Where did the 5 mins exercise per month rule come from...?

[LittleMissJenkins]

I can understand not exercising a puppy until it is exhausted or too tired but I can not see the logic in protecting joints by witholding walking.

Surely strong muscles and ligaments protects the joints?

If I give my puppy restricted exercise in line with the 5 min rule he then runs around the house like a loon, jumps on furniture etc and is crazy.

If he has a longer walk he sleeps and is probably less active over all.

I agree to an extent.

It's more about not over exercising your puppy. And the amount of exercise depends on breed/ size among other things.

If I give my puppy restricted exercise in line with the 5 min rule he then runs around the house like a loon, jumps on furniture etc and is crazy.

Are you not also exercising his brain? Best way to tire out a puppy.

Surely strong muscles and ligaments protects the joints? exactly the opposite. In puppies there is very little holding the bones together which is why they are so at risk of injury. And it’s not always an instant injury, like a sprain, over exercising as a young dog can lead to dysplasia as an adult.

5minutes is a rough guide, and it depends whether the dog is on a lead, for example they can run about in the garden as they wish, but you should be tiring the puppy out with brain training, puzzle feeders etc.

The thing is, a dog will rarely tell you it's had enough. Even at 10 and a half, mine will jump up for another walk straight after a long one.
So we have to judge for them.
I know this doesn't answer your "where did the rule come from" question!

I didn’t walk my pup over the 5 min per month but in the house I made sure he couldn’t get upstairs but didn’t limit his movements. they do need to sleep a lot to process what they see and learn. We play a lot of games to teach him things too. So a combo of exercise and brainwork, he’s a clever dog so he’s be bored otherwise. Enrichment is important too. He’s one now so still not overdoing it but he loves his walks. Heading out soon once he wakes up

I was told at puppy classes dog that the best way to tire a puppy out is to stimulate its brain. Hide treats in things, use a Kong, teach it sit, stay, roll over etc.

@MrsRobbieHart

If I give my puppy restricted exercise in line with the 5 min rule he then runs around the house like a loon, jumps on furniture etc and is crazy.

Are you not also exercising his brain? Best way to tire out a puppy.

He is having brain games. All his food allowance is through training, games, sniffing etc so he has loads of brain work.

There is an evidence base to the rule, but I spoke to a friend who is a vet, and she told me that it's not a particularly strong evidence base.

But (big but) for some breeds she thinks it's necessary - larger breeds and those notorious for orthopaedic issues in later life. Avoid lots of hills, stairs and jumping on and off things. Time (maybe off-lead or on loose long lead) just snuffling about at their own pace on flattish soft ground need not count as part of the 5min rule.

She also says that keeping puppies fairly calm is a good idea too - like fractious toddlers, they don't know when they're tired and would benefit from quiet time and a nap.

I am totally in agreement that jumping, hills, twisting, ball chasing is a really bad idea but can not understand the restriction of gentle self regulated walking.

Hence trying to find out the original study that recommended 5 mins rule. It seems a bit like 5 a day veg and 10,000 steps will get humaan fit. No evidence to back it up at all.

It probably came from Labrador groups, that’s the first time it appears, but, it’s supposed to be a general rule of thumb to remind you to build up muscle gradually so they protect the joints.... and it’s not supposed to be restricting all exercise - just stuff where a puppy can’t or won’t pace themselves.

So offlead when there’s nothing hugely exciting going on is fine.

But on lead at your walking pace you want to build up gradually and things like playing with other dogs or chasing after stuff where they’ll do more than is good for them.

It’s also at a time, not in a day as long as they’ve had some rest in between.

@CallmeHendricks

The thing is, a dog will rarely tell you it's had enough. Even at 10 and a half, mine will jump up for another walk straight after a long one. So we have to judge for them. I know this doesn't answer your "where did the rule come from" question!

I understand this and obviously would not walk a puppy that looks tired but 15 mins for a 3 month old puppy twice a day really feels like it would do more harm than good.

