I am still sticking to the 5 minute rule for Desi and I know that a general rule of thumb is 5 minutes walk per every month of the pup's age - so at 8 months her walks should be  40 minutes long but I am unsure having spoken to a lady in the park the other day who confused me no end whether this now means 40 minutes and that is all the whole day ie breaking the walks into two of 20 mins each etc or
Does it mean she can go on two or three walks a day actually lasting 40 minutes each time.
I would be so grateful if this could be cleared up for me as Desi is off to the pet sitter soon and I do want to give her the correct instructions for this.
Thanks so much
Van
ps Desi loves the water is it ok for her to go in for a little swim at this age?
 

Now ~I may be wrong here but-I understand it to be 40 mins for the whole day ie 2x 20 min walks. Remember Desi is only 8 months old and bones are still soft, etc,I did this with my pup,and gradually increased it as he got older.Also  jumping and leaping etc, landing on soft bones dont help much either...

At 8 months a 40 minute walk is fine, but not compulsory. Certainly 3 or 4 40 minute walks on a regular basis are unnecessary and should depend on what time you have available. A 40 minute walk is fine as is a 40 minute walk plus another of 10 minutes, even two 30 minute walks depending on how it fits into your day. As I have said to you in the past, your dog is quite capable of fitting into your lifestyle and it's what suits you that counts. Take me for example, during the week my dogs don't get anything like as much walking as they do at weekends! Don't be too regimented, that way starts to make a walk into a chore rather than quality time.

Regards, John

Swimming is great for them because it doesnt put too much stress on the joints :)

We think our gold ret is a wuss when it comes to swimming!

Took him up to the canal at the weekend and he wasn't too sure! Maybe because it was flat and showed his reflection?  Think he missed the water gene!

Hi John
I promise the walks are not a chore and I actually am having taken your advice not worrying as much and she is not expecting now to go out and guess what... she has even stopped going to the door on the pretext of weeing hooray!!!!! but I am taking her to the pet sitter and I worry that she might be over exercised there to I want to give a precise amount of exercise a day to her.
With your knowledge of the 5 min rule if she is 8 months does that 40 minutes mean a few times a day or is it 40 minutes for the whole day?
Best wishes
Van

The 5 minute rule is an ideal and easy way of conveying to people a "Rule of the thumb" exercising regime, but it is, as all things are, a compromise, the importance of which decreases with age. For example, in theory, by a year old the 5 minute rule would say one hour but if I was going to the shoot to do something not too stressful, like a wander round feeding the birds I would have no worries about my puppy accompanying me for the morning, possibly two and a half hours! By the same token, I would consider 2.5 hours spent energetically retrieving birds on a shooting day as too much. (If you can follow my logic!) Puppy development is not a straight line graph and although the point you are at is important, you are approaching the time when it is possibly slightly less important and the occasional SLIGHT over exercise is not going to cause much bother.

If a puppy walker was going to take her out for a 40 minute walk at (We'll say) 9-00am then another walk at 3 or 4pm would be fine. If on the other hand she was taking the dogs out at, say, 11-00am, going home to lunch then going out again by 1-00pm I'd say it was too much because the puppy would not have time to really recover.

Water is good for her but be aware that if she gets a taste for it and is allowed to go in whenever she sees water you could be making a rod for your own back. I like to "Train" water in that a dog is "Allowed" to enter water only on my command. I do a certain amount of heelwork training beside water so my dogs are aware that they do not have free access to it. Sometimes you don't want wet dog so the training is useful. Remember, mine have to work both in and beside water so in their case it's not only useful, it's essential!

Regards, John

John thank you so much I am much clearer now about this.
Desi really likes to go into the water but something she does do is before she goes in she looks around for me and waits for me to say "off you go" only then will she go in.  She started to do this herself if I say No and walk on she will not go in which is great. 
I am doing my instructions for the pet sitter now so I can tell her walking time.
Thanks you are a star
van

You're welcome Van :)

Best wishes, John