# the puppy exercise question!



## kai_15 (Feb 20, 2015)

So this has really been confusing me lately. Kai is 4 months tomorrow and I've had so many different opinions on this topic I don't know how to filter them anymore!

At the moment her living set up is a small yard she has access to all day from her room, and a big yard for when I'm home. She spends 3/4 hours alone Monday - Wednesday and the rest of the time someone is home or she is out with me. She is most fond of fetching toys so most of the play is centred around that but I also have been teaching her some more patient games like hiding a treat under different cups etc etc. We take a short walk (5-10 min, as this was what was emphatically stressed to me by the German Shepherd association here) in the morning and I drive her to a park nearby in the evening and just sit in the middle and let her wander around me (she doesn't really do too much during this time because her perimeter for wandering away from me still isn't very big). 

I guess my problem is, she wakes up fine, goes for her walk, comes home, eats breakfast, settles for a little bit, we have a play session and then she goes into her room and I leave for classes. She usually sleeps during this time. I come home, we play until she starts to sit down voluntarily, I have lunch, she has lunch. I study and she sleeps. This is all great. Then evening comes and she is like a rocket! Bouncing of walls kinda thing and I will play with her for over an hour and that is maybe a 10 minute down time before she is back up. It really doesn't feel like energy though at this point, it looks more like frustration. This is the only time she get's snappy, has her crazy eyes and really just goes for it. It's also the only time that she will dig too and you can see when she's doing it it's like a release for her. 

I feel terrible because it really feels to me like she is just not getting enough stimulation during the day and I wish I could give her that. But all the activities that I want to do are things I've been told will interfere with her legs. We have great beaches here for her to go to and swim at, a lot of bush and park space to walk through, the river, sport fields, etc. and I really just want to take her and not push her or anything but let her just explore the world outside the back yard and the two streets we can walk down in 10 minutes!

Her parents both had A grade hips (I don't know if we use the same system in Australia as you guys) and she has glucosamine with breakfast. She is still definitely at terrible puppy coordination stage with her back legs and I know from my previous shepherd how important the hips are as they get older (she was 13 and because her hips were good it made such a difference to her quality of life) so I don't want to jeopardize that. 

Really though, I'm sure a lot of you have gone through this and just knowing what you did and what your reasoning was to get there would be really helpful. She's such a wonderful puppy and I want to do the right thing by her. 

All the best,
yas + kai.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

When Fritz was a pup, he also came alive after dinner..he was a terror! So, we would walk around our property, staying on lawn.. (We live in the country, 90% cleared, just over an acre)..three times around, he was done. On rainy nights, or as it got darker faster, I used to sit in a hallway, and roll the ball to the end, Fritz would chase it.. Good luck


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## Mumma1 (Jan 26, 2015)

Oh, how I feel your pain! I have a puppy that is almost exactly the same age as yours, and even though I don't have much to offer in the way of advice, just know you aren't alone. 

I also have a toddler, and both of them seem to go crazy between the hours of 5 and 6. I call it our demon hour, because we are trying to do other things like dinner and work prep, and these two are like devilish whirlwinds. Even if we did a long meander around the park, or swimming in the canal or fetch/time outside from 3-4 they are both still SO keyed up. My vote is it is over tiredness. At this age Oscar seems to benefit from a little down time, so I crate him over dinner and during Amelia's bedtime, and he comes back out after and we do a little late night training if he is calm, or just have cuddles and grooming time. 

Your dog 4 months old so she can do significantly more than she could when she was 8 weeks old. She's probably bored and ready to try new things. Oscar swims every day and he loves it. Maybe try adding fetch in the water. Also do you do obedience in the park at night when you are sitting there in the middle of it? Mental exercise will tire her out significantly.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

It's a great question. Generally I think we under exercise our pups. 

Have you had a chance to look at ---> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/development-socialization/111084-proper-exercise-puppies.html great hints and tips there.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

One opinion (by a vet) I found there said "no more exercise than what they would normally do on their own", how's that for obscure?. That's the one that caught my eye though. We've had some nice weather the last 3 weeks and most days I've been able to leave the back door open so she can come and go as she pleases. This has enabled me to see her activity levels.

She walks a lot, chases squirrels, lays around and chews stuff but twice a day she gets the zoomies and makes 4 or 5 circuits of the (large) yard running. This she is doing "on her own". We also play ball and tug four to five times per day but not for more than 10 minutes or so each time.

To me, walking or running on (high impact) hard surfaces such as pavement or concrete for any distance would seem to be as equally risky as over exercising a pup. My walks on sidewalks with Summer are not long distances and are for socialization not so much exercise. I have not seen any information that shows the possibility of long term damage from slightly under exercising a pup (outside of too much weight gain which is bad), but I have seen much about long term damage from over exercising one.


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## carsona246 (Feb 17, 2014)

I walk mine twice a day to help with that, otherwise my little guy becomes a devil at night. I was told by my vet that walks were fine as long as he is not running. For some reason training and extended play time did not help him stay calm later in the day


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

I think your pup is being very under exercised and I think you should ship her to me. It would be better for her, and me. LOL

Welcome to GSD pups and what like to call "zoomies!!!!" It's like a demon got in their bum and off they go, running, barking, biting, running more!!! Lol. It does end. You can try to stave it off by walking her early afternoon, but TBH. it's part of puppydom!!! Get video. Could go viral!!


