# 7 months puppy exercise Too much?



## Joelly

I'm not a spoo owner so may not be the best person to give you advise. I'll just share my experience though. I have two tpoos, Charlie (12 lbs) a mix and Edison (4 lbs). They are both energizer bunnies. I look for the battery which I'm pretty sure is part of their biology but I haven't found it yet.

I love to exercise myself so I exercise them till they drop, so to speak. I'll stop playing with them when they start to fetch the ball and drop it lazily on the way to their water bowl, not anywhere near me. After which they will lie on the floor and totally ignoring me. Then I'll take them for a walk. Leash manner is incredible when dogs are tired but they do need to eliminate at some point.

I walk Charlie for an hour at most then Edison is another 30 min. I walk them separately. This is after I play fetch with them about 10-15 min, they usually tired by 10 min. Both LOVE to run. DH bring them out to the beach whenever he can. No swimming, just running and being dirty in the sand.


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## fjm

The usual recommendation is two walks of 5 minutes a day per month of age, plus free play - so at 7 months that would be two 35 minute walks, plus play. As long as the ball games are on grass and don't involve high impact jumping or twisting, I would say they should be fine - if anything he may need more exercise, rather than less!


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## Sweetteddy

fjm said:


> As long as the ball games are on grass and don't involve high impact jumping or twisting, I would say they should be fine - if anything he may need more exercise, rather than less!


Oh my........my backyard is 80% covered with pavers and we always play the catching ball on the pavers, oh no, now I am very scard the pavers ground is too hard and will hurting his growing bone later, but I don't know where else to play the ball game other than my backyard, because he is puppy still need supervise off leach to play the ball game...........


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## fjm

I would not worry too much (although I know we all tend to worry about our puppies constantly!) - from what I have read damage is usually from starting sports like Agility or Fly Ball too early, or intensive exercise like running with a bicycle. You are very sensibly playing in short spurts, on a level surface with good traction, and I am sure he will be fine.

You may both enjoy some trips out to walk and watch the world go by, though - a long line leash is great for giving both freedom to explore a bit and security while you work on recall amidst distractions!


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## plr

I have a 30 ft leash that I put Remy on when we go out to play fetch. Our yard isn't fenced and it gives him the freedom to run as fast as he wants, and give me the security to know I can get him quickly if he gets distracted and wants to take off after something.


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## Luce

Last Saturday I played with Luce (6 months) outside while I watered the lawn by hand with a hose. She LOVES the water from the hose!! We were out there for 2- 2 1/2 hours. She ran, jumped, leaped and did it again and again.... She rolled in the ground cover on the grass in the dirt.... she ran some more. She would rest for a couple of minutes by my feet and then off again. We also took a short walk or two.

I gave her a bath when we went in, blew her out, combed her and while doing that she fell asleep!!!! Finally I was able to get her tired. Our trainer told me a tired dog is a happy dog. I don't know if she was happy or not - I was!


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## MyMax

Luce said:


> Last Saturday I played with Luce (6 months) outside while I watered the lawn by hand with a hose. She LOVES the water from the hose!! We were out there for 2- 2 1/2 hours. She ran, jumped, leaped and did it again and again.... She rolled in the ground cover on the grass in the dirt.... she ran some more. She would rest for a couple of minutes by my feet and then off again. We also took a short walk or two.
> 
> I gave her a bath when we went in, blew her out, combed her and while doing that she fell asleep!!!! Finally I was able to get her tired. Our trainer told me a tired dog is a happy dog. I don't know if she was happy or not - I was!


I discovered when I was cleaning my lawn furniture with the hose that while Max (5 1/2 months) does not want to walk on wet grass to "go", he loves playing in the hose like a kid with a sprinkler. And then loves rolling in the dirt, lol.

I was taking it easy on walks with the heat we had recently, but have been trying to play more and walk Max more since it is a little cooler.
It is so adorable when he gets so tuckered out that he falls asleep.


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## Ciscley

*Add different types of mental and physical stimulation*

A tired puppy may not be measurably happier, but the owners of said puppy certainly will be. 

One way to get more "exercise" for a small puppy in a safe way is to work self control (aka "Zen") behaviors, especially the body positioning behaviors.

There's a big difference between a dog in a comfy, laying on the floor chillaxing pose and an attentive dog in a proper down stay waiting for the next command. The mental focus is itself energy draining for the dog (in a good way) as well as the tension they hold in their body (like a person doing a new yoga pose vs. just standing.)

Having your dog do sits or downs during your fetch/chase game with the ball can up the exercise intensity while not adding any more duration. The more excited he is about you throwing the ball, the more energy he will drain just trying to "will" you to throw it by holding his little wiggling butt to the ground.

And once Teddy knows the difference between sit and down, you can have him do them back to back quickly (on a soft surface). We call that "puppy push-ups" and it's a great energy drainer when you have zero space.


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## Jolia

I don't think that exercise is a limited fitness plan. To stay healthy you should take proper diet and exercise daily. It's better to do some time.


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## not-so-prince-harry

fjm said:


> The usual recommendation is two walks of 5 minutes a day per month of age, plus free play - so at 7 months that would be two 35 minute walks, plus play. As long as the ball games are on grass and don't involve high impact jumping or twisting, I would say they should be fine - if anything he may need more exercise, rather than less!


Does this go for toys as well as the bigger guys? I'm walking Harry one hour each morning before I go to work. I come home and play fetch for 20-25 minutes with him at lunch, and again after work. He is still SO full of energy I have been considering doing a half hour more walking after work - could this be too much? He is 6 months old now. Thanks


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