# how long should a walk be for a 5 month standard



## HarperTHEpoodle

Hi everyone,

just a question, i have recently got a 5 month old standard poodle and i want to know how much i should walk her. i know that she needs her joints to be fully formed so i dont want to over work her. i hope to eventually do agility with her and so far i have only been taking her for a short walk around the block.

Thanks


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## Indiana

Usually the guideline is, 5 minutes of walking per month of life. However, they don't count free play in that but you should try to make sure that she doesn't jump (like if you have things in your yard that she loves to leap on and off of) until she's older. We're not even allowed to start pre-agility here until the dog is 18 months old.


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## HarperTHEpoodle

Thank you so much that helps heaps 

i also think i should wait until she is older, i really dont want to hurt her doing agility too early


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## Indiana

HarperTHEpoodle said:


> Thank you so much that helps heaps
> 
> i also think i should wait until she is older, i really dont want to hurt her doing agility too early


Ya with some dogs it's really hard to keep them low key for the good of their joints, like my Maddy; we have had her in obedience lessons since she was little which does tire her out (and she loves it), and she plays SO much with her sister. But we intervened their play a lot when the dogs were younger because if we didn't, they'd start body-slamming each other onto the grass! Another thing we did was when we took the puppies for walks, we'd fill our pockets with treats and use the walks as training sessions for extra tiring out, keeping in mind the training at that age is short in duration and fun, fun, fun!


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## HarperTHEpoodle

Harper is soo energetic she runs around with the mini schnauzers outside (but only while we're watching) and we have to stop her because she gets to hyper for her own good. 

Actually i was thinking that doing some dog obedience would be good for her. She already knows the basics (sit, stay etc.) but she definately have fun with other dogs. Are obedience classes worthwhile for a puppy her age?


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## lily cd re

Absolutely obedience classes will be great for your girl. In addition to physical exercise, obedience classes give them mental exercise. Both will contribute to the "good dog = tired dog" equation. I also would never have gotten anywhere in agility training and trialing if I didn't have good obedience training and titles with Lily. Obedience classes also proof against distractions and teach her to be able to ignore her desire to play when she is supposed to work.

In the US, the AKC requirement for entering trials is that the dog be 15 months old. In terms of learning to do agility there are things you can do with puppies. A wobble board helps them learn balance and gives them core strength. You can use a contact trainer (not an actual a frame, dog walk or see saw, just a board made up to resemble the down contact) to teach two on/two off or whatever your criterion for safe contact exits will be. You can teach jumping by putting out a jump with the bar on the ground between the stanchions (or set super low) so the dogs walks through it. This way they won't freak out over the look of the jump when you actually ask them to jump at height. Try to find a class that is for puppies to introduce agility equipment to her.

If you look in the sub-forum on performance training you will find some useful information there in a number of threads. Good luck with your girl. It sounds like you are off to a great start with her.


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## HarperTHEpoodle

Thank you so much both of you, you helped so much.


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## Lepski110

Indiana said:


> Usually the guideline is, 5 minutes of walking per month of life. However, they don't count free play in that but you should try to make sure that she doesn't jump (like if you have things in your yard that she loves to leap on and off of) until she's older. We're not even allowed to start pre-agility here until the dog is 18 months old.


Yikes, I guess I have been walking Walter too long! He was 4 months old when I got him, and we started at about 30 minutes on a nice flat, mulched trail, and have worked our way up to a 4 mile loop in about 60-65 minutes. I didn't think about it being an issue for him, instead I've felt bad that his high energy has had to be contained to MY pace! I hope I haven't cause him any harm. He also likes to run, jump, body slam, and "box" with other dogs, and I though long walks would calm him a bit and keep him from such rough play...


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## frankgrimes

Lepski110 said:


> Yikes, I guess I have been walking Walter too long! He was 4 months old when I got him, and we started at about 30 minutes on a nice flat, mulched trail, and have worked our way up to a 4 mile loop in about 60-65 minutes. I didn't think about it being an issue for him, instead I've felt bad that his high energy has had to be contained to MY pace! I hope I haven't cause him any harm. He also likes to run, jump, body slam, and "box" with other dogs, and I though long walks would calm him a bit and keep him from such rough play...


