Worried about over excercising

D'oh meant to say also with that walk that day she played in the house multiple times with her toys, and got in another walk that was probably about 10-15 minutes and still had energy to burn later that night so we took her on the grassy hill to run around on at her pace (not more than a 10 minute romp). 

There is no risk of over exercising but there is a risk of allowing her to run on concrete, paved roads and of allwoing her to carry/pull a lot of weight.

A large breed pup shouldnt be run hard on pavement until they are 9-11months. They should eb asked to carry a backpak with a lot of weight or pull a lot of weight.

However running in dirt or on grass is a great way to exercise.

I dont think you pull with Ari but if you plan on getting hre to use a backpak you could get her used to a empty one!

 Oh excellant, phew I really am such a worry wort!  She will need to get used to a backpack eventually, since we plan to hike with her once she's a year or little over a year old (short hikes to start!).  Anytime she runs it's off leash, since I don't run.  Ever.  Not a runner, don't enjoy it in the slightest.  My SO is counting down till she's old enough to run with however :)

We won't be doing any pulling with her, right now we are working on not pulling me on the leash!  Actually we have been since day 1.  The stand like a tree trick doesn't work for her, I just turn around go in the other direction to get her back to me and treat for walking on a loose leash (I don't require a strict heel).  We also are using a no pull harness at this point, b/c it's slow going on this and I have a shoulder that can't take it when she pulls.  The harness is working out great in conjunction with the training.

So short walks on concrete should be ok then?  I really want her to get used to noiser places with more people milling about, and the down town area from where I work would be ideal (busier, but not overly so, often fairly quiet so a good introduction place).   Just don't want to do anything that would harm her!

Can't wait to take her swimming again, darn all this rain and lightening!  Swimming tuckers her right out and is such a good low impact activity for the both of us!   

She loves to walk, so I'm glad I shouldn't worry so much about over excercising.  It mellows her and me out, and man the things I notice now on walks I NEVER did before Ari!  Mostly such stuff is things she shouldn't eat, but still....I'm a much more observant person! 

 We use 3 different leads a 6' lead flat collar for regular walks, a 20' in the woods and a 50' floating lead for water.  BEfore she goes out she needs to sit and offer a touch, she pretty much automatically sits now, we added the touch b/c it brought her focus back to us once sit became automatic.  OK is our release word to let her know she can get up and go out. 

Leash training has been since day one.  Never required a heel, if she is at the end of the lead but not pulling I'm OK with that.  

To correct, we turn around go "oops" and bring her back to us and repeat ad nasuem. 

You are fine!  Don't worry too much, you are watching for signs of her being tired and taking precautions.  I really think it's crazy not to walk a dog on concrete until 9 months old, I live in Manchester and we wouldn't have had anywhere to walk if we only let the dogs walk on grass/dirt when they were puppies.  It was important to get them used to the sounds of cars passing by, we have a train the back of our neighborhood to and they both got used to it quickly from our walks (both dogs were very fearful and unsocialized when we got them).  If we shelter them too much for fear that something might go wrong, we risk having fearful dogs; in my opinion. 

LillianD

 I really think it's crazy not to walk a dog on concrete until 9 months old

Nobody said not to walk the pups on cement. Its not advised to continously run a large breed pup on cement.....a big difference. I'm pretty sure everyone here walks their pups routinely on cememt.

Plus you can think its crazy all you want but any vet would disagree with you. What are your scientific and medical reasons for thinking its crazy?

AuroraLove

LillianD

 I really think it's crazy not to walk a dog on concrete until 9 months old

Nobody said not to walk the pups on cement. Its not advised to continously run a large breed pup on cement.....a big difference. I'm pretty sure everyone here walks their pups routinely on cememt.

Plus you can think its crazy all you want but any vet would disagree with you. What are your scientific and medical reasons for thinking its crazy?

I was stating an opinion.  I never said to continuously run a large breed pup on cement, I said what she is doing is fine and waiting until 9 months to walk on cement (even for a few moments as I thought it was being deduced that doing it at all should wait) sounds crazy, the idea of only walking on grass for the majority of a dog's puppy-hood does seem extreme, I do understand doing it continuously may cause stress.  

 I don't worry much about over exercising my pups. Of course there's a limit but I just let the dogs tell me what their limit is. If, on a walk, my pup plops down when we stop to cross a street - then yeah - the pup has had enough.

