For pet dogs, the rule of thumb for the amount of walks they are capable of is 5 minutes Active Walking per month of their life or 1 minute per week, twice a day, until they reach around a year old depending on their size and breed. Do not be fooled, small dogs are mentally and physically mature long before their larger friends.
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People often confuse “active walking” with the time on the walk. Have a look at wild dog pups. They spend all day playing with their siblings, exploring, sniffing, running, feeding, and playing again, they have a 30-minute rest and then back at it again. To keep our young dog’s mental health in tip top condition, we need to replicate these activities, but unfortunately due to breeding for looks and not health, some of our dogs’ struggle to be so active, resulting in depression or mental health issues.
At around 5 – 6 months (even younger in some of the livelier dogs) we find that they have a huge desire to do more stimulation, and without this they can be getting issues. Young dogs that are getting to their teenage years become bored without enough mental stimulation, and this can result in destructive behaviour or other behavioural issues such as separation anxiety.
We have designed the growing pains walks just for this purpose. Our young dogs go on carefully structured walks that are designed to do as little Active Walking as possible and as much mental stimulation and controlled play as they need.
By 6 months old, most dogs should have learned basic recall, sit, down, wait etc, however, when they become teenagers, even the best-behaved dogs can become pains. They suddenly forget how to recall, go a bit further than they ever did before and feel like much harder work. Lots of dogs between 6 months and four years old are abandoned by their owners because of this. Their desire to learn is huge, they need lots of mental stimulation, training and play with other dogs to ensure their continued growth into a wonderful adult.
The walks must be carefully structured to ensure that they do not do too much for their joints and the play is natural, not forced but do enough for their mental health to ensure no adverse behaviours begin. Being allowed to do free play with other dogs is very important for young dogs, this helps to keep them mentally stimulated, but also teaches them dog etiquette and how to socialise and helps them understand when a dog is saying “No!”. Dogs that have been allowed free play generally grow into social adults with a great understanding of social skills and when a dog is saying “No!” which is very important.
We do ask for all our puppy parents to ensure that there is some of their food available from their daily allowance for us to use as training treats on the walks and a kong or similar feed dispenser full of some of their daily allowance for when they return so they do not see getting home as a terrible thing and do not overeat due to being fed too many treats.
Young dogs do get growing pains just like young children. They become bored without enough mental stimulation, and this can result in destructive behaviour or other behavioural issues such as separation anxiety.
Dogs should be taught to travel in a vehicle when they are as young as possible, as this is a skill that takes time and understanding. The older they are when they are allowed to travel, the harder they will find it and the more difficult you may find them.
Dogs can run around and playfight but ensure that it does not escalate beyond play. Ensure all dogs involved are happy to be involved and not being forced to play. Mouthing is a natural way of play for young dogs, but older dogs may not be so appreciative of this. Stop them and bring them back down if they start to get too excited, give them time out to recentre themselves. This is a skill that will help them as they get older.
Risk to the joints.
The risk to the joints is greater in larger breeds. Toy breeds can generally be allowed to climb stairs from 16 weeks, but many giant breeds will need assistance up to two years of age.
Avoid things that impact the joints, such as jumping from heights, doing jumps, even climbing stairs and repetitive movement such as road pounding over the allocated time.
Avoid things that involve sharp turns such as chasing a ball. No dog should ever chase a stick, that can splinter in their mouth, build up in their stomach and worst-case scenario is cause death. I know a dog who chased a stick, it lodged into the ground, and he fell onto it to catch it and it hit an artery at the back of his throat!
Avoid walking on hard surfaces as much as possible, this causes greater impact on the forming joints, causing issues, so soft surfaces like grass are the best, as the impact is cushioned.
Keep on top of their weight. Growing dogs of teenage years should be lean! Any excess weight can cause damage to their growing joints, causing things like hip dysplasia and arthritis.
Never exercise on a full stomach as this can cause a deadly illness called bloat.
Pulling on the lead can cause abnormal growth in their muscles