Exercising your puppy🐾🐕🐾
Puppies are full of life and need exercise to stay healthy, but too much exercise might be bad for their growing bones and joints.
It's important to know the right amount – and right types – of exercise for your puppy. A recent report showed that over a million dogs don’t get a daily walk, which is really sad as it’s so important for their mental health and wellbeing. Once your puppy is fully vaccinated, walks should be a big part of their daily routine!
The amount of exercise your puppy needs will depend on their age, breed and size, If you want specific advice, talk to your vet or vet nurse.
General advice
As a general rule, aim for exercising your puppy for five minutes per month of age, twice a day (e.g. three months = 15 minutes twice a day, four months = 20 minutes twice a day etc.).
Every pup’s unique: the above is just a rule of thumb so keep an eye on how your puppy is managing. If they seem like they’re struggling, cut down on exercise until their fitness improves (and see the vet if they’re not picking up). If they still have buckets of energy all the time then maybe another round of playtime is in order.
🐾Try to keep sessions short at first until your puppy gets used to them.
🐾Puppies enjoy ‘free’ playtime, usually they’ll self-regulate and will rest when they get tired. Remember to let them take these breaks when they need to.
🐾Your puppy’s breed will also have a big impact on the amount of exercise they need so keep this in mind.
🐾Make sure they’re fully vaccinated before letting them outside for walks. Before this, they’ll need plenty of short bursts of exercise playing in a garden or a safe area where they won’t come into contact with unvaccinated dogs.
🐾Walking on concrete can get sore after a while as soft puppy paw pads aren’t used to it. Try mixing walking on pavements or roads with walking on softer surfaces, too, like grass or cool sand.
🐾Training is exercise too and can be tiring for your pup so bear in mind they might have less extra energy if you’ve done a lot of training that day. Check out our tips for teaching your pup the basics.
🐾Your puppy will need plenty of rest in between their exercise, so make sure they have a quiet place to go afterwards if they want.
🐾Take it easy and walk to your puppy’s pace. If they get tired, rest. If your puppy lies down during a walk, it’s probably because they need a rest. Stop for a little while until they are ready to go again and use this as your guide and finish your walk.
🐾Over-exercising your puppy could damage their joints. Avoid intense exercise – don’t take your pup running with you and limit how far you throw a toy for “fetch” until they are fully grown.
🐾Vary the types of exercise your puppy does. A good mix of walking, playing, training and socialising with other vaccinated puppies will keep your puppy both physically and mentally healthy.
🐾If you want to train your puppy to do agility, make sure to leave the jumps out at first. Training for some of the simpler obstacles can usually start when they’re just under a year old. Jumping isn’t good for a developing puppy because it can damage their growth plates. It’s best to leave the big jumps until they are fully grown. Remember dogs can’t compete in agility until they’re at least 18 months old.
🐾Your puppy’s exercise needs will change as they get older, so check with your vet how much exercise they should be getting.
