Hi there,

Quick question about puppies and walks!  I know about the 5 minutes per month of age rule, which is particularly important in our case as our puppy is a large breed prone to hip dysplasia. 

So say for example the puppy is 4 months old, it can walk for 20 minutes.  But does that mean 15 minutes on the lead or off it?  The nearest park to us is 7 or 8 minutes walk away, and the big park is about 20 minutes walk.  Would the walk to the park 'count' towards the 20 minutes?

Thanks in advance,

Alice
(Puppy arriving on 31st March, I CAN'T WAIT! :D )

Yes, the walk to and from the park counts as part of the total time.

OK... so on-lead counts as well as off-lead then.

Next question... how long do you keep counting?  At one year old, the puppy could walk for 60 minutes.  After that, is it OK to do the occasional longer walk, e.g. 2 hours, or do you have to stick to the 5 mins/month?

Cheers,

Alice

(I thought I'd get lots of exercise walking the dog - looks like I won't after all!)

It depends when your breed is physically mature. For a labrador, for example, you needn't stick quite so rigidly, but a 2-hour walk would need to be worked up to. I personally wouldn't want to do that before 18 months.

That's not necessarily a bad thing Alice - it'll give you a chance to adjust :D

Two months down the line and I'm still trying to get used to jumping from 2 hours a day with Remy and Opi to 2 hrs a day with them and an extra 2 hrs a day for Soli!  2hrs to 4hrs is a bit of a leap, 5 mins more a month sounds better to me :D

hi all, please could you tell me if the 5 minutes per month applies to all breeds or just the large & giants? not sure my 5 month old pup would be content with no off lead run! thank you....cheryl.

Generally medium-sized breeds upwards. And remember that the 5-minute rule doesn't mean they can't have an offlead run - just include it in the time allowance! A 5-month pup could have a 5-minute lead-walk, then 15 minutes off-lead, then 5 minutes on lead home again. :)

thank you jeangenie for your reply, i currently walk for 10 mins, off lead for 10 mins & then 10 mins home again! i do have an extremely active breed which is a couch potato indoors, hope i'm  not overdoing things...cheryl.