Exercise With a New Puppy

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p2tmewcg
p2tmewcg Posts: 5 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
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?

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  • YellowD0gs
    YellowD0gs Posts: 693 Member
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    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
    AnnofB Posts: 3,584 Member
    edited May 2021
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    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
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,832 Member
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    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.

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