[SillyMangoX]

Hey everyone! Just wondering can anyone offer any advice about bringing a puppy for her first walk? She's roughly 12 weeks old now and has finished her vaccines so we decided its about time to bring her to the woods for the first time! She is a very energetic little thing, a cross between a golden retriever and a black Labrador, very cute and very... very hyper! So we were hoping a good walk in the woods for about half an hour would wear her out, and maybe give her a chance to go for a paddle in the lake (all on the lead of course!)
Now its been a while since I've brought a dog out, as my last dog was 15 when we last brought her out so there was nothing too energetic about her, so I was wondering could anyone give me any advice when bringing a hyper little puppy? We have her harness and 2 leads (just in case!), a towel, a ball, few treats and a bottle of water/bowl, and the pet 1st aid kit. Is there anything else people could recommend to bring? Sorry for the long post, I'm really excited about taking her out

[moving_home]

a pup should only be walked for 5mins per month of age so that would be 15mins per day. Pups don't know when to stop so they can overdo it and damage joints so that's why it's restricted for structured walking until they are a year old. U can still play in the garden with her and use training/mental stimulation to wear her out

[SillyMangoX]

Oh thats not enough to wear her out anymore, she is a nut! But I know about the restricted exercise, Im always careful with her. We aren't going out for very long, just giving her some new experiences, probably will only be out for 15-30 mins! Hopefully an oppertunity to make a few new doggy friends, she loves meeting new people and dogs.

[are you serious]

If this is her 1st walk out and she is now 12 weeks personally I wouldnt be going for the walks in the woods, I would concentrate on parks and roadways, trying to meet as many other dogs as possible, I would even just go to your local park find yourself a good seat just inside one of the gates where most people enter with their dogs and you have instant meeting and socialization for your puppy. At this age it is vital she gets good meetings with other dogs of all shapes and sizes. Also the road walking would be good to get her used to new noises and sounds as in the cars driving by, the last thing you want is in a couple of months time your puppy not having heard a car and you walking along the path and her freaking out because she see's this big thing coming at her making lots of strange noises!

Best of luck with your puppy. you will get lots of good advice here whenever you need it!! now I'm off to walk my puppies!!!

p.s put up some pictures of her!!

[portgirl123]

Originally Posted by SillyMangoX

Oh thats not enough to wear her out anymore, she is a nut! But I know about the restricted exercise, Im always careful with her. We aren't going out for very long, just giving her some new experiences, probably will only be out for 15-30 mins! Hopefully an oppertunity to make a few new doggy friends, she loves meeting new people and dogs.

moving home gave you some good advise and i would stick to it. 30 mins, hyper pup or not is way to long. dont forget for everyone step you take they take many more. you said in your 1st post your hoping to wear her out. that is a big no no for a pup her age, god knows what damage you could do unintentially to her joints, which you wouldnt know about till shes older and damage has been done.
a more effective and safier way to tire out a dog at her age is through mental stimulation. teaching her the basics should do it.
a pup this age, anyways, would only have short burst of energy and then sleeps.

she does sound a lovely pup. puppy pics please

[tk123]

Excellent advice from there from garkane - get the pup into as many new situations as possible - other dogs, traffic going by, kids, crowds etc you need to get her well socialised at this age

[SillyMangoX]

Just back now, she had a wonderful time! She seemed to have gotten a bit of all the socialisation ye recommended, traffic, kids, dogs, ducks! Just thought I should say that its not some secluded wood, its the local 'dog walking spot'. More or less like a park! Its a roadway with trees either side and a lake about 5 minute walk in. Not the 30 minute walk as I remember it being - well it probably was the last time I was there as I was only a child at the time! So I didn't over do it with her thankfully. She did more sniffing at socialising than actual walking!

She met well over 20 dogs I would think, not even a flinch out of her. I was expecting her to cower a bit when 5 large size dogs came up at the same time, but she had loads of fun playing with them. Only one small incident with an overly hyper springer but she just rolled onto her back and he went away, didn't stop her trying to follow though! She met loads of kids, really seems to love the 5-10 age group but got on just as well with the little toddlers and older teens

I really do know about the exercise limit that's required as I am studying veterinary nursing, but this walk isn't a daily thing and isn't going to be. I'll probably only bring her there once a week as that's all I have time to do - its a bit of a drive away! Normally her exercise consists of a good 10 minute ball game and a good chase of my cats around the garden!

I'm so glad I brought her out, the socialisation seems to be going great. Bit nervy of buggies but once they stopped up beside her and she had a sniff she was okay.
She was very good in the car park around all the cars too, stuck to my side when they drove past so at least she isn't a chaser!

I'm just absolutely delighted with how the day went, my last experience of having a pup was when I was 4 years old, and she was always very nervy of other people and dogs no matter how much socialisation she was given, so it was lovely to be able to start afresh with a new pup and new, better experiences.

I was so glad that people were happy to allow the pup to play with their dogs and kids, I just had such a lovely experience (as did she I'm sure!) and am looking forward to it again in the future

Attached is a picture of her listening to the ducks quacking in the lake

[aisher]

She is adorable!!! I have a puppy who is just 6 months so I know how full of energy they can be. I normally bring my dog to the local park and let her off the lead - she goes mad chasing a tennis ball - enjoy your pup!