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Child Item

Too much exercise

hibby

We have a Japanese Spitz puppy - he's called Shiro, he's about 15 weeks old now and weighs around 5 kg. He's very affectionate and a wonderful companion.

Over the past month he's been going for daily walks with us, in various kinds of terrain. He's probably doing 5 or 6 km on average, and up to 10 km on occasion. He's been to the top of numerous hills, including two over 750 metres. He loves being off the lead, so a walk in the park or along the pavement is not nearly as enjoyable for him.

Despite looking cute and furry, he has tremendous stamina, and has never run out of energy, always trotting along and even running ahead, and checking out everything interesting along the route.

Yesterday we went to his first obedience class and were told that he's getting far too much exercise, and should only be walked for around half an hour (!) each day, because his bones and joints are only developing. Effectively, that means walks of only 2 km, which is only 1 km each way.

Of course we're concerned that we may have harmed the puppy by overwalking. But we're also concerned that he will get very restless and unhappy if he doesn't have a proper walk off the lead, out in the forest or the open hillside. Also, shorter walks for him means shorter walks for us, which is not something we're happy about.

I guess I'm looking for opinions about what is a reasonable distance for a dog to walk, both now and when he is fully grown.

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peasant

Definetly waaaaay to much excercise !! :eek:

Stop that nonsense immediatedly, you are doing real damage there.

As for him "not being happy" with short walks only ...imagine how far he'll drag you once he's grown (if he can still walk by then, that is ...), now that you're turning him into a total excercise-junky.

Btw ...there are other ways of ecxercising your pup than dragging it along until it runs out of puff.

Obedience, learning basic commands, learning to walk on a lead, etc ...any mental stimulation will tire him more than just walking.

And before you go off and have him "sit/stay/come" all day long ...half an hour per day is enough for that as well.

hibby

You can be sure we took notice - he went for a half-hour walk on the lead in Deerpark today (and saw a squirrel!) Believe me, we're only trying to do the best for our dog and the last thing we want to do is cause him any harm. The reason I ask questions is to know the right thing to do.

He had his first obedience class on Saturday and he has to do 15 minutes a day "homework" (3 commands so far: sit, look and down). Maybe as you suggest that will help to make up for the lack of exercise - he's reportedly "hyper" this afternoon.

So, any ideas on how far he should be able to walk safely at this age? As he gets bigger? When he's fully grown?

peasant

hibby wrote:

So, any ideas on how far he should be able to walk safely at this age? As he gets bigger? When he's fully grown?

It's kind of hard to give strict guidelines, it kind of depends on the type of terrain you're walking through.

A nice straight walk on soft springy grass can be much longer than a steep hillclimb or a walk over terrain where a lot of jumping and "braking hard" is involved.

Some dogs will show when they've had enough ...yours obviously doesn't.

A very rough guideline would be about ten minutes excercise per month of age until he's fully grown. But avoid (regular) heavy strains on joints and muscles.

Once he's fully grown you can go on big tours, just make sure that he can rest inbetween mega-trips.

hibby

peasant wrote:

A very rough guideline would be about ten minutes excercise per month of age until he's fully grown. But avoid (regular) heavy strains on joints and muscles.

That's very helpful peasant, thanks. That corresponds well with the half-hour we were told for now, and gives us an idea of a timetable for gradual increase.

What kind of activities would create a risk of heavy strains on joints and muscles? Mainly going up and down steep hills?

And, a very basic question: what age is a dog of this kind "fully grown" in terms of bone development and so on?

peasant

Heavy strains:

steep hills (down more than up)
aprubt change of direction (when playing/chasing)
high jumps and hard landings (when trying to catch a ball in mid-flight)
climbing stairs (up as well as down)

not shure when a Japanese Spitz is fully grown ...would expect anything between 12 - 18 months. Your breeder or vet should know.