to! I am sure the potential to do injury is there but I am sceptical about this "general rule" is all.

And yet gymnasts are pretty much veterans by the time they are 14.

And then what happens to them? My mother in law was a professional dancer when young. By the age of 40 she needed a hip replacement and she has been registered disabled ever since, not able to walk without a walker indoors, outdoors she has to use a wheelchair. She's still alive at 87 but in chronic excruciating pain that nothing can help. The doctors have always said it was all the excessive dancing as young that caused her problems.

Impactive excerise is not good for any of us.
I know not doga but my pyshio has said that running is the worst exercise we can do, its far too impactive on our joints. She has said you rarely see runners over the age of 50, its down to the damage thag is caused with too much running when younger and has advised me not to do too much of it myself..

And yet gymnasts are pretty much veterans by the time they are 14. I wasn't talking about children jumping over head height I meant they are not restricted or discouraged from normal running around. I wasn't aware that there were so many people out there that force puppies to walk when they don't want to! I am sure the potential to do injury is there but I am sceptical about this "general rule" is all.

I think that's the problem, the puppies aren't forced.  Puppies want to be with us, they'll go till they are ready to drop.  Owners can take them too far, too long, too fast and never know by how the puppy looks.

I tend to think the 5 minutes for every month thing is something someone plucked out of the air really

Thin air.
.

People would be wrong to interpret the 5 mins thing as a strict rule. It's a rule of thumb intended to illustrate a point. The point could be expressed as:

"Younger puppies need less continuous exercise than you might think or than they will realise, so don't overdo it when they are young."

But if you say that, people will say "but what does that mean in practice? Half an hour? An hour?"

So a rule of thumb was devised which gives a very rough guide to the kind of scale involved. I do not particularly stick to it, though I'm very scrupulous about puppies and stairs/jumping.

If you take your seven month beagle puppy out for an occasional 50 minute walk in the park, nothing terrible is going to happen (in my view) but if you take your 3 month puppy for a 45 minute lead walk every day, then it might have problems in later life, that's all.

It's just trying to put a figure on careful common sense. Which is obviously not an exact science, but can be helpful.

It's too bad this board doesn't have "Like" or "Thanks" buttons.  I'd put one on BeagleBaggie.  :)

If you take your seven month beagle puppy out for an occasional 50 minute walk in the park, nothing terrible is going to happen (in my view) but if you take your 3 month puppy for a 45 minute lead walk every day, then it might have problems in later life, that's all.

Very true!

My ex husband used to be a dog journalist, writing for both dog papers and the magazines as well. I remember a case he wrote about -it went to court. A Labrador puppy had been walked 3 miles+ a day from the age of 8 weeks, and ended up with severe HD.

Used to go to a class and the instructor told us about a pup that was in a different class............Golden owned by a 'sporty' family walked for about 1hr a day and at weekends they liked doing 12-15 mile hikes WITH the pup.
It was PTS at about 5/6 months..........totally crippled

what made it even worse was the man was a paediatrician !!!

When I have a pup I take them out in a sling if I'm going any distance and they can go down for a wee pootle and then up again ( but still keeping within the 5 min guide ) you wouldn't believe the looks and comments I have gotten in the past.
Even when I've explained about growing bones, people are very resistant to the idea bones can be damaged and that a puppy doesn't have boundless energy.
Next puppy will also have a dog buggy to be taken out in, so I expect even more smartarse comments will ensue .

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">When I have a pup I take them out in a sling if I'm going any distance and they can go down for a wee pootle and then up again ( but still keeping within the 5 min guide ) you wouldn't believe the looks and comments I have gotten in the past.

LOL you are not alone, we took our Basset pup out for a walk with us in a sports bag with the top half of one of the ends cut out!

Sounds brilliant Celli!

We have a very large garden centre near us.  It's perfect for socialising and we put our pup in a trolly (with blanket!) and wheeled him around, then sat and had a coffee with him still in the trolly.  We did this many times and it worked really well.  We couldn't walk very far without being stopped for a chat and a cuddle!  He loved it.

Still take him there now on a regular basis as there's so much for him to see and learn - but no longer in the trolly!