# is it possible to 'over tire' a puppy



## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi, as the title says really?
Finn is 12 weeks old and goes on 2 walks per day - these last from 15 - 30 mins but I stress that we do not 'route march' him as it were, these are gentle ambles in the new forest, slow pace and lots of sniffing.
Today we had a walk and he has stayed awake for 3.5 hours post walk, only just sleeping now.
Yesterday he had puppy agility - more waiting than doing and a 15 min walk later on and it did not seem to wear him out at all. He is a GSP BTW.
We do lots of mental' stim stuff during the walks aswell/
What is going on? We are getting a bit desperate


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

I totally believe that puppies can get over tired - Basil often finds it difficult to settle and runs around like a mad thing. 

Do you have a crate for your pup? When Basil gets bonkers and he won't settle with us I pop him in his crate and he is asleep in seconds! Invariably when he wakes up he is much more relaxed and easier to handle!

Other times he settles on the sofa with us no problem so I honestly think that it is when he gets overtired and needs a clear message that it is time to settle.


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## Matrix/Logan (May 7, 2009)

We took Logan to the woods last weekend and he got so excited it took him until 9pm to calm down and rest and relax!! 

So i think sometimes they can get a little over stimulated doing things and it can make them ''hyper''.

Maybe this is happening to your pup??


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

Mama Sass said:


> I totally believe that puppies can get over tired - Basil often finds it difficult to settle and runs around like a mad thing.
> 
> Do you have a crate for your pup? When Basil gets bonkers and he won't settle with us I pop him in his crate and he is asleep in seconds! Invariably when he wakes up he is much more relaxed and easier to handle!
> 
> Other times he settles on the sofa with us no problem so I honestly think that it is when he gets overtired and needs a clear message that it is time to settle.


 Yes he is crate trained but actually settles and sleeps longer on the sofa altho we try to discourage this.
Sounds as if Finn is getting overtired then! Not sure what the solution is?


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

Matrix/Logan said:


> We took Logan to the woods last weekend and he got so excited it took him until 9pm to calm down and rest and relax!!
> 
> So i think sometimes they can get a little over stimulated doing things and it can make them ''hyper''.
> 
> Maybe this is happening to your pup??


This is EXACTLY what has happened with Finn today - he has been awake for 4.5 hours now but I KNOW he is knackered (and so are we!!!!!):eek6:


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## kaisa624 (Mar 5, 2010)

May be a stupid question, but what is puppy agility?

Also, we used to do walks like that, Holly loves it when we go to the New Forest, but she's not allowed off lead much. But when she gets over excited, we just pop her in her crate with a kong or chew, and she's asleep within minutes.


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

kaisa624 said:


> May be a stupid question, but what is puppy agility?
> 
> Also, we used to do walks like that, Holly loves it when we go to the New Forest, but she's not allowed off lead much. But when she gets over excited, we just pop her in her crate with a kong or chew, and she's asleep within minutes.


Puppy agility is a one off session organised by our puppy class leader, tiny jumps about 10 cm high, the tunnel, both uncovered and covered and a small ramp - all very gentle, no running around the course like maniacs, just a taster really. In the middle and at the end the puppies were let off leash to play - great fun!!!


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

healpro said:


> Yes he is crate trained but actually settles and sleeps longer on the sofa altho we try to discourage this.
> Sounds as if Finn is getting overtired then! Not sure what the solution is?


No, I'm not sure either!! LOL! 

Basil always settles well in his crate so I don't know what else to suggest! Maybe using a kong or something in his crate might help? That way he is occupied whilst settling at the same time?

Something else that has worked for us previously is doing some training as soon as we come in from a walk. Just simple stuff like sit, down,stay etc seems to help him calm down a bit because he has to use his brain.

Plus remember that there are some things that I am sure they eventually grow out of...Basil is 18 weeks and is so much better than he was at 12 weeks as far being overtired goes...but there's no denying that getting through the phases can be hard work and quite frustrating!!


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## kirksandallchins (Nov 3, 2007)

A good rule of thumb for exercising puppies is 5 mnutes for each month of age, so only 15 minutes exercise per walk is recommended for a 3 month old puppy.

This is the Kennel Club's guide to puppy exercise:

*Puppies need much less exercise than fully-grown dogs. If you over-exercise a growing puppy you can overtire it and damage its developing joints, causing early arthritis. A good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppy is fully grown, i.e. 15 minutes when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old etc. Once they are fully grown, they can go out for much longer.*


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## haeveymolly (Mar 7, 2009)

I do think puppies can get over tired i also think it depends on the breed how much or how little excercise they should have, i have never stuck to the 5min rule with any of mine as it would have drove any of my springers mad at 3 months to only have a 15 minute run, i did try it with my first and soon came to the conclusion that a 12 week old pup flying aroung the house skating around jumping over furniture through sheer frustration would do more harm to joints than a run on level grass off lead then come home and rest for an hour.


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## WoodyGSP (Oct 11, 2009)

haeveymolly said:


> I do think puppies can get over tired i also think it depends on the breed how much or how little excercise they should have, i have never stuck to the 5min rule with any of mine as it would have drove any of my springers mad at 3 months to only have a 15 minute run, i did try it with my first and soon came to the conclusion that a 12 week old pup flying aroung the house skating around jumping over furniture through sheer frustration would do more harm to joints than a run on level grass off lead then come home and rest for an hour.


