Hiya,
I have a 17 week old labrador pup and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I know that large breed pups shouldn't do alot of exercise when they are young, the thing is that Kobi is really energetic and it is very difficult not taking him on reasonably long walks, he loves being out and he happily runs and walks for 30 minutes ata time if given the chance, we have a failry small house and garden and there is only so much running about he can do. Also we are going on holiday next week and I wanted to take him out places with us which would involve some walking. What I wanted to know is whether this is doing him any serious harm? Is there actual evidence to say that exercising your pup does harm?

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated, at the moment I just feel cruel keeping him confined!

Sarah

I suspect that your puppy would benefit from mental exercise more than physical exercise.

Certainly my gundogs have been perfectly happy in the house and garden and small excursions outside with sufficient training sessions.

Over exercising your dog can result in too much strain on the dog's joints, the growth plates do not close until 1`5 - 18 months in the case of a lab and as they are a prime candidate for HD it would appear sensible to restrict exercise accordingly.

Young puppies should be allowed to free play but not taken on forced route marches IMHO.

So does that mean I have to restrict his exercise until 18 months? I think he gets plenty of mental stimulation, he is the kong king and enjoys games and training, and he certainly won't be route marched as I don't think I'd survive that!

Will a puppy not dictate his own level of exercise though? I mean won't he just stop if he's tired?

Sarah

>I mean won't he just stop if he's tired?

I'm afraid not. :( Most puppies keep themselves going till they drop from exhaustion rather than stop before that damaging stage has been reached. It's up to us to do the limiting till they're old enough for it not to do permanent harm.

Would a child stop eating sweets when they had only what would be classed as sensible?

>So does that mean I have to restrict his exercise until 18 months?

In a word, Yes

There is a very good rule of thumb. 5mins per month per day
ie; at 3 months = 5 x 3 = 15 mins
    at 4 months = 5 x 4 = 20 mins
and so on and so forth.

Tohme has also quite rightly stated that the growth platelets do not close until around 15-18months.

Free play will be more than enough for a Lab puppy at 17weeks. In a young, growing dog with a genotype (genetic makeup) for CHD who will eventually develop some trouble because of it, will develop more arthritis and have more eventual difficulty if it is highly active physically.  Climbing stairs, jumping into and out of the back of Estate Cars, running with other dogs can all subject the growing hip structures to unwarranted stress and trauma and increase future discomfort for the dog.  The effects of this excessive activity is worsened in an overweight pup. (In a normal, growing dog, all these activities will not cause hip dysplasia!) but can exacerbate a problem already there, but until old enough for hip scoreing (over one year old) you wont know if there is a problem, so why risk your pups health?
Not only walks should be restricted but excess puppy play, running and jumping should also be curtailed.  The best excersise for a puppy with excess energy is mental stimulation and obedience training.  Simple sits, stays, down stays, and waits, for example will have a puppy tired out very quickly :) Thankfully :D :D
Kay

I will, of course, follow the recommended advice. But I was wondering what the evidence was for this? Have there been studies on it? (sorry the scientist in me creeping out again)

Sarah

http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/hd.html

Hope this gives you the info you need, American site but very interesting :)

Thanks for that kayc, it was really interesting but incredibly worrying. No more running up and down stairs 20 times a day for young Kobi dog. It's very difficult stopping them running about when they look like they're having such a good time isn't it? Well I'm glad I asked now because I would've taken him out on walks with us next week, I think it will have to just be garden playtime instead!

Sarah

I am going to have the same problems soon, but someone told me to get a baby gate for the stairs to stop them running up and down them....

We were told that aswell so we bought a baby gate which was great at first, but our pup is now nearly 15kg (32lbs) and he has figured that if he really runs at it the gate will collapse, I hardly have any paint left on my wall!

Sarah

I had to buy the old fashioned ones that screw into the wall as the vice grip ones were, to put it mildly, useless :) A lot cheaper though, £15.99 from Argos

Hi Smurgle
We are about to pick up our pup (irish wolfhound) in a couple of weeks and have been trying to find out as much as possible to keep himentertained (so he doesn't eat our house!) without over exercising whilst growing, I spoke to a lady yesterday who has a Newfie pup and she recommended a Kong filled with a few treats or with a little bit of peanut butter inside the Kong. She said it is great mental stimulation/exercise for them and although not physically tiring she said her pup does get tired from the mental exercise, apparently it keeps them occupied for ages!!
I think we will invest in one :-)
Good Luck!

This may sound a little daft, but what is a kong?

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/category.asp?dept_id=177

Invented by Roger Mugford I believe, there are lots of varieties now.

Oh, thats what its called. I have one that was chewed to bits by my last dog, will have to get a new one for my pup, along with some other toys that haven't been in my staffies mouth yet...

Why, does your staffie have a communicable disease?

LOL, not at all, but he is very protective of HIS toys. Just thought that if its not been in his gobby mouth, the new arrival may stand a chance of keeping a toy of her own.

Tennis balls are a no no in my house. When my last dog played with a ball, and if he dropped it, sam would be there to grab it from him straight away, even though he had a ball of his own... It caused a couple of minor fights, but Barnie was so laid back he didn't really care, SAM DOES.....