Worried about over excercising

CoBuHe

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.

Sounds like what we're doing now.  Well except the down stays, still working on getting down!  She's ALMOST there, I can see the lightbulb coming on soon on this one.  But I will work on some sit stays, I think that would be great!  Although for her to "come here" she associates with RUN full on out and park your butt not a moment too soon before you crash into your human

the_gopher

Although for her to "come here" she associates with RUN full on out and park your butt not a moment too soon before you crash into your human

LOL...that works.  I should mention to (and you probably know this)...that at her age a "stay" will be difficult for her to manage...so don't be to expectant.  But, it never hurts to introduce and work on it.  I started introducing the stay to Heidi at about 6 months...would put her in a down, treat and praise...then to keep her down, I would immediately start tossing treats between her front legs...giving her a reason to stay down. 

CoBuHe

LOL...that works.  I should mention to (and you probably know this)...that at her age a "stay" will be difficult for her to manage...so don't be to expectant.  But, it never hurts to introduce and work on it.  I started introducing the stay to Heidi at about 6 months...would put her in a down, treat and praise...then to keep her down, I would immediately start tossing treats between her front legs...giving her a reason to stay down. 

Yeah, I don't expect stay to happen anytime soon.  We do make her wait for meals now because she's a VERY enthusiastic eater and would knock the bowl out of my hands, so we do a sit and wait and she got that QUICK.  She's smart, it's her humans that have trouble keeping up with her  

Right now I like to introduce the stay, she's smart and food motivated and it'll give her brain a workout too.  If she stays for a nano second that's good for me!  

She LOOOOOOVES the "Ari come here/to me" game we play with my SO and I on opposite ends - she gets to run, do commands and get attention and treats - plus the humans don't have to work so hard to tucker her out lol.  We're not lazy, but it's good to have when I get hit with a migraine like last night, and I felt better but not up to a long walk or rowdy play session or when my SO comes home after a 12+ hour day and is physically beat.   

I've only skimmed through so forgive me if this has already been mentioned.  If you haven't teached Ari "watch" already, it might be a really good command to teach.  When she starts to pull, giving a watch command, would likely refocus her attention back to you and away from pulling.

Amanda yes she does know watch and it's been TREMENDOUSLY useful.  By far the most useful command we have ever taught her.  It's helping with her obsessive barking as of late and to pull her off something she shouldn't have (though it's not fail proof if she's fixated on something but it's definitively the best things we've taught her second to touch, I use touch also to refocus her at times).  Watch also helps when we know she's about to get really bitey with us, a watch followed up with a toy has helped us out a lot.  I hadn't thought to use it on our walks, but then again her humans intelligence is far below her own