I asked my Vet this very same question about my Spoo puppy when he was about the same age. The Vet told me that it is very dog specific. I was walking for about 5-6 km with him at the time (we had obviously worked up slowly) but he just had so much energy and we both really enjoyed walking. The Vet said it was OK to go for that long as long as Ralph was OK with it. Meaning, he should be showing no signs of getting too tired that he drags behind, and shouldn't be favouring a paw or anything like that. She said it is best if he can walk on a soft surface, so I walked on the sidewalk and he walked beside me on the grass. My Vet said this was perfectly safe for Ralph when he was a pup. If I had been limited to a 20 minute walk both me and my pup would have gone insane!!!


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## Lepski110

frankgrimes said:


> I asked my Vet this very same question about my Spoo puppy when he was about the same age. The Vet told me that it is very dog specific. I was walking for about 5-6 km with him at the time (we had obviously worked up slowly) but he just had so much energy and we both really enjoyed walking. The Vet said it was OK to go for that long as long as Ralph was OK with it. Meaning, he should be showing no signs of getting too tired that he drags behind, and shouldn't be favouring a paw or anything like that. She said it is best if he can walk on a soft surface, so I walked on the sidewalk and he walked beside me on the grass. My Vet said this was perfectly safe for Ralph when he was a pup. If I had been limited to a 20 minute walk both me and my pup would have gone insane!!!


Thanks Frank - I haven't tired Walter out yet, so I guess it's OK for him : )


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## cindyreef

I found playing fetch was allot of fun with Dexter. He LOVED it. He would chase that ball until he got tired and took a break. The only problem was I had to make sure I didnt throw it too far because he would race for it and being clumsy he would sometimes actually flip over and roll when he reached for the ball. Scary. He is much less clumsy now at 8 mths.


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## Lepski110

cindyreef said:


> I found playing fetch was allot of fun with Dexter. He LOVED it. He would chase that ball until he got tired and took a break. The only problem was I had to make sure I didnt throw it too far because he would race for it and being clumsy he would sometimes actually flip over and roll when he reached for the ball. Scary. He is much less clumsy now at 8 mths.


My last dog, a Sheltie, would play fetch until he dropped, Walter prefers "keep away" which results in me getting more exercise than him, so we have put the ball away and will try to lean fetch again in the spring. He also went through a leggy, clumsy phase : )


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## meredian

HarperTHEpoodle said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> just a question, i have recently got a 5 month old standard poodle and i want to know how much i should walk her. i know that she needs her joints to be fully formed so i dont want to over work her. i hope to eventually do agility with her and so far i have only been taking her for a short walk around the block.
> 
> Thanks


Unrelated to walking (thanks for the question though - helpful to me), but I LOVE Harper's haircut! So cute. Are you planning to keep the body long and face shorter? We would love to keep Wade's hair a little longer but we know it is more work when it comes to taming mats/brushing. If it ends up being too much trouble we plan to shave him down to all one uniform length.


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## HarperTHEpoodle

Oh gosh so sorry for the late reply :/

@meridian - my mum has groomed dogs for ages and is a bit of a perfectionist so when she grooms her i get into big trouble with tangles in her coat. We decided to keep her coat long and face and feet trimmed. Sort of a long lamb clip  its a big job, 4 hours with washing,drying,clipping a scissoring but the end result is really nice




Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Lplummer52

I agree with FrankGrimes. I have a 4-month old mini that is very high energy. We live in a condo, so not a lot of running room. I've got her enrolled in a puppy kindergarten class starting Jan 11, but until then, I'm on my own, so to speak. We walk at least an hour twice a day...once in the morning after breakfast and once in the late afternoon before dinner. I couldn't deal with this dog's energy any other way. She never tires on these walks. Quite the opposite. I'm the one that's tired...whew! We play fetch the plush toy inside and "chase the cat," but she only really calms down after a walk. She gets her rabies shot next week and I can't wait to take her to the beach dog park where dogs have to be on-leash, but I think this will be good for her. I love this girl, but she wears me out!!!


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