# Puppy Walking ???



## finoni9

How far can you take your for puppy for walks once they are allowed out? I heard it's not too good to walk them for too far when they are a puppy and may create problems (arthritis) when older?


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## Guest

The rule of thumb is five mins per month of life so if pup is 2 months old then 10 mins per day.


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## gillieworm

Rule of thumb is 5 minutes for every month they are old (eg 4 months = 20 mins, 5 months = 25 mins)

If you do a search in the forum there are loads of posts about this


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## finoni9

He's not going to be going very far then!!

I was looking forward to walking him to nursery, taking him to the park and round the block a few times a day  (He'll be 12 weeks when ready to go out!)


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## Nicoleta

Breeds that they are big, like Labradors, Boxers, Cane Corso, Newfoundland mustn't jump a lot when they are puppies because they will have problems when they grow up.
That's not so big problem for smaller breeds, but we have to carefull and with them in a point.


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## Dundee

TBH - I think a lot of the joint problems are caused by people overwalking puppies. It is understandable... new puppy and you want to take it for walks, but young bones are very soft. 

The 5 minutes per month of age is a good guide.


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## LittleOscar

Ok so I see by eveyones responses that 5mins per month of age is suitable walking time for a puppy. How many times a day though should he go out, once a day, morning and night or more???? Please help!


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## RobD-BCactive

finoni9 said:


> He's not going to be going very far then!!
> 
> I was looking forward to walking him to nursery, taking him to the park and round the block a few times a day  (He'll be 12 weeks when ready to go out!)


I should consider going with him to a non-doggy place with people to meet but low risk of disease, towards end of the quarantine. Hopefully your vet's would have warned you if there's an outbreak of something like Parvo near your area. Also attend any good puppy socialisation as soon as they recommend. It made a big difference to my puppy, despite the party I attended not being the best. The cabin fever of being limitted to home & garden can act like a pressure cooker.

Puppy play opportunities off leash are golden, cultivate them. Most puppy owners in my experience underestimate the value of safe off leash play, leaving it too much to chance (my pup ended up playing mostly with year old dogs).

I tried to hang out in the park, and give mine a chance to play, rather than worry too much about "doing a walk", being a Border Collie it wasn't long before I was holding him back, rather than having to encourage him. There's a huge difference between 4-5 months old and 2-3, so you won't have to wait very long at all for reasonable length walks. At first I was carrying my dog a fair amount, especially hard surfaces. With none of our past BC's did we follow that 5 min per month rules, and none of them had any problems due to over-walking. The one that did have a bad hip, dislocated it later on finding a "surprise" rabbit hole when travelling at full tilt when fully grown. I have come across breed specific advice, that they mature quicker and avoid the growth spurts of the larger dogs. I hope his best pal (a Golden) doesn't suffer later on, as I know his owners are breaking the 5 min/month outline on walk distance.

Another thread with a little discussion on exercise that I remember & weight is Fat Pets - Dogs Opportunistic Eating


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## RobD-BCactive

LittleOscar said:


> Ok so I see by eveyones responses that 5mins per month of age is suitable walking time for a puppy. How many times a day though should he go out, once a day, morning and night or more???? Please help!


I see now you searched and revived a dusty old thread. I think the answer will depend a lot on your puppy, and how much space you have at your home for play.

In my view there's way too much variation in sizes and activity levels, to give a definite answer. My Border Collie pup would be tearing up the house, if he didn't get out, and if the lawn was water logged then the only sane option was 2 walks. Still avoided extensive hard surfaces, preferring natural ground with give in it.


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## LittleOscar

I seem to found have found already he likes a couple of times a day. I can more or less tell when he has had enough, and yes puppy classes and meeting friends with other dogs is going well too. Short walks at the mo are perfect as he really is a dinky dog. A shih tzu, so far so good. I realise that the 5 min rule is in no way applicable to all, dogs they all have different needs.


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