# Over-exercising a puppy?



## covehithe (Oct 29, 2008)

We have a 5 month old Border Collie puppy ( we had her at 10 weeks). Our garden is very long and she spends a lot of time running up an down. We take her for a walk in the morning and afternoon lasting between 20 mins up to an hour. Are we giving her too much exercise - she can be quite hyper at times and totally ignores us!!


peter


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2008)

Hi,
An hour is too much for a 5 month old puppy,the rule of the thumb is 5 mins per month of age so by 5 months your pup should be having a 25 minute walk.


You say she can be quite hyper what food are you feeding ?


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## gillieworm (Jul 4, 2008)

Is that 20 minutes or so walk spent off or on lead?

Its should be OK to do 25/30 minutes off lead excersise which tires them out quicker, but obviously keep up the lead training as well.

5 minutes for every month old they are is good guidance, especially with large/giant breeds. I have Dalmatians and I admit they were having about an hour at that age, but for us it was either that or go stir crazy, because 30 mins walk, training & play just wasn't denting their energy levels, and they are completely fine on it. Had I got a giant breed or a breed with a known hip/elbow/joint problem, I would of course have been more strict with the 5 minute rule.


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## covehithe (Oct 29, 2008)

We are feeding her on same food as breeder used i.e a mix of Autarky Puppy & Beta Puppy (We find recommended quantities a bit vague). We didn't realise that some foods can make your dog hyper. We shall change the brand of food when she starts having adult food around 6 months.

At present she only walks on the lead (Tomorrow is the big day, we are going to a remote beach near us and let her go!) Our garden is just over 300ft long and she enjoys this freedom.


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

At 5months I had to do an hour twice a day to try and make a dent in Dillon's energy levels and that was 50/50 lead and off over rough moorland, on a bike, rollerblades, whatever I could use to drain him. 

At 8months old he went with me around a forest track for two hours, I was on my bike and he was running ahead, barking if we stopped, tugging on the lead at lunch to get going again. I was only going to take him out for half an hour but he managed the two hours no problem. When we got home he was nice and chilled out wandering the garden sniffing the flowers etc. Come tea time we were back out in the garden playing fetch and then the whole family played hide and seek in the garden which he found very exciting. Next day he was back up and out first thing again. This was after I changed his food to the Eukanoba Jogging and Agility which saw a huge decrease int he excitement energy when in the house but when he wants to he can run all day.

Dillon is a very high energy dog from a characteristically high energy breed. He is bred to run all day with nothing to think about but when you get them working and concentrating, the time to burnout drops by a considerable amount. 

If you watch a Border Collie doing agility it does the course effortlessly and would be able to do the course many times before it starts to tire. Compare that with one completing a trial. The time will only be 20mins and the distance covered will be that of roughly three or four agility courses but combined with having to listen to orders from the shepherd, using body language and eye contact to channel the sheep where they need to go, concentrating on the slightest movement of any sheep and having to block out every other distraction is a huge challenge for a dog. 
Put both dogs side by side and I can guarantee you the trial dog will be the one wanting an early night.

Combine exercise with complex mental stimulus and you may have only needed to walk for 30mins at a time with Dillon at 5months. Take him out for pure exercise and he would run for over an hour no problem. 

5mins for every month old they are might be some people's benchmark but I would say every dog is different so there is no one answer to cover all basis just whatever works for your dog.
I have posted this on another thread but I will put it here again.

What you need to think about though is that in every breed you will always get high energy dogs and low energy dogs of that same breed so you may find that a high energy dog of a classified low energy breed will require more exercise than a low energy of a classified high energy breed.


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2008)

Depends if you are lead walking her - or exercising her - if she is running about off lead for upto an hour this is far too long - if you are lead walking her then thats not so bad


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## JA12 (Mar 31, 2008)

covehithe said:


> We have a 5 month old Border Collie puppy ( we had her at 10 weeks). Our garden is very long and she spends a lot of time running up an down. We take her for a walk in the morning and afternoon lasting between 20 mins up to an hour. Are we giving her too much exercise - she can be quite hyper at times and totally ignores us!!


A Border pup is a special case. They can tolerate far more exercise than most breeds, even at a young age.

You might find that if you start intensive lessons/training, that this will have two effects, it will tire her out more than just a walk/running and it will improve her discipline. Borders benefit from training from 12 weeks old, so 5 months is late to start training a Border!