I agree. I haven't stuck to the 5 min rule either. Woody is nearly 7 months now and he gets about 1hr 20mins walk a day off lead. When he was younger I did the shorter route which took about 30-45 mins, half on lead, half off. He's actually very chilled for a GSP. He sleeps for most of the evening.

Is that off or on lead walking healpro?


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## kaisa624 (Mar 5, 2010)

Holly gets 90 mins of walks a day... about 20 mins is offlead and normally before lunch. We never stuck to that rule, as although she is only a little cavvie, we'd much rather have some heel walking and a bit of off lead exercise, than a mad cavvie wanting to bite, play, chew, all that buisiness at home... she now comes home from walks all relaxed, and sleeps in her crate... then plays, eats etc.


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

haeveymolly said:


> I do think puppies can get over tired i also think it depends on the breed how much or how little excercise they should have, i have never stuck to the 5min rule with any of mine as it would have drove any of my springers mad at 3 months to only have a 15 minute run, i did try it with my first and soon came to the conclusion that a 12 week old pup flying aroung the house skating around jumping over furniture through sheer frustration would do more harm to joints than a run on level grass off lead then come home and rest for an hour.


absolutely agree, I refuse to be rigid about the 5 min rule.


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

Is that off or on lead walking healpro?[/QUOTE]

both, mostly off lead if in the forest and no ponies/cattle about. He stays close and his recall is very good so far.
On lead whilst walking around the pavements at home.


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## WoodyGSP (Oct 11, 2009)

Woody used to chew his feet. I'm still not sure if it was due to too much walking or too much walking on pavement and his pads hardening up. I think sometimes they just get too excited and need to wind down. Woody used to have a mad 5 when we got home, rolling on the floor and being bitey. I think its fairly hard to overtire a GSP tbh. Is he the same after every walk? Maybe just experiment a little and monitor him and try and work out whats the right amount of exercise for him.


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

Have to say that the five minute rule has been difficult for us with Basil too. He is a border terrier and I am sure he would go for miles if we let him.

If we do street walks then we do about half an hour twice day but we do some off lead on the green. Have noticed that he is much more hyper in the evening if he hasn't had two walks.

But yesterday we went around the lake which was about 45 mins...off lead for the most part and on soft grass and mud, and he did do more than us as he kept coming back and then trotting off again! Didn't have time to take him out again but he settled in the evening really well so I am guessing that two shorter walks or one long one will do nicely for the time being.


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## katiefranke (Oct 6, 2008)

I do think it depends on the breed, but my experience has always been that I stick to around the 5 min per month of age, twice a day...but also do a lot of mental stimulation too in the form of training at home.

With my border collies there is no point me thinking i will let them run around for longer than the 5 mins/month of age to tire them, as they could be running around for 2 hours solid and still would not be worn out! So I have to think up other ways of tiring them.

With my current pup maggie, she is almost 1 and I have pretty much stuck to 5 mins per month of age, twice a day right up until recently when I have started to increase this gradually.

Mental stimulation has always been as important as physical exercise. In fact for tiring them out, I found that the mental stimulation often works better - with a combination of the two being the best!

As a rule I think all pups should be taught to settle - this could be as simple as teaching a "go to mat" exercise and using a tether (i.e. tethering to a heavy piece of furniture) intially to keep them in one spot... to start with they try even harder to stay awake and get your attention, but once you get through this, they learn to settle down much easier.

Food also plays a large part in this too - a good quality food source will usually make for a calmer pup too


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

katiefranke said:


> I do think it depends on the breed, but my experience has always been that I stick to around the 5 min per month of age, twice a day...but also do a lot of mental stimulation too in the form of training at home.
> 
> With my border collies there is no point me thinking i will let them run around for longer than the 5 mins/month of age to tire them, as they could be running around for 2 hours solid and still would not be worn out! So I have to think up other ways of tiring them.
> 
> ...


Hi we feed Finn on Arden Grange. He gets lots of short training sessions throughout the day too as I agree it would be nigh on impossible to tire him with exercise alone.
We have taught him to settle with chew toys and chewy treats and he is quite good with that, it just seems that sometimes he gets overstimulated.


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## healpro (Mar 11, 2009)

WoodyGSP said:


> Woody used to chew his feet. I'm still not sure if it was due to too much walking or too much walking on pavement and his pads hardening up. I think sometimes they just get too excited and need to wind down. Woody used to have a mad 5 when we got home, rolling on the floor and being bitey. I think its fairly hard to overtire a GSP tbh. Is he the same after every walk? Maybe just experiment a little and monitor him and try and work out whats the right amount of exercise for him.


No, he is not the same after every walk, I think looking back that he did 2 'exciting' walks on the sat and then one on the sunday and he just got overtired. He has been much more settled today. We will be more careful in the future - difficult tho with the fantastic walks on our doorstep!!


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## corrine3 (Feb 22, 2009)

i'm by no means an expert but just reading through this and i thought what relaxes him? would it help to give him a good relaxing rub/massage, i know Glen relaxes when we rub his ears and chest in big slow circles. We also try and ignore him when he's really tired, quite often he'll bring his ball over when he's sleepy but we just ignore him and he settles down.


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