As a vet I have been to seminars on this there is no evidence supporting this rule and actually all the proper studies say it is wrong.
Yes you need to gradually increase the exercise, but not in such a restrictive way. Studies show that consistent steady walking is what builds muscle and protects joints and under exercised puppy who lungs around like a mad thing jumping off furniture is doing far more damage to it's joints.
In encourage increasing by 5 mins per week just like we would do for rehab after orthopaedic surgery is far more realistic. So if your puppy can go for walks from 12 weeks so by 23 weeks they can be walking and hour a day.
On the walk you can be doing short burst of recall of the lead, lots of nice steady loose lead walking.

My vet advised me ots nor an official thi g at all.

However it is good advice and applies to onlead walking. He says if (at 3 months) its 5-7 mins to a field, then mainly off lead time and 5-7 mins back its fine. Just watch for signs the dog is getting tired when off lead and head back. But just start at a few minutes in the field and work your way up.

They did agree that it protects joints, but it's forced walks like onn lead walls, stairs, jumping in on and off stuff that's worse.

I have spaniels. We have always been able to survive the first year, using this as a guide.

Also, exercise doesn't really tire alot of dogs out. Or not in a 'tired for the rest of the day' way.

I have working spaniels and they don't need as much walking as everybody says they do. They need brain games and a walk where they are off lead alot. Walking a dog alot often ends with a fit dog who is still bored and hyperactive. Or over tired and naughty.

Also tons if new owners are just stupid. We just fostered a spaniel that got lost on a run. It was 6 months old in a 9 mile run with its owner and just gave up and laid down. The owner no longer wanted him because he couldn't keep up and he wasn't will to cut back his own runs until the dog was one and to work his dog up to it.

I see so many spaniel owners complaining their dogs are under 1 and still hyper despite 2-3 hours a day they don't understand that won't work and ictially makes them over tired and worse behaved.

I have always wondered if its slightly exaggerated because so many people think dogs can walk miles from a very young age.

@Lonecatwithkitten

As a vet I have been to seminars on this there is no evidence supporting this rule and actually all the proper studies say it is wrong. Yes you need to gradually increase the exercise, but not in such a restrictive way. Studies show that consistent steady walking is what builds muscle and protects joints and under exercised puppy who lungs around like a mad thing jumping off furniture is doing far more damage to it's joints. In encourage increasing by 5 mins per week just like we would do for rehab after orthopaedic surgery is far more realistic. So if your puppy can go for walks from 12 weeks so by 23 weeks they can be walking and hour a day. On the walk you can be doing short burst of recall of the lead, lots of nice steady loose lead walking.

@Lonecatwithkitten Thank you so much. It is so good to get professional view on this. That makes so much more sense to me.

My initial research seems to say that the 5 min rule came from a very dodgy study that was looking for something else and was based on 10 kenneled GSD who already had damaged joints.

I agree about the fit dog!

I run with mine - started when she was just over 1 and built up distance gradually. She's noticeably fitter now, and can go for a long time, and if I only ran with her, I would have to be covering miles twice a day. But I don't think it would be much fun for her. So we only run 2-3 times a week, and all other walks are at her pace, so she has plenty of sniffing and wandering. And the type of walk which leaves her calmest is when we meet her dog friends and she just hangs out with them

“My initial research seems to say that the 5 min rule came from a very dodgy study that was looking for something else and was based on 10 kenneled GSD who already had damaged joints.”

It was on gundog forums before that...

It was though, more of a - well I find 5 minutes per month for high impact stuff easy to remember and then it builds up gradually rather than a “rule”.

And I don’t think it’s bad advice tbh.

With a tiny puppy, 5-10 minutes on lead to get to somewhere they can be offlead and the same back is a pretty decent walk... and as they get older, well I rarely do more than 30 minutes on lead anyway, even with an adult dog.

@tabulahrasa

“My initial research seems to say that the 5 min rule came from a very dodgy study that was looking for something else and was based on 10 kenneled GSD who already had damaged joints.”

It was on gundog forums before that...

It was though, more of a - well I find 5 minutes per month for high impact stuff easy to remember and then it builds up gradually rather than a “rule”.

