Walking - five minutes per day for every month of age

[CharlieMaroc]

I wondered what everyone thought of this, and at what age you can start to go longer.

I have a medium sized Heinz 57 of 6 months. We currently walk (sort of) to heel down to the local cafe about 15/20 minutes and have a rest and get her used to ignoring people, then back.

She has a sleep when she is back but she certainly isn't exhausted!

At what age are the muscles developed enough to go further. The beach is about 45 minutes away and I can't wait to get her there although we couldn't go until after the peak season is over anyhow.

It sounds absolutely lovely. I used to enjoy taking puppy to the pub. She got to socialise and I got a , win-win

If your pup needs more exercise, could you perhaps drive to the beach for a swim? We take our four month heinz pup to the river and he loves swimming after a stick and bringing it back. Vet recommended it and says it will strengthen his muscles.

Our older girl dog (2.5yrs) did this at his age as well, and she is lean and fit. She now chases after deer, as they walk across our land and it is amazing to see how close she manages to get! She has very strong legs.

That sounds great, I wish we had somewhere here in Morocco like that. Our rivers don't have water in, just lots of litter!

I should have said I don't have a car and dogs aren't allowed in the taxis that we use all the time. There is a park close by but I stupidly let her off the lead there and she ate something (shes not that obedient yet!) that was poisoned and she nearly died. So for the moment, at least on a regular basis, we are on foot so I was wondering if I need to stick to the 5 min rule or thereabouts until she was 10/12 months or older?

I must say the pup loves the cafe and it gives her a chance to see lots of people as we don't have many visitors at home. It is definitely improving her general. Hadn't thought about a bar :)

Lucky you to be in warm Morocco! We are having a coldish summer in France.

Your poor dog, what a fright for both of you. Does it mean that she doesn't get to walk/run off-leash at all? I can imagine she must have a bit of pent up energy, then.

If I count up all the walking my pup does at four months, it is more than 20 minutes a day. Even his playing and chasing mum is more than 20 minutes over the course of the day. He is fine, but i guess it depends on the dog.

Could you talk with your vet and check if it is ok to go for longer walks?

I'm wondering how to manage for the next year on this score having brought home pup at the weekend. School runs are 30 mins morning and evening and then I probably normally spend about another hour every day walking on errands etc. before we even get to an actual walk for fun/ play/ doggy exercise. Glad I've picked a border collie/ JRT cross but I can't wait for her to grow up enough to keep up. I just had to order shopping online and get DS from school by car today and my biceps are aching from carrying her only a few miles. Would be very interested if there are any ways round this.

Me too Yakkaskink, I walk everywhere and can't wait till she can accompany me.

Flatbread, my vet just says walk her till she's tired.

I have increased it a bit so she now walks about 40 minutes (rather than 30 for her age) so I think I'll just increase it slowly, I'd hate to cause her pain in later life just by being impatient now.

I am trying to remember, when my girl dog was 6 months old, we were doing a lovely walking trail across meadows and gentle hills. The walk was approximately 30 to 45 minutes (depending on our pace) and we used to do it before breakfast and before dinner. When she was one year old, we were walking down to the village, stopping for a leisurely lunch and back uphill, one and a half hours each way. Our neighbour's dog would accompany us uninvited and he would huff and puff in the steep bits. He is a lab/ golden retriever mix and a bit fat. He is a year older than our sheepdog girl. She of the other hand, would trot along happily, running back and forth. She is seriously fit.

Puppy is more like our neighbour's dog. He comes for walks, but his expression is a bit 'I am not sure why we are doing this, it is nicer to lie on the terrace'. So we only take him for a short after dinner stroll and supplement with regular swimming, which he loves. And at three months, he couldn't even do the full 15 to 20 minute stroll (which his mum could easily do at his age and at twice the speed). At some point, puppy would go into the grass and fall asleep, and we would then carry him the rest of the way.

It is a long way of saying I agree with your vet, every dog is different and some can do with more exercise than others. My current pup is a lazy bugger but girl dog always had lots more energy as a puppy

Studies have shown that 5 mins per month is load of tosh. Most important thing you as an owner can do is keep your dogs weight under control - pet obesity is now the biggest animal welfare problem in the UK.

Well as people in general in the UK are getting more and more large I guess they feel they have to overfeed their dogs too Lizcat!

So its a questionable 'rule' is it? Thats the trouble with the internet sometimes it can bombard you with info so you don't know which way to turn :)

I think mine is somewhere between your two Flatbread, she loves her walk but she is happy with just a few games of ball during the rest of the time.
I will just listen to the dawg, I think we've got it right for now, she's enjoying it and sleeping when we get back and we'll just increase it a bit further little by little when she stops looking so tired on our return.

Thanks for your advice.

We take our 6mth old cocker to the local park- she walks for about 15-20 mins and then spends about 20 mins in the lake swimming!

Majority of dogs in UK are overweight because of crap processed food, manufacturers feeding recommendation too high, too many sugary processed treats, not enough exercise and lazy ownership. You only need to look at some of the most popular foods, Bakers, Pedigree etc to see how much rubbish dogs are consuming. So really it's much the same as overweight humans really!

Measure your dog's food every day is my motto.