Hi

I have heard that you should not give a lot of exercise larger breed puppies. Is this true?
We are getting a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy. Ho wmuch should we be looking to exercise her daily?

I've also heard it is better to feed adult food because the puppy food contains too much protein. Again, is this true?

Thanks in advance :)

Feed what the breeder advices as they will have the experience of the particular line, what suits them best etc.

Exercise= 5 minutes per month of age, so that means max 15 minutes at 3 months, etc.

you must take the advise offered by your breeder as they obviously know what works best for their breed and lines (assuming it is an experienced and responsble breeder you are going to of course). When people have a pup from me it comes with a book I have had printed, that tells them everything about diet and excercise.

Not sure about Ridgies but a i know a lot of people in my breed say not to walk them until they are between 4-6 months and then only 5mins a day, which is on top of play and training in the home. And classes outside the home.

Hi Andy

The walks, like others have said, should be limited to approx 5 mins per month of age.  You'll find Ridgeback puppies are very boisterous, grow extremely quickly and can be a real handful.  If you have small children teach them not to get the pup overly excited (jumping, bounding around etc as this can lead to damage later on).  Please don't be tempted to overdo exercise as your pup grows as a house confined ridgeback due to overexercise is a nightmare! (I knew someone who had done this).

If you're feeding dry food, stick with a large breed puppy food before switching her over onto adult food at about 12-18 months.  Really, your breeder should've already given you loads of advice about caring for your puppy - if advice isn't coming thick and fast from them at this stage I would be seriously concerned!

Hi

What age should she be when we start exercising her without worry of damaging her then?

The advice from the breeder is fine, it's just other stuff I've heard sometimes conflicts and I'm then never sure what to believe!!!

Thanks for the advice guys.

Assumng you've found an experienced, reputable breeder, they really should be the best source of info for you, they know what suits thier lines best.

The breeder should be more than happy to answer any questions you have and should also be please to explain the answers (ie. I raise my pups on x because..etc..).

When I went to pick up Buster (Mastiff) I still had many questions that I wanted answered and I wanted questions I had asked earlier to be re-answerd (I forgot so much in all the exitement of gettting my dream dog, LOL). I spent ages typing up all the questions I still had, leaving space for the answers and the breeder was very happy to go through it all with me and was even happy to give advice on introducing my new pup to my adult male mongrel.

>I have heard that you should not give a lot of exercise larger breed puppies. Is this true?

The general rule for puppies is 5 mins per month of life, but some large/giant breed puppies do grow at such a quick rate (which puts pressure on the developing skeleton) that formal excersise can be un-needed extra pressure. My pup was not meant to have formal exercise before 9 months old(that is, exercise for the sake of exercise, as opposed to eg. ambling around a car-boot sale for socialisation/short walks for lead-training purposes).
This is why the breeder is the best person to ask for this as they will know what is best for thier lines (different lines grow/mature at different rates).

>What age should she be when we start exercising her without worry of damaging her then?

The '5-minute rule' is a sliding scale, so that the pup's exercise increases proportionately to its age.

At 3 months it would get daily walks of 5 minutes x 3 = 15 minutes.
At 4 months it would get daily walks of 5 minutes x 4 = 20 minutes.
At 5 months it would get daily walks of 5 minutes x 5 = 25 minutes.

There is no general agreement whether that should be the total daily amount (split into several outings) or whether that's the maximum amount per walk, and the pup could have a couple of walks that length daily, with plenty of rest in between.  This doesn't mean they're not allowed to play freely in the house and garden, though.

By adulthood (around a year) it should be fully developed skeletally and capable of most exercise.

In my large breed we also advice no exercise, as Suejaw has said :)

But I suggest to puppy owners that once the pup has had his full injections, to give him great socialiastion is to take him (don't let him walk) to a park or beach, sit on a bench and let him see the world! It is great socialiastion for him and people will want to come and say hello and then he will see that the big wide world is not that scary! :)
Please also be careful with him jumping off sofas climbing stairs etc; as their bones are so soft at puppy stage and they grow quickly, so to avoid accidents put a dog gate up on your stairs, and avoid having him on the sofas! :)

Andy

Use the sliding scale as a rough guide to exercise and don't confuse 'exercise' with socialisation as this breed, like many others, needs a huge amount!

I agree with Mastifflover on the list of questions, I forgot loads of stuff and my breeder was more than happy to go through everything with me (even though I already had a Ridgeback!).  I still keep in contact with her (just last week I was e-mailing her for advice) and she is invaluable.  What may seem abnormal to you and others on the forum you ask advice from you'll probably find is completely normal for their 'lines'. 

> What age should she be when we start exercising her without worry of damaging her then?

If you stick to the 5 minutes per month of life you will be up to 1.5hours by 18 months and up to two hours at two. 

I would imagine after that age I would not be worrying about doing over two hours as your unlikely to be walking longer than that daily.