How much exercise for a lab puppy?

[abearcalledpaddington]

HI i have a 7 month old lab puppy, i usually take her for about 30-45 minutes walk in the morning, and then 45-60 minute walk in the evening. I have 5 children so she plays with them a lot too and i occasionally take her out with us to the beach/dog park, but it can be tricky as i have toddlers.

Is just the two dog walks enough?Its off lead and she meets other dogs on the way. She seems happy enough.JUst asking as i have a friend with 2 dogs and he walks them for an hour 3 times a day and looked a bit when i said i only do 2 walks.

5 minutes per month of age is the general rule for a heavy boned dog

Dogs also need mental challenges to keep them from getting bored, esp smart dogs like labs . My dog trainer recommends using things like the Grass blade slow feeder and Kong Wobble games as the main way of feeding if you use kibble - also the Tug a Jog. Makes a meal last 30mins instead of 30 seconds. Good to have a few to mix it up. I obvsfrozen Kongs should be used for wet food. Raw bones (supervised) - the puppy play bones box from Natures Instinct are still fine for labs imho & can occupy them.

The amount of exercise is fine but maybe add some of the above. As the dog gets older and joints stronger the ball and ball thrower should wear him out more too.

honestly seems a bit too much (actually far far far too much)....seems like she should be having 35min in total over whole day, this wouldn't include going out into the garden....but then you would need mental games to tire her out. clicker training is great for this and can involve the kids to tire her out.

3 hours in total a day would be far too much for a lab puppy. and most adult labs would not need this.....well none I know anyway

She probably only needs one of those walks. I have an almost 5 month old golden retriever and I find it hard to stick to the 5 minute rule with him, as he generally wants to go for much longer and then still seems like he needs another walk later! I do just take him once though, and for 45 mins at the absolute most (he should only be going out for 25 mins) - I do 20 - 30 minutes most days, but then 2 days out of 5 will do a longer walk of around 45 minutes. Usually DH will through a ball on a rope up the garden for 10 minutes or so a couple of times a day as well and we practice all our training bits for 10 minutes twice a day too. It is hard with large, high energy breeds, as you need to protect their joints, which is at odds with their energy levels!

I was only taking her for one of the walks but my neighbour actually came round my house and said did i know labs need a LOT of exercise and that he didnt see me with her much, and that one short walk a day isnt enough.

I had read the 5 minute rule before actually but i thought that was just until 6 months?

Plus she always seems to be up for more walks,is that just normal then?

Maybe i will just stick to the morning one.

Two walks a day are better, but maybe only 1/2 hour each.

It's until their bones and joints are formed prob about 18 months with a lab.

Don't over exercise your lab. Mine is 7 mths too and I give her 35 mins a day (sometimes more - it's a general rule not something to stick to all the time, or so I'm told).
You're running the risk of your dog having hip and elbow problems before his/her time. Our breeder drilled this in to us. You must stick to this gradual increase until your pup is fully grown.
Labs grow very fast, so there's a lot of pressure being put on those joints already.

The 5 minutes per month is per walk, not per day...and it's for anything where they can't or won't set their own pace, so on lead or exciting things like playing with another dog or with a ball.

Mooching about off lead isn't included.

No. It's per day. See, eg, this www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/. If you google it you'll find this the overwhelmingly consistent advice. Plenty of hits to choose from.

“A good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppy is fully grown, i.e. 15 minutes when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old etc. Once they are fully grown, they can go out for much longer.”

-The UK Kennel Club

You can find whatever you want on Google. The 5 minute rule is just a guide for enforced exercise, as long as the exercise is not excessive for a pup, a couple of 1/2 hour strolls (with a few minutes playing with other dogs) a day is much better for stimulating and socialising.

You got that from this www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/106019/puppyexerciseas.rtf

I think your quote is misleading (I don't mean you've tried to mislead. I just think it's capable of having 2 meanings, and the rest of the KC advice backs up my hypothesis).

Later on the advice sheet it simply says that the 5mins per month should be split between 2 walks. They have, I think, tried to convey this in the passage you've quoted but ended up instead doubling the advised walk time. Both bits of advice are contradictory.

My ortho specialist says it's the length of each walk that's important, to give the supporting muscles time to rest...but it's also the type of activity that's an issue. Offlead, setting their own pace is not a problem.

I struggle with this as my 7 month retriever would go all day if allowed to and I think I was doing too much. So now I try to do no more than 45 mins in the morning and then a quick 20 mins later on in the day - I asked my vet because I was worried about over walking -and he said that if she's not jumping/twisting/playing rough with other dogs, then that's ok - mooching about off lead is fine, but too much pressure on the joints is bad....

I also try to do some training and she potters about in the garden a fair bit too, but 18 months seems a long time away!

Do not overdo it. My lab aged 8 is terribly arthritic. 5 mins rule is perfect. And at 6 months a lab is still a baby.

We overdid it with our retriever as well. His arthritis became noticeable when he was about 9 and our vet said we'd overwalked him as a pup but he still wanted to go out 3+ times a day and did until he died at 16. I swear he could tell the time and if he knew he was only getting a short walk he'd run to the far side of the field so he got his full time/distance.

I have a 7 month old lab too

He has a 5 minute run in the morning, a 30-40 minute walk off lead around 10.30 and then he just potters around the farmyard, sleeps or plays ball for a bit with the children. If he is particularly bouncy I might take him for a 5-10 minute run across the fields, but usually it's a once a week thing.

Just reading some of the other comments and I think it's important that the type of excersise is a major factor in health.

Until 5 months and because we live on a farm we didn't formally walk our pub. He got a run down the drive when he was old enough and then left to potter or taken for a evening stroll in town to do lead practice.

At 5 months he took himself off. He was gone for a couple of hours and walked all over the village, frolicking with other dogs. I don`t know how much running he did but certainly quite a bit of walking. That's why he started to have a structured walk so he can socialise with other dogs and find new smell but not be off on his own. If it was up to him it would be longer than 30-40 minutes. I think the important thing is not too much strained running but actual walking is fine. Dogs naturally walk miles even at a young age. Unfortunatly if they usually stay inside and can then get hyper when they go outside and try and do all their daily excersise in a short space of time, usually running, which probably leads to the joint problems rather than the actual time they are walking.