# Am i exercising my dog too much?



## WGSDlover (Mar 25, 2010)

I have a beautiful 12 month old Male neutered GSD. Currently our walking and running schedule is as follows:
Weekdays: 2.5 mile walk on average each day with me, with 1-2 mile run at night with my fiance
Weekends: One day each weekend we either go to the trails or go hiking which can be anywhere from 5-10 miles or more sometimes. The other day of the weekend we do no walking or running. 

Is this too much or not enough for him? Anyone know a rule of thumb for the amount of exercise to give a GSD and at different ages, including puppies? I want to make sure that I am not harming his hips or joints in anyway. I do want to mention that we take water with us everytime we go anywhere and food on hikes and long trail walks. As soon as we get home he chases cats around the house for a while anyway so I assume he isn't that tired.... haha. He also thoroughly enjoys every minute on the walk and gets so excited to go out on them. We do not have a large backyard right now (we are building a house out in the country), so we heavily rely on walks and runs for his exercise. I used to have a VERY WIRED collie mix so his schedule was actually close to double this (and even then I don't think that was enough lol). Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

That sounds like one lucky dog to have so much quality time with you guys!!! A 12 month old should not have any problems handling those distances, as he has demonstrated. I would wait on the jogging-running though. Their growth plates will close around 16-18 months or so, and until then you want to avoid repetitive impact on hard surfaces (like jogging for 1 to 2 miles). It is not a really big distance for running, but if you want to be safe I would cut that out, and just replace it with another walk of that distance, or more. 

Rule of thumb is to let the puppy regulate his own excercise. So he can run when he wants to, and slow down and walk when he feels tired. Off leash is good to for longer distances, if you can do it safely, because he will have the freedom to move around and use different muscles and vary the joints that get used - as opposed to walking or running in a military fashion with no variation. 

Dogs can vary in how much excersice they need to be happy, and you can probably tell if Colt is getting enough by his behaviour. If he seems happy and easy going, and well behaved, then you are doing a great job at meeting his excercise needs. For example, I can always tell if Keeta needs more excercise by how much more barking she does in the house, and by her getting snarky with Gryffon. 

If Gryffon needs more excercise, he gets pushy and whinny and keeps trying to crawl into my lap for attention. So watch Colt, I am sure he has his way of letting you know if he needs more excercise - but your routine sounds wonderful, and I bet he is one happy dog!


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

You are doing just fine. There is no such thing as too much exercise for each age; you need to judge by looking at your own dog and how he's handling it. Your dog is clearly doing well on this so I would leave well enough alone.

By the way, exercise can not damage healthy hips. If the hips are bad to begin with, your dog will let you know he hurts and you will find out pretty early that you have a problem. 

An overly angulated dog can stress out the ligaments and tendons around the joints with excessive exercise, but again, he will tell you he's had too much by displaying pain and limping. 

So, just watch your dog and listen to him to determine if you are doing too much.


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## WGSDlover (Mar 25, 2010)

Thanks for your help. I can tell if he needs more exercise, he starts becoming obsessed with the cats and their every movement haha. Maybe I will cut down on the running and let him out in our friends field a couple of times a week instead with a frisbee or a ball. Thanks again for your suggestions.


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