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Just theorizing here....sounds like your pup has a minimum exercise requirement....and certainly self-imposed and innate. I wonder if the routine was altered a bit to spread out the physical activity more evenly...if you might not notice an improvement in the evening. At the moment it sounds like your pup is developing a routine and letting you know. Also, 4 months....pup is certainly capable of being exercised mentally and that will certainly bring some "stimulation" it's way.

As far as the physical aspect..." _But all the activities that I want to do are things I've been told will interfere with her legs. We have great beaches here for her to go to and swim at, a lot of bush and park space to walk through, the river, sport fields, etc._" I would be tempted to further research this. I would think as long as you monitor your pup properly and look out for any potential hazards effecting it's healthy growth....why not take the pup to these wonderful places?

Subjecting a growing pup to consistent forces which might cause hardship to the growth plates is what I tried to always keep in mind in our exercise.

No doubt a 4 month old pup has an awkwardness to them which makes them vulnerable as they progress through this stage. Their hindquarters seem to have a mind of their own at times....

I have to agree with MaggieRoseLee's attitude.....the energy they possess is there for a reason. I remember reading posts in here basically saying..." an exercised tired pup is a happy pup".



SuperG


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

*Ok...*



SuperG said:


> Just theorizing here....sounds like your pup has a minimum exercise requirement....and certainly self-imposed and innate. I wonder if the routine was altered a bit to spread out the physical activity more evenly...if you might not notice an improvement in the evening. At the moment it sounds like your pup is developing a routine and letting you know. Also, 4 months....pup is certainly capable of being exercised mentally and that will certainly bring some "stimulation" it's way.
> 
> As far as the physical aspect..." _But all the activities that I want to do are things I've been told will interfere with her legs. We have great beaches here for her to go to and swim at, a lot of bush and park space to walk through, the river, sport fields, etc._" I would be tempted to further research this. I would think as long as you monitor your pup properly and look out for any potential hazards effecting it's healthy growth....why not take the pup to these wonderful places?
> 
> ...


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Stonevintage said:


> [QUOTE.
> 
> So basically, what you are saying is exercise her but don't do any activities that may harm her?. The op's question was specific as to finding which types of exercise activities won't harm growth plates. They have no help yet that I can see... except "to further research this"...


I apologize for being vague....in my application of exercises which I believed were non-harmful for the growth plates of my pup were all aimed at low impact ( on the joints/load bearing ) as well as sudden stops and starts. Number one exercise which made me feel very comfortable was swimming...the OP cited access to rivers and beaches...I'd take full advantage of using swimming as an outlet for exercising the dog. I also tended to stay off of the harder surfaces ( concrete/asphalt ) when possible for any exercise...I also chose sports fields as my choice over unimproved fields as potholes and other variances were usually abundant. 

I would also take the long line to the sports fields and jog with her rather than just having her mill about....nothing of any duration but enough to constitute exercise. It also was a good exercise as the dog learned to follow and stay with me without using any leash pressure.

Games of tug seem benign enough as well....however, dogs really appear to use most all of their muscle groups during sessions of a spirited tug. 

Exercising a pup moderately on a sandy beach...hmmm..certainly would be low impact in nature but I'm not certain if the softness of a sandy beach and it shifting underfoot is ideal??? Maybe "too soft" has its drawbacks as well as "too hard" a surface.

I certainly appreciate the notion of looking over a pup's physical activity during critical development stages however too much safeguarding could have it's disadvantages as well. 

I am curious as to the rationale the OP was given for not allowing a pup to swim and how this activity can be harmful to the pup's proper structural development?

SuperG


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

My 2 Shepherds have walked/ballplayed 2-3 hours a day since 8 weeks old. They still want more. I would say they are medium energy dogs.


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## dhaney81 (Nov 5, 2014)

I usually walk my 6 month old 1-2 miles a day, and then we'll play fetch, tug and I'll use the flirt pool. I tire him out pretty good alternating between the 3 games and I make him earn a tug, throw, or flirt pole by doing a sit/down/stand/or watch. Another thing I'll do sometimes is have him stay next to me in the kitchen, and then I'll throw a piece of his kibble into the living room and say "Go get it", and then he'll go sniff it out. I'll also give him a bully stick after we exercise some nights to keep him out of my face for a little lol. 

It's an amazing feeling to put my puppy in his crate at night to go to sleep, with no moans or groans about it and for him to go right to sleep.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Do you know someone with another puppy? Or another dog that can handle the energy of a puppy? 

Kyleigh had (and still does) AWESOME play mates from 10 weeks old and up! 

I doubt you'll ever be able to tire your dog out the way you want to (I know I couldn't do it by myself!)

Enter the other puppy - or adult dog. (You have to be careful about this ... I wouldn't let Kyleigh - who's almost 4) be "the" adult dog to play with a puppy - she has zero tolerance for puppies!

I was lucky in that I found lots of people who had puppies the same time I got Ky and they grew up together ... playing, rough housing, etc. 

We let them be dogs ... they ran, they fell, the rolled, they bombarded each other ... they had an absolute blast. They WOULD do this even if humans weren't around. 

It was a great way to socialize Ky, teach her bite inhibition, and she got to burn that energy!

What you have to be careful with while they are growing is the repetitive hard core running / jumping, etc. Would I have taken my puppy running / jogging? Absolutely not ... but we went on plenty of 1-2 hour walks ... just at a much slower pace. Heck, she even had a couple of naps sometimes, and I just sat at the bench while she snoozed or just chilled and read a book ... Then when she bounced up and was ready to rock and roll, we started walking again.


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