# Walking to Much?



## Biggy_Spoo (Oct 28, 2015)

Hi i am just wondering if i am walking Mac to much he is a 12 week old standard poodle with boundless energy. I walk him as soon as we get up around the block, which takes about 20 mins. Then again on my lunch around the block again for 20 mins and after work we go for a big loop that takes us about an hour. He seems fine walking and he's never exhausted when we get home he still bounds around. But with him being so young i wonder if its to much....he is a big boy at his 2nd vet appointment he already weighed 15.8 pounds at just over 9 weeks old. Any insight would be greatly appreiacted


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Have you asked the vet for their opinion?

Are you walking primarily on concrete or dirt/grass?

What kind of walking are you doing - is he able to choose and regulate his pace a bit or do you sort of march him along?

My understanding is that the main problem with structured exercise in puppies is things like jogging on sidewalks, where they have to go at a quick pace on a hard surface for a sustained amount of time. Someone more expert than I should certainly weigh in, though, as I haven't really raised any large breed puppies myself.


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## Biggy_Spoo (Oct 28, 2015)

I did talk to the vet about it and she said as long as i am not forcing him to walk he should be fine but i worry with all the problems poodles have with there hips and joints. And she said that if they have a little to much it can cause runny stools.

I walk on the pavement most of his walking is on the grass beside me sometimes on the side walk as he can never make his mind up as to which side he wants.

Depending on the day most days he just trots along with me if he wants to stop and sniff i let him do his thing, though we don't do any running yet i'm going to wait until he's at least 18 months for that. Its pretty low impact but he is my baby and i still worry


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## Motion (Oct 27, 2015)

It sounds good to me! I think its very smart to wait until at least 18 months for running on hard surfaces. But exercise is important so they can build the muscle that will protect and support their hips and joints! As long as the walks are at his pace I think you are doing just fine! 

I've never heard anything about exercise causing loose stools... I'll be doing some reading on that I guess. Can anyone chime in on that? My thought would be that more exercise would help the dogs stomach and bowel muscles develop....

I guess it could cause loose stools if it was too soon after a meal, but really with big dogs rough play should be limited after meals anyway to prevent stomach flip. I know as a runner that runs can cause the system to run maybe that's what your vet meant.

Sorry, that turned into me rambling! Just thoughts and obviously not well developed ones!


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## robby69 (Apr 29, 2012)

I am using the 5-min per month rule of thumb with our new puppy.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The five minutes per month of age rule seems to work well as a way to measure what you should be doing for a formal leashed walk on pavement. There shouldn't be forced walking for extended times on pavement.

This is not likely to physically tire a spoo to the point where the dog will go in the crate and take a nap because of fatigue though. You should consider making your walks into training opportunities above and beyond having a loose leash. For example, I stop walking at intersections. I do a brief round of sits, downs, fronts and finishes. It is a distracting environment that really tests the pup's thinking. That will make the baby very tired!


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## robby69 (Apr 29, 2012)

lily cd re said:


> The five minutes per month of age rule seems to work well as a way to measure what you should be doing for a formal leashed walk on pavement. There shouldn't be forced walking for extended times on pavement.
> 
> This is not likely to physically tire a spoo to the point where the dog will go in the crate and take a nap because of fatigue though. You should consider making your walks into training opportunities above and beyond having a loose leash. For example, I stop walking at intersections. I do a brief round of sits, downs, fronts and finishes. It is a distracting environment that really tests the pup's thinking. That will make the baby very tired!


Agreed, obedience training is THE best thing you can do for your pup and yourself. When the pup has a "big sister" at home that likes to play and is enamoured with her, tiring the pup out is not an issue !


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

robby69 said:


> Agreed, obedience training is THE best thing you can do for your pup and yourself. When the pup has a "big sister" at home that likes to play and is enamoured with her, tiring the pup out is not an issue !


Well it took a while before the big sister here decided she would even acknowledge her little brother Javelin. Peeves played with him very sweetly when Javelin was small. Now Peeves is often quite fed up with him and Lily loves to play with her baby bro!

robby69 all of my dogs are performance sport dogs or performance dogs in the making. I wish more people would train obedience like those of us doing sports do. They would be so pleased with how it deepens the relationships they have with their dogs, even if they never step into a competition ring.


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