How far to walk a puppy?

[ian1969uk]

Will be over two more weeks before we can walk Peggy, by which time she will be nearly 16 weeks old.

When we can take her out, I was wondering hos long we should walk her for? I've read all sorts that say don't walk them too far as it can damage joints, but she's pretty non-stop running around the house as it is, so I wouldn't have thought a longish walk a couple of times a day could do too much harm.

What would you recommend?

[beaglebeauty]

The rule of thumb is five minutes for every month of age

[ian1969uk]

I've read that, but that would mean 20 minute walks, which wouldn't tire her out at all. She'd then come home and race around, and I am not sure how that's any better on her joints etc than just having a longer walk!

[beaglebeauty]

It's important to make sure that you take into consideration that she is still growing...what other things are you doing to tire her out? Teaching her some games that aren't really intensive and can be done in the house might help. Also, do you have a fenced back yard that she can get some energy out in, or is she strictly in the house unless she's going on walks? I don't know who made the overall determination...if twenty minutes seems like not enough time...maybe call your vet and ask for recomendations?

[ian1969uk]

She can go out back and run around as much as she likes. What confuses me is how this is different to a longer walk? People say limit walks but then let them burn off energy by running around at home. Surely this energy could be burned off by a longer walk?

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[beaglebeauty]

I'm not a dog expert by any means...Angel is 2 years old and we didn't have her when she was a puppy...we know (from the one time she got out) that she can run nine miles in under an hour. Our Husky puppy does several walks a day, and one or two of those walks are just training sessions. He's only four months old...once a week at minimum he goes for a forty minute walk.

We've noticed with him it's not the time so much as the ammount of energy expended. If your pup will chase a ball in the back yard you can work with her on that, just make sure because she's a puppy you stop before she's uninterested in it. Angel isn't interested in fetch but she will chase things, our husky is the same way unless we let him know that he gets a treat for bringing it back. If you're talented enough with a bicycle, scooter or roller blades you can cover alot of ground in a short period of time and maybe get some of the more intense energy out of your darling pup. Sorry if I don't have a definate answer for you, I'd still talk to your vet if you're not sure. I'll try to look up some more activities that burn off high ammounts of energy in short periods of time and try to get it posted up by tonight.

[ian1969uk]

Thank you

[beaglebeauty]

Sorry I didn't get this up last night, it was crazy with the holiday. This is only a starting list, some things will work out for you and your pup and some won't...all in all I hope that this at least gives you a starting point for establishing ways to get your little darling worn out. There are more things you can do when she's an adult...

*Treadmill (if you don't have one just keep an eye on your newspapers free section or check the free section of craigslist often)

* Interactive toys (Kong's or other toys your puppy has to work to get the treat out of)

*One day a week of doggie daycare (even if its not needed) can help your pup get socialized and if it's a good daycare then there'll be alot of exersize with other dogs as well, if this isn't possible...set up play dates once a week with another owner

*Fetch: I haven't tried this...but someone said to cut a tennis ball open and let your puppy see you put treats in it when you're starting so that the puppy will bring it back to you, Angel at this point looks at us like we're retarded with anything fetch, and with our Husky we've simply traded the ordinary ball for the desired treat in our hand...it's also a good time to work on the command 'drop it'

*Indoor Fetch 2-3 times/ 2-3 minutes of training (sit, lay down, stay...lemme know if you'd like a step by step to these basics)/fetch/training. Do a fifteen minute cycle. This'll exersize your pups mind, work on obedience, and wear her out a bit

*You can begin working on Agility training with your pup, alot of the obstacles are easy to make out of pvc pipe (you can get the fittings for about fifty cents or below, and a 10' length of 1/4" pvc pipe runs you about $2.99). I'd recomend a ladder obstacle, and MAYBE if you scale it down a ton...a jump (the one we use for Angel's moments of uber energy is only 4" off the ground, and we started it at two, simply because of her situation even though she's an older dog, here the goal is familiarization and getting out energy than doing amazing feats of agility). I wouldn't work with either of these for more then ten minutes at a time, less to start with. Make sure you always stop while your puppy is still interested in something.

*Find the Treat: This game is pretty easy to do in the house...you can start out with easy places and then work your way up to harder ones. You need a small box or two, and you pups favorite treat. Put your pups favorite treat on a plate under a thin box (shoe box, leftover lunchmeat container works well). Tell your pup, 'Find the treat', and then lead him or her over to the box. Encourage them sniffing around. You may have to show your pupp that the treat is under the box the first few times. Start with only one box, after your pup has made the connection between it's treat being under the box and the command 'find the treat', add a second box, and then a third.

Variations:

Have someone set a favorite treat in the grass outside...cue: Find the treat. Like before you may have to show your pupp where the treat is to start with.
Find the Toy, works in a similar way with a favorite toy. Make sure you hide it in an obvious place the first few times.

*An empty two litre soda bottle (washed out and with the lid off, labels stripped...) This is to be played with with supervision only, you don't want your pup accidentally eating plastic. Roll it across a hardsurface towards your puppy (I'd introduce it to your puppy first so they don't get spooked at something like that rolling towards them)...because it's so big they'll exhert alot of energy rolling it and kicking it around.

*The dog whisperer has used a small soccer ball and two or three people standing around kicking it GENTLY from person to person whilst pups chase it from place to place.

*If you have access to a pool before it gets cold...you can take your pup swimming...this is a good way to get out alot of energy and it doesn't stress tendons, joints or ligaments

*Work on Recall: This can be done by teaching your dog to play hide and seek with you indoors or out. There are alot of methods to do this, look through the interwebs and you'll find one that will work for you and your pup
　
　
　
Words of Warning I've come across:

*Avoid laser pointers and flashlights, they can unintentionally damage your dogs eyes, has been known to cause compulsive behavior, and has been linked to causing seizures in dogs.

*People will suggest using weighted backpacks...these can do more damage than walks that are too long to muscles, tendons and ligaments if they're started before your dog is between nine months and a year. When your dog is old enough to start using weights you'll notice a big difference, but you need to make sure you start out with very VERY light weight

*Some people suggest tug of war, I don't do this game with our puppy because we would rather have him master dropping whatever we want him to than trying to hold onto things and fight us for them. We do play Tug of war with our Beagle Angel, but she has Jaw issues so it's a short sort of thing, and she always looses.

*Make sure you always stop an activity before your puppy is uninterested in it. This ensures that your pup doesn't tire of it early on, and also establishes that you're in charge of play time. Also if any game or toy appears as if it's going to injure your dog...you should stop immediately


I'll post more things as I come across them, and of course I'm sure if anyone else has anything to add you're not the only beagle owner who could benefit from this information.

[kathiam]

I think I have said some of these before that I do but will add them again:

I put some of her food in those plastic eggs so she has to work at getting them out, only I would suggest you supervise as the two parts can eventually break loose. I always check for wearing on the hinge and throw any out.

Freeze 1/4 dixie cup with water. Put some peanutbutter, a carrot or something else that won't turn to mush and pour more water over and freeze again. They then have to work at getting it out (of course make sure it's on a surface you don't mind getting wet).

We have a zip line up in the yard or whatever you call it so she can run around so I like to play fetch with her outside. She is good at bringing it back but we are still working on getting her to drop it when she comes back.