Exercise With a New Puppy

p2tmewcg

Hey all, soon I’ll be getting a 9 week old puppy and wanted to ask everyone if they go for runs with their dogs or use them in a type of workout routine. I figured a puppy wouldn’t be able to keep up on a couple mile run so about what level of exercise could I expect other than a slow walk?

cmriverside

Talk to your vet first.

It's not good to run young dogs, their bones and joints can be damaged.

YellowD0gs

Other than a slow walk, or actually many shorter slow walks, you probably won't be doing much exercise (for you anyway) with a young puppy for a few weeks. Focus on the essentials; sit, stay, come, house-breaking, leash training, socializing, and having puppy fun. But don't worry, in a few weeks you won't be able to keep up with it.

AnnofB

My husband and I adopted a year old stray last August. He was in bad health, but in a few weeks was a different dog, full of energy and a zest for life that has amazed us.

Currently, we play fetch a lot. I have to remind him to drop the ball so I can throw it for him, but that's part of the fun of it for him. We found a toy that's y shaped and can be thrown like a frizbee. Easy for him to pick up. We don't have a fenced in yard, so we keep him on a leash when outside. But, we want to get him to the point that he will stay with us and not run after chipmunks. So we drop the leash from time to time and give him free rein. He runs like a gazelle. I'm sure he has set a few land speed records. Anyway, all this to say YellowD0gs is right. it won't be long and your new puppy will be way ahead of you, looking back with that, "Catch me if you can" look.

Hope you have great fun with it.

ridiculous59

We got a golden retriever puppy last year and every thing I read said not to run with a puppy till they're 6-8 months old due to their growth plates and joints.

Young puppies are all about learning what's going on in the world around them and have a very short attention span. They take a lot of patience. A lot. Think toddler. You also don't want to have them playing around unknown dogs until they've had all their required shots.

But if you're patient the end result is so worth it. We had a fantastic winter cross country skiing or snowshoeing together most days and now we run or hike every day. My dogs (I also have a border collie) are my best exercise buddies.

wunderkindking

Yep. Dog person here - do running with the dogs, both beside me and canicross (they pull me), as well as agility, disc, obedience, and dock diving. Get paid to raise other people's puppies.

Let the baby be a baby. It goes fast and they need to watch, sniff, meander and explore the world - safely, so get them out but carry them in dog heavy locations and stick to interacting with dogs you know are safe until vaccinations are done. Be kind and don't rush. It'll be over before you know it.

DO NOT run a dog before growth plate closure. Letting them CHOOSE to run and play is fine, but do not encourage it and certainly do not do so on leash when they don't have all the control over speed and when they stop. No, not even a teenage puppy who seems fine, though at that age you can do about a minute per month of age. When they hit full growth, you'll want to build endurance and fitness the same way you would with you. A couch to 5K program can be pretty great for human and dog. I personally don't like running dog on asphalt/pavement because there are issues with heat and the surface is hard so impact is jarring and rough.

Once you've got base fitness the sky's the limit with some common sense to condition (heat, uneven, slick, or sharp surfaces, etc). I've never met any human who could outlast an adult (but pre-senior) dog who was safely and consistently conditioned.

p2tmewcg

Everyone has really helpful information and thank you for your responses. I figured there was a time where it’s “okay” to run a dog and I thought around 6 months would be good. I will keep talking with the vet and make sure all is developing well with the pup before running. Everyone is absolutely right to enjoy the puppy time since it will go by so fast. Thanks again and I’m sure I will have more questions later.