Abbie is 5 months old and ripped with muscles from all the activity she gets playing with my other dogs and running around at the parks we visit. I wouldn't think of not letting her have that exercise time or she'd chew my house to shreds. 

Stress? LOL It is bad for their undeveloped joints and can contribute to arthritis, hip dyspalsia, and joint problems when they get older. I'm all for socializing and working a young pup though and I agree Ari is good to go!

As for the leash and walking issues I think she is doing very well for age, excitemnt level and your on the right track!

There is no risk of over exercising but there is a risk of allowing her to run on concrete, paved roads and of allwoing her to carry/pull a lot of weight.

A large breed pup shouldnt be run hard on pavement until they are 9-11months. They should eb asked to carry a backpak with a lot of weight or pull a lot of weight.

this isn't true- there is indeed a risk of over-exercising. Until the growth plates close, which may not happen until 15 months of age or even later in really large dogs you don't want the dog doing anything that could be defined as an "endurance exercise" which includes long walks and running/trotting the dog. Definitely no weight-carrying and no weight-pulling. Best way to exercise a puppy- offleash playing and running at his own chosen gait over natural terrain multiple sessions a day. If you can't do that safely a long line and a park is a good choice. Reserve leash-walks for socialization and training.

mudpuppy

There is no risk of over exercising but there is a risk of allowing her to run on concrete, paved roads and of allwoing her to carry/pull a lot of weight.

A large breed pup shouldnt be run hard on pavement until they are 9-11months. They should eb asked to carry a backpak with a lot of weight or pull a lot of weight.

this isn't true- there is indeed a risk of over-exercising. Until the growth plates close, which may not happen until 15 months of age or even later in really large dogs you don't want the dog doing anything that could be defined as an "endurance exercise" which includes long walks and running/trotting the dog. Definitely no weight-carrying and no weight-pulling. Best way to exercise a puppy- offleash playing and running at his own chosen gait over natural terrain multiple sessions a day. If you can't do that safely a long line and a park is a good choice. Reserve leash-walks for socialization and training.

So......were in agreement?

I've not read every post here...but want to say that you can certainly over-exercise.  We have to be careful with our large breed pups not to walk too long; not to jump too much and not to overheat.  I think Ari is old enough that you don't have a lot to worry about.  A 20 minute leashed walk at a nice relaxing pace is great.  If you are out for longer...take a rest for about 5 or 10 minutes (practice down/stays - 1-2 minutes each), get some water and go again.  Jumping, especially  is something you will want to stay away from until her growth plates close when she is about 18 months (or so) old.   Off leash play and running (zoomies) is ok...they will go until they drop at their own pace.  When you see that her tongue has reached the ground...time to go in.

This is a typical walk with Ari:

At our house:

Leisure paced, not fast.   Dirt/grass covered ground.  30-35 minutes with rests and lots of sniffing time (I only pull her away when she decides to go from sniff to eat heh). 

Off leash play is VERY restricted - only allowed on the trail by our house (takes 20 minutes to loop it) but hasn't happened in awhile because it is flooded out.  There's no where else I could take her for off leash play since she's not trustworthy, and she knows that trail and it's the only one I'll trust her on right now.  Well we do allow it on this little hill that we use for her to run up and down on (she loves this) to tucker her out QUICK particularly lately when all we get is a 10 minute break before it seems like it's going to downpour again.  Yesterday was our first clear day and I got a class A migraine, ugh - I felt guilty but she only got short walks with the SO, and then a romp on the hill b/c migraine = to bed know before your sick.

What I would LIKE to do:

Leashed walk, leisure, around where I work - concrete.  20-30 minute walk would be nice.  Again, at her pace, I watch her closely and allow lots of sniff breaks and resting breaks. 

I judge the walks by how she's doing and turn back once I think she's starting to slow down slightly (I'll turn back even sooner if I'm unsure and we've walked a lengthy distance).

I guess I should have titled this thread "Worried about over walking".  In NO WAY is Ari over excercised.  We're constantly looking for ways to poop her out since we don't have my floor room for her to romp in inside (small living room - we block off the kitchen because it's not carpeted and in her zoomies she crashes too much in there).  

I'm hoping we get another few clear days, that will dry out our walking path and she can get some off leash running action and maybe the river will be OK to swim in again.  

Mostly right now I'd like to take her for two longer walks a day, not including potty runs, because we take her to the designated spot for that across the street and she does her business right away.