# Running a 14 month old???



## golfbum (Jan 11, 2010)

We have an active 14 month old female GSD, she gets walked abput 2.5 miles a day twice, I started letting her run next to my 4 wheeler three times a week or so, we go about 4-5 miles on snow packed roads, she usually is trotting about 14 mph and I will push her at times up to about 22 mph. She seems to love it but I dont want to overdue it if her bones are not yet ready for it. Is that to much or am I okay to keep letting her run? She also gets at least one day of hiking off leash a week.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

4-5 miles at that speed seems like you are slightly overdoing it. But that is just my opinion.
Might be a little too much.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I have to say that I'm not very comfortable with this as your dog could easily get run over by you. That said, if you are going to do this, you need to keep her at an easy trot - I have no idea of the actual mph just watch your dog - most of the time with periods of brisk trotting and dead out runs alternated with a slow jog to get her breath back. This way she uses all her muscle groups and has time to recover.

Never push her to go faster or farther if she doesn't seem to want to or seems out of breath. Always check for lameness before and after running to see if you are overdoing it and check pads for any damage.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

Chance and I bike at around 7-8 MPH currently. We've done around 12-14MPH last year after we'd spent MONTHS training to that fast of a time.

I think it's great she's getting as much exercise as she does, but just remember to be careful. Add miles slowly and don't push her further than she is ok with. I know Chance will literally run until he collapses which means it's MY responsibility to know when to call it quits. If he starts slowing down even a bit, I back off and we take it slower home. It doesn't mean he can't eventually work up to levels your dog is doing but at 14 months old, I doubt the dog has had enough time to properly get up to running something like 15-20+ MPH.

I also want to add that Elaine has several good points. Especially about being careful not to run her over. Even if she CAN do high speeds next to it, there is always that risk she could be hit and the faster you're going the harder it'll be to slow down and the more likely you'll be to hit and kill your dog. For me, I also worry about the herding instinct. I'd be scared my dog would get OVER excited and start nipping tires even though he isn't a car chaser or anything.


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