# Hiking distance guidance



## Rian (Sep 17, 2021)

Hello all!

Margot (mpoo) is now 15 months old. I'm looking for some guidance on how to safely build up her endurance so we can start going on longer hikes. I've used the puppy culture exercise chart up until now, although loosely because it seems pretty conservative. Instead I looked at it as things to limit or watch out for: let the puppy sniff more than dragging them along on hard concrete, limit repetitive actions, play games gently, engage their brain instead, etc.

Anyway, so far we semi-regularly will go on hikes or longer walks that are anywhere from 2-4 miles and near-daily shorter walks that are roughly half to 1 mile. By semi-regularly I mean she gets longer than 2 or more miles (in one session) roughly once or twice a week. The farthest I've taken her for a single hike was just over 4 miles.

So for clarity that would be:
Near-daily neighborhood walks equaling 1 mile or less.
Friday evening walk around the larger city park, 2 miles.
Occasional weekend hike anywhere from 2-4 miles.
_(edit: forgot to add she also has one agility class most weeks but it's not strenuous, everyone just does it for fun and the jumps are kept elbow-height on her)_

She doesn't ever ask to stop unless it's a shady spot, so I'm assuming we've slowly acclimated her to these distances safely over the course of her life. Now I'd like to start going on longer hikes with her, perhaps 6-8 miles in one session. No crazy elevation gain, but some hills. We're in Colorado.

Firstly, is that too far for her age? And second, how to introduce her to the added distance. I know I could go on an 8 mile hike today and just be a little sore tomorrow, but I imagine it'd take more of a toll on her without any endurance-building. Is increasing by roughly 1 mile per week for the longer weekend hikes slow enough?

Thank you for reading!


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

I think as long as you're going at the dog's pace it's OK. Elroy goes on some longer walks (2-4 miles) but always at his pace. He's never given an indication of being tired. If you have him jog or tag along while you're on your bike while you are getting you're excersize in, that could be a problem. Note: I have no medical training. Just sharing my thoughts that I think reflect common sense.


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## eatmyrainbow (Sep 5, 2020)

My mini poo, who will be 1 in a couple of weeks, did 5 miles up a pretty steep mountain the other day and loved every minute of it. She definitely did more than the 5 miles too because she was running back and forth between my partner and I when one would fall behind. She didn't even act tired when we got back to the car either (but did sleep well after). I just made sure to give her plenty of water and feed her at the top of the mountain (and lots of treats well practicing recall). 

I think you know your dog so it's worth giving it a shot, just pick a shorter trail at first and be prepared to carry them if anything happens!


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I can't tell you anything helpful on how to bring up her endurance but I second being prepared to carry her.

A sling or backpack is going to be a best choice. Besides giving her a break and still be able to keep going, there's always the slight, off chance of something occurring that would require her being carried all the way back.

Found this from a miniature poodle owner/hiker.
Can small dogs hike long distances? 9 tips to make it work - dogpackr


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

I can't speak to minipoos. I would approach it like marathon training, with small (based on %) increases and periodic rest weeks. Adding 25% to your long walk in the first week seems like a lot, and aiming for 100% growth in 4 weeks also seems like a lot. But adding 0.5 miles seems doable in these first weeks, especially if you're supporting that distance with increases during the week (maybe 0.25 miles added twice/week).

It's also important to know whether these walks are on or off leash. Off leash walks are much healthier for the dog, allowing a full range of varied movements not accessible on leash. Apologies if you mentioned it and I failed to register it.


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## Rian (Sep 17, 2021)

Thank you all for your replies! Seems in line with what I was thinking, I'm sure I'm being overly conservative but she's still young and I love her.

As far as off leash or on leash, good point @Liz. In the city, ALWAYS on leash, of course. I try to find more remote hikes so I can let her stretch her legs naturally but there are a lot of mountain bikes around so it really depends on the trail. I'll keep that in mind when I'm deciding on distance. Anywhere that's safe to let her explore I keep her on a 25ft long line unless there are a ton of roots or rocks for it to get caught on.

@Rose n Poos thank you for that resource I'm going to read through it now, seems like the amount of detail I was hoping for!

It's great that she's small enough to be carried, I used to bring her backpack along when she was really young but she hasn't wanted to stop and be carried, lately. I think she thinks I'M slow. She does the same thing that you mentioned @eatmyrainbow, she's always running ahead and then coming back (if we have the luxury of a safe off leash trail).

@94Magna_Tom I am laughing at the idea of her riding alongside my bicycle, I know she'd see a squirrel and kill us both. No way on that! I'll get a sidecar, instead  

Here she is "enjoying" (?) a nice bike ride with dad when she was about 15 weeks old.


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