Puppy Walk Times

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I've read all the advice about 5 minutes for every month of age, but wanted to get your feedback on how flexible this is.

Our staffy mix is 4 1/2 months now. He's about 11-12 kg, maybe more (weighed next week properly), and he loves a walk. He would happily go for much longer than the recommended time. In addition, he seems in a much better mood after a longer walk (nothing mad). Less bitey, more chilled. I tend to encourage him to walk on grass rather than pavement, when I can, as in my head this is better on his joints, but do I need to stick rigidly to the approved times?

Supplementary question. I'm assuming if he's very active he needs more than the amount of food recommended on the packs. It's hard to gauge anyway as they all seem to be based on predicted adult weight, which is still unclear. And he is also a pig.

Apologies if the question seems stupid, but I'm used to cats who obviously take care of their own exercise.

At 4.5 months I would probably be doing half an hour at a time, exercise wise. He may be happy to go for longer but that doesn't mean it's good for him, and unfortunately any damage to the joints won't show until he's older and by then, it's too late.

Mental stimulation and training will be even more effective than exercise when it comes to tiring him out, and won't harm his growing joints either. You could also give him a chew or Kong after a walk to help him chill out.

In terms of food I wouldn't be giving him loads - again, excess weight isn't good for growing joints and it's easier to put weight on a dog than it is to get it off him, long-term. Stick to the guidelines and then adjust if you think he's too skinny or too large. You can look at a body score chart online for his breed to see where he stands :)

Totally depends on the dog tbh when it comes to exercise! But probably no more than 30 minutes 2-3 times a day. Also depends on the speed of your walk…are you ambling or power walking? One persons 30 minutes is another’s 15 minutes!

On food - when you look down on him his waist should go in and you should be able to feel his ribs. Puppies will eat all they can - you need to be strict as you don’t want to over feed them and damage their growth or joints (or underfeed them!)

The 5 minutes thing isn’t supposed to be a hard rule, it’s a rule of thumb to remind you to build up exercise gradually - and it’s only for things where puppies can’t or won’t pace themselves. So on lead at your pace or real exciting games. Mooching about at their pace or haring about off lead where they can stop and rest if they need to isn’t an issue.

It’s basically to remind you that little and often is better to build up their muscles.