Exercise - how much is too much?

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Exercise - how much is too much?

Posted : 4/23/2006 10:09:47 AM

I have a 90 lb. 1 1/2 year old mutt. He's a bulldogish/mastiffy kind of mix . . . not overly hyper (like my friends lab mix), but not a lazy dog either.

The other day I had him follow me on a ~ 10-15 mile mountain bike trip. I brought along plenty of food and water for the both of us, and we stopped and rested regularly. It was a relatively cool day.

On the uphill sections of our trip, he was usually ahead of me, as I was crawling slowly on my bike. But on the downhill sections (when I was crusing along at a pretty fast pace), he was starting to look a little beat. And towards the end of the trip, I was starting to get a little worried that perhaps I was running him too much (although he wasn't showing any serious signs of fatigue, just heavy panting).

The next day, however, he was moving around like he was a 100 year old dog. [

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So how much running can a medium-large dog actually handle?

glenmar

Posted : 4/23/2006 10:16:38 AM

Sounds like too much too quickly. You need to condition a dog for work like that just as you have to condition yourself. The first time you went for a long ride, I'm sure that you didn't do a lot of miles. They have to build up to it as well. And if any of that weight is OVER weight, then he's out of shape and really not at all ready for that kind of work.

One of my fosters went to a gal who is training for a 5K...Trinity runs with her, but Lori started her off slow and steady. One of my older pups loves to run as well, but we train him carefully so he won't hurt himself and never allow him to run on anything other than grass...plus, I'm an old fart who doesn't move any too fast anyway....and DH is even worse!

Start slowly and let him build up to the big rides. In time, he'll be able to do as much as you can.

Stef w

Posted : 4/23/2006 4:26:00 PM

When I started jogging with Wes, I would do a double loop and have him run the first one and then I'd run the second alone. (Or vice versa.) We worked up to almost 8k last year. He loves to run with me. Since we don't run much in the Winter - we've started small jogs to start this season. (2-3k at a time) I don't run very fast though ... It wouldn't be like riding a bike.