Remember that she is likely to (don't be insulted) more intelligent and quicker to learn than her owners, so to keep her attention, don't move too slowly with her lessons, Borders usually only need to be shown how to do something once, twice at the most and they've learned that lesson...


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2008)

JA12 said:


> A Border pup is a special case. They can tolerate far more exercise than most breeds, even at a young age.
> 
> You might find that if you start intensive lessons/training, that this will have two effects, it will tire her out more than just a walk/running and it will improve her discipline. Borders benefit from training from 12 weeks old, so 5 months is late to start training a Border!
> 
> Remember that she is likely to (don't be insulted) more intelligent and quicker to learn than her owners, so to keep her attention, don't move too slowly with her lessons, Borders usually only need to be shown how to do something once, twice at the most and they've learned that lesson...


Do ya know what - reckon I tend to agree with most of what you say here - there was a bC pup at two of the training classes I go to with one of my dogs - the owner was very dedicated and had done a spendid job - so much so that the trainer choose the dog for an exhibition at a local event it was only 15 weeks old and I was amazed at how quick and how much it had learnt - (I was almost ashammed of my pupster
)

Having said that I think I would still be weary of introducing agility at such a tender age -(not saying you said that - just curious) and seriously I for one would welcome your opinions of this
regards
DT


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## covehithe (Oct 29, 2008)

Thanks for all the tips and advice from you all - its most appreciated.

When we first got Meg we lived in an area where it was not safe to let her off the lead and so walked her for up to an hour, (we have now moved to a different area by the sea). We have trained her to obey the usual commands. 
Today was her first day off the lead, we walked with for her 45 mins and it was a great pleasure seeing her enjoy the freedom - she came when she was called (lack of distractions down the farm track might have helped - no dogs, people or rabbits!!).
She is very happy in her crate - she sleeps from 10pm-7am and has her toilet spot in the garden which she uses 99% of the time.

We are taking her to classes in January and by then hope to have her adult food sorted out.

peter


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## Jenny Olley (Nov 2, 2007)

DoubleTrouble said:


> Do ya know what - reckon I tend to agree with most of what you say here - there was a bC pup at two of the training classes I go to with one of my dogs - the owner was very dedicated and had done a spendid job - so much so that the trainer choose the dog for an exhibition at a local event it was only 15 weeks old and I was amazed at how quick and how much it had learnt - (I was almost ashammed of my pupster
> )
> 
> Having said that I think I would still be weary of introducing agility at such a tender age -(not saying you said that - just curious) and seriously I for one would welcome your opinions of this
> ...


I would certainly allow a BC to jump younger than other breeds, they are just so advanced physically and mentally. I would be doing the working trial jumps very low with a BC/WSD of this age, however I know other people would disagree. As for lead walking, I do very little of that with pups or adult dogs, apart for practicing heelwork, I find walking dogs on lead very boring (for me).


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## Jenny Olley (Nov 2, 2007)

covehithe said:


> Thanks for all the tips and advice from you all - its most appreciated.
> 
> When we first got Meg we lived in an area where it was not safe to let her off the lead and so walked her for up to an hour, (we have now moved to a different area by the sea). We have trained her to obey the usual commands.
> Today was her first day off the lead, we walked with for her 45 mins and it was a great pleasure seeing her enjoy the freedom - she came when she was called (lack of distractions down the farm track might have helped - no dogs, people or rabbits!!).
> ...


Sounds like she is a very happy pup, I love going to the beach with our dogs.


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## JA12 (Mar 31, 2008)

DoubleTrouble said:


> Having said that I think I would still be weary of introducing agility at such a tender age -(not saying you said that - just curious) and seriously I for one would welcome your opinions of this


All reputable Agility venues will not allow any dog under 12 months of age to participate in either training or competition.

Saying that, there's nothing to say you can't start your Border over low jumps (under 12 inches) and all of the flat obstacles, younger than 12 months. She will enjoy the ramps, tunnels, poles, etc and teaching her these, and the voice commands required to guide her through the obstacles, will give her a huge head start when she -finally- reaches a year old.

When you are out walking, try to find the rougher country, negotiating ditches, logs, planks, banks, streams, rocks, are all good training for your very agile Collie.


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