And I don’t think it’s bad advice tbh.

With a tiny puppy, 5-10 minutes on lead to get to somewhere they can be offlead and the same back is a pretty decent walk... and as they get older, well I rarely do more than 30 minutes on lead anyway, even with an adult dog.

Dont think so the study was in 1965! not many forums about then

I am ploughing through research and loads of CAM videos all saying 5 minutes is not correct and can do more damage.

Urban myths do seem to hang around a lot in the dog world.

“Dont think so the study was in 1965! not many forums about then”

Fair enough there was a thing going round “debunking” it not long ago that was on about a similar study done about 15 years ago, I thought you meant that one.

Either way, IMO if you take it as more a general advice thing rather than a strict rule, it does fit in with what ortho specialists have told me - that for stuff that can be hard on joints, little and often is better than long periods of exercise for building up muscle.

What an interesting morning - I have not done anything I should have done

Reknown medics are saying the 5 min myth is "made up" and not "based on any science" it is a "fallacy" and "does more harm than good"

It is thought to have come from a study in 1970's (not 1965) to find out about Hip dysplasia. Two groups of 8 week old gsd one were caged as puppies. One not caged. Caged dogs had lower incidence of HD. Conclusion was that if you kept dogs in cages where they could not stand up (!) but had their legs akimbo and forced the hip ball into the hip socket the dogs would not get HD. So the myth was interpreted as dogs in cages do not get HD. However the dogs were in a forced position in the cage.

Science shows the opposite. Norweign study took a large group of dogs and studied exercise, food etc the most important thing to prevent HD was outside exercise. The more exercise they had the less HD they had. So strong muscles and ligaments actually protect the bones and joints.

Studies on Beagles doing 200km a day for 365 showed a lower level of joint issues than beagles on restricted exercise.

Exercise however has to be correct. So walking is great, jumping, twisting, spinning, stairs, ball throwing walking on slippery floors is not.

Weight control and Neutering (depending on breed and timing) have more of an impact on joints.

Make sense to me.

As a vet I have been to seminars on this there is no evidence supporting this rule and actually all the proper studies say it is wrong.
@Lonecatwithkitten, that gives me faith in my ability to use Google Scholar and understand scientific studies. I checked all of this stuff out four or five years ago when we had a new puppy and I decided it was baseless. There was I think one study about how stairs weren't a great idea as a regular thing for some breeds, but others which said lots of bounding about on uneven ground was actually a good thing.

Oh GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman (I bet you are not!) would you remember any of the studies expecially the one on uneven ground?

Your puppy that I guess is about 5 now did you let them walk unrestricted in their early months?

@LittleMissJenkins

Oh GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman (I bet you are not!) would you remember any of the studies expecially the one on uneven ground?

Your puppy that I guess is about 5 now did you let them walk unrestricted in their early months?

I do with my own puppy right now. I took my 8 month old puppy to Scotland this year he walked miles. Yesterday we walked for about an hour and a half.

Having had an arthritis riddled lab, I took note and was very careful to build it up with our spaniels. It's common sense and an over tired and an overstimulated puppy is no fun for anyone.

Our NDN's have got a 5 month old puppy and they've been walking the poor little thing miles every day in an attempt to "calm it".

Ha! I can be, as my DC will tell you...

Yep, that puppy got unrestricted exercise. As did the one before who, despite poor conformation didn't show any sign of joint issues till he was about 10 and a half, and regularly and happily ran 4m with DH until he was 12 going on 13.

I've had a look for the paper I read on this, but I can't find it...

We limited exercise with ours for several reasons.

• too much exercise just results in a really fit dog who then needs even more exercise in order to be tired.
• overtired puppies are an absolute nightmare in terms of sleep and behaviour issues.
• it's just not necessary imo to walk a young puppy for miles and miles. They get just as much enrichment from a slow sniffy walk through the woods or a swim in the sea.

Even now my dog is an adult he rarely gets more than an hours' exercise a day - he's a beagle so a working breed but too much exercise leaves him hyped and no more tired than his normal hour does.