jogging with a dog

lexgem

I have a few questions about jogging with a dog, mine is still young - 6 months - but he's a small breed (lhasa apso). Is he too young to go jogging with me (I don't run fast and I jog 20-30 minutes at a time, no more)? Is there anything I should know before trying to jog with him?

aa1440

I think this question should be asked of your vet.

ashleynicoleb

I was wondering the same thing. My yellow lab is only 4 months and I wasn't sure if she'd be ready to jog just yet. It takes a lot to train them to run along with you so they don't trip you up!

sugarbone

Also remember dogs may be faster than us, but humans are supreme distance runners. I don't know how long it would take to exhaust a dog though, I'd just be careful because animals will suffer quietly until they collapse instead of saying "can we take a break?".

maemiller

i started jogging w/my GSD when she was 6months old. my vet said to take it easy, very short slow distances since her bones are still soft and growing. He said to work my distances up gradually month to month as she grows older. Shes 3 right now and the farthest i take her is around 5 miles(easy jogs). You might want to read up on running with the breed of dog you have and also the terrain youre running on (concrete, gravel). GSD are a cold weather breed, so i take it easy with her on hot days. Winter time, well shes Wonder Dog, she loves the snow!!

kardeamad

Be careful with young dogs - too much strain on joints now can bring issues later (especially for the lab).

Ask your vet or the breeder you got the dog from. We have terriers and they are born running :laugh: but we don't take them on long walks (15 miles+) until they are over 12 months.

iwillsoonbeslim

Our jogging pace is a fairly unnatural gait for most dogs, and he is a little young, imo.
My Lhasa loves hiking, hill climbing, jogging, coming with the bike etc...they are ruff, tuff little dogs - but I'd stick to walks until his bones and joints are formed

susanloveszumba

i personally wouldn't jog with any dog until they are at least 12 months...larger breeds a little older.

vizamy

I agree ... wait until the dog is matured. How much jogging after mature would depend on the breed of dog and how athletic it is. E.g. one of my Vizslas, no problems ... a Pekingese or other non-athletic dog ... not so much.

melaniecheeks

Yup, very short distances until a dog is a year old, as their bones are still forming.

I tried to do too much too soon with Max, my mad Weim in my profile pic, and ended up damaging his shoulder!

lexgem

OK got it I won't jog him, I'll just keep walking him and run around to play (short, fast bursts he seems to love) until he's grown

I can already tell he enjoys steep hills and climbs, he seeks them out! This is good because even walking in hills is challenging for me.

Amo_Angelus

You can take a pup of that age jogging with you. We took our Alsation pup roller blading, which is fair bit faster than jogging, when he wa about 4 months. You simply have to pay attention to the pup and watch for sign that it's getting tired and watch for it crossing in front of you, but puppies tend to like running, like children they have the energy and enthusiasm. If they grow up going jogging with you, then they'll learn the ropes much fater and you'll learn what to watch for much faster.

Are you just starting out jogging? Because if so, I bet your pup can last longer than you can.

And in case anyone's interested the alsation grew up to be as good as gold when we were on the blades. He never crossed in front of u because he learned early on that it meant we swerved and fell down. We also caught each other and it hurt (this is me and my sister) so he knew not to get in the way without ever getting injured. He could run for miles with us and walk slowly by our side at roads. We actually had two dogs at the time, mine was a rescue staffy who was eually well behaved on the blades and my parents often marvelled at the fact that we could walk them on roller blades without getting pulled over. My dad has a video of us rolling down the hill in front of the caravan at blackpool, dogs out in front, on lead as we idle down, them not pulling at all and then we all stop all at once, because we'd taught them the small gestures for we're stopping, we're speeding up and we're slowing down. No one ever saw them and I can't actually remember them now, but the dogs knew. Joe better than Snoopy because although Snoopy had been doing it longer, Joe had been taught from a pup.

meerkat70

I run with my dogs - they're great running companions. Just like you, they need to build their fitness slowly, so don't rush them straight into a 10 mile run....

6 months may be a little young though - their joint and skeletal development isn't yet complete. I'd hang off till your pup was a year or so.

Bamacraft

I think you have plenty of opinions to judge by but i dont remember reading one tip. You'll have to work up to distance because his/her paws will be tender at first if you run on paved surfaces. I had two labs and i ran them too much the first time out and their paws were almost raw! I tended to stick wirh fields and creeks after that. plus they were 120 each so a bit of a handful...

richardholt2011

When we got our labrador the vet said to be very careful for at least the first six months - easy to cause damage which you dont discover for years.

He also said not to let the dog come down the stairs on his own while he was still a puppy but to carry him instead. But we had to abandon that when Dora started running half way down the stairs and then leaping into mid air and crash land on the hall carpet. Doesnt seem to have done him any harm.

He's now 12 and spends most of the day asleep. The dog that is not the vet