I'm a first time dog owner and I have a 13 week old, male, choc. lab. I recently took him to my vet for his last puppie shot. My vet informed me that "moose" should not be exersising at all until he's at least a year old. I've cut down on outside play time and walks but he seems depressed now . He's not listening as well as he was, and dosn't have half the energy he used too. I understand that too much play brings on displatia, but no play? That seems almost cruel. what do you think?

im sure a lab expert will be along soon but as far as i have heard all dogs need exercise! what you need to do is regulate the exercise in the first year, maybe 2  x 15 min walks a day rather than a long 2 hour one and not too much galloping untill they are at least a year. but i have to say i thought that was just giant breeds like great danes or leonbergers not labs.

The rule of thumb with all medium to large dogs is : daily exercise should equal 5 minutes for every month of the puppy's life - i e if your puppy is 3 months old, he should have 15 mins of exercise - now I do this twice daily, but some might say only 15 mins daily.   So you gradually build up his on lead exercise, so that by the time he is a year old, he can be on 1 hour per day per walk!   Of course you can still play outside with him - but not too much ball throwing which would mean him jumping - this is where you can exercise his brain and start training him :D

Enjoy your puppy!

Margot

Hi Jacinta, excellent choice of pup :D 

As Lokis Mum has rightly stated, a puppy needs limited exercise until the growth platelets have fully formed and closed. (around 12 months). It is recommended that the puppy should have a walk of no more than 5 mins x age per day.   ie: at 3 months walk should be 15 mins = 3 x 5.  At 9 months walk should be 45 mins = 9 x 5. At one year puppy can have an hour long walk each day. Never allow a puppy to run up and down stairs, (Personally I dont like them using stairs at all) or jump down from furniture.  This can damage the growth platelets.  Exercise hin in public parks where he will get used to meeting other dogs. Socialise as soon after vaccination as possible.

When we talk about excersising puppies, we do not mean allowing them to free run. Excersise includes as much brain work as a little puppy can take at any given time....Brain work is very exhausting.  Taking a puppy out for socialisation can mean sitting in the park for an hour or so with puppy sitting beside you or on you knee greeting passers-by...this is all socialisation...It is the amount of walking time that needs to be curtailed....

A very gentle build up of lead walking can help build up muscle without excacerbating any possible hip problem the pup may have...unfortunately, you may not notice any problems until a year old or more....

If your pup does have the possibility of HD, then gentle excersise in small doses will help build up a good muscle mass...over excersise will not induce HD but will certainly excarbate the problem, resulting in a pup being in crippling pain by the time it is 18months old....

In a nutshell....socialisation and brain work...key elements to an enjoyable parnership of Labrador ownership :D

I have avery large 6month GSD x Rottie.  She gets a quick barely 5 mins walk round our small block in the morning and then approx 30 mins later in the day.
She does run around and play with my 11month JR in the house but I don't allow them into the garden together as they go wild.  She does however like to retrieve a ball I throw in the garden ( I only have a very small garden so not far to go to get it.You could give yours a 5 min walk in the morning and a 15 min one in the afternoon.
I find this quick 5 mins in the morning settles them quite well as they feel they have been out and the longer one later mentally satifies them more.
You can also do training at home to stimulate and hide some of his food around the house instead of feeding it in a bowl so he has to search it out. All this helps to keep them mentally happy.

Bev

Excercise him in short intervals througout the day , 10-15 minutes walks then allow him to rest , fetch is always fun and he'll let you know when he's tired (usually:))

Thank you to everyone who has replied. It seems like you get better answers here than from my vet! Me and Moose took a 15 min walk this morning, we sat and watched people walk by for about an hour and another 15 min walk after dinner. It seems like he's more content and back to being happy puppie! Thanks to everyone!