# Exercise/activity level



## Dayna (Jun 27, 2018)

My 6 month old girl gets tired out pretty quickly. We take her on walks to the park or to the dog park twice a day. The park is only a few blocks from our house and we play fetch with her for about 20 min until she's done. At the dog park, she'll play for an hour or so, but we can tell she's tired after like 20 min. Is this normal? Is there a general age when puppies get more stamina? I'm actually hoping she stays this way, somewhat lazy. Lol. Anybody here have a lazy gsd? She's my first, so I've got nothing to compare, but I keep reading on here that people exercise their dogs like two or three hours a day.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

All dogs have different requirements. Mine can easily go a day without doing much...but day two she's bouncing off the walls ready to go! I typically give her 2-3 hours a day of fetch, training, and off leash time. But not all dogs will require that much. With my dog, I found that keeping her very lean seemed to greatly enhance her energy and stamina...if you can't see any ribs when they're running, they are probably a bit too heavy! Show us pictures...


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## McGloomy (Mar 13, 2018)

6 months old pup are still pretty much growing, I would limit her time at the dog park to 45 minutes tops. When she's 1 year and over, 1 hour of dog park should be ok.

Like Tim said, every dog is different. I can lounge around in my apartment the whole day and my 13 months old GSD would just lounge around with me. Not sleep, but lay around. As opposed to when we do our exercise, 1. Morning walk 30-45 mins. 2. Rollerblade 1-2 miles 3. Dog park 1 hour and over. He'll come home and sleep. But either way he's fine. But if I'm having company or about to take him to public places, I exercise him in advance so he'd not be jittery and jump on people, he'll stay calm and more relaxed after exercise.

But that's just my dog. Others can be more energetic or more mellow.


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## KaiserAus (Dec 16, 2016)

My almost 2 year old gets 30/40 minutes of games in the morning (fetch, soccer, tag, hide & seek) and 20 mins of the same kind of games in the evening as well as a 1hr walk with training after dinner. He gets this every day - well almost... but similar to what Tim says... he's ok if I skip 1 day but day 2 he is a nightmare and has to have his exercise. Weekends consist of 2 or 3hr walks and games


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I have had 3 gsds all different -all can go all day and all can handle down time. Life happens I found them to all very flexible. Of course you will get very reminders on how they feel about down time every now and then.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

My post also was to say this heat is crazy some dogs tolerate it better then others. They are all different.


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## Dayna (Jun 27, 2018)

Some pics of my girl. She's pretty skinny. Also might be difficult to see, but I worry about her back being sloped. Sometimes I think it hinders her activity.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

With slope do you mean curve it’s hard to tell with those photos to see a slope or curve 
With her lying down. It’s hard to say. My female is two years old she is a wgsl and is moderate in her structure she has a moderate curve/ roach it does not hinder her from speed at a gallop or endurance levels she is a speed deamon. She gets a serious work out with our gsd. As a young pup I’m sure her endurance levels increased with age. I believe the heat plays a big part and with a young dog they have to adjust to the extreme temps and some just do not or takes some time. It’s good she slows down when she needs to. I myself like to stick to long walks /swims near the water to cool everyone off it’s In the 90’s here with crazy humidity. If you think she is in physical pain it’s good to bring her into the vet.


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## DaBai (Aug 13, 2017)

My pup was like that at yours' age too. She is now almost 2 and pretty happy after 30-40min of vigorous activity per day plus some walking. I can also get by with only 10min of vigorous activity per day when the weather is bad or when I am too busy every once in a while. I think this is normal for an everyday GSD that is not bred to work, trainer said her energy and drives are medium level.


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## KaiserAus (Dec 16, 2016)

Jenny720 said:


> I have had 3 gsds all different -all can go all day and all can handle down time. Life happens I found them to all very flexible. Of course you will get very reminders on how they feel about down time every now and then.


That pic made me laugh out loud in the office - wonderful!!


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## clipke (Nov 14, 2017)

She's young, activity levels should increase some with age. Excessive exercise while young isn't great for the joints. I wouldn't stress too much about it. My dogs are different every day to be honest. Some days they'll spend 2-3 hours at the park, other days they rather sleep. I let them dictate when they want to exercise for the most part. Tonight for example they played with each other for 3 hours without resting, but they spent most of the day asleep.


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

Just like everyone else said here, she's only 6 months old. Don't overdo it. Protect her joints now. Also, the more you exercise them, the more fit they'll become. You're building up their endurance. By the time they're full grown, you'll have to exercise them a long long time. It's just like any human being. If I started jogging today, I'd probably last a mile before I need to stop. If I run every day for 2 weeks, by the end of the 2 weeks, I'd probably be able to do 2 miles. Anyone heard of this formula....for every month your dog is alive, you add 5 minutes to his walk? So for example, my 7 month old should be walked for 35 minutes.


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## Nikka Khrystyne (May 14, 2018)

I have two five month olds. Their energy levels are completely different. Odin doesn’t know when to stop. He will run, play fetch, and go non stop. For instances he just played fetch pretty much mom stop for around 15-20 minutes and now he’s just staring at me with his ball and asking to go back outside, but I can see he’s tired. Usually I limit his activities to 20 minutes of fetch off leash and a walk around our neighrbood daily unless we have plan that week for park trips or play time at his granmads house in the yard. Inside he will play with his sister or we will play fetch or chase around the condo.

Layla doesn’t play fetch and has zero interest. So I usually take her a grass patch and run back and forth while she chases me. We will do this for around 10 minutes and then take a walk for another 10 minutes. Just so I can get some exercise in for her chubby butt and also practice her leash skills on the walk. 

They get outdoor off leash time maybe around 3 days a week. And a walk almost daily. We usually take them to my mother in laws where they will run around in the backyard until they’re pooped. This is usually two to three times a week. Other days we will do the above activity for each pup in our complex. We have a lot of dog friendly grass areas I can let them run around. We also have a huge dog park (mostly just dirt and some hills). 

Some days just chasing each other around all day is enough exercise for them. I can usually tell when they are good having a chill day at home and when they need to play outside. 

I try to keep the activities limited so no future issues with joints.


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