Hi I know this site is excellent for giving information about dogs, but as we are first time owners of a cocker spaniel, wondered if it makes a difference to the advice given? What we would like to know is how far and for how long should we take our puppy out. Read that too much exercise could cause problems later in life? Our puppy is 14weeks old on Saturday has had both injections and so is allowd out.  Asked vet for advice but he said our puppy will let us know? Any advice will be greatly received.  Thanks.

Hi! Don't worry, the advice given will be the same no matter how many dogs anyone has because you can never stop learning! :)

In a way your vet is right, that your puppy will let you know when it's tired, but you do have to know what signs to look for. Like children, they'll keep going as long as possible, way past the time they should rest, and then they get overtired and grumpy, and can do themselves harm. So to start off with keep the walks short - the general rule of thumb for the average breed is 5 minutes formal exercise per month of age - so a three month pup would get walks of about 15 minutes, which to start with is generally plenty. At this stage they're not being walked for exercise (they get plenty of that playing at home and in the garden) but more for socialisation and training. Of course yours is a small puppy so you'll be able to pick him up and carry him when necessary - owners of other breeds don't have that luxury and have to time their walks carefully!

As long as he has plenty of rest between his outings I'm sure he'll be fine.
:)

I tend to build up the rate of exercise of my cockers a little faster than the 5 minute 'rule' they are not at high risk from hip problems and I think it important to build strong muscles, lungs and hearts.  I agree with your vet I think you can observe quite easily when the pup is tiring, if you think you have over done it cocker pups are fairly portable ;) the trick is to judge it to just that level and increase the distance a little when it is arriving home full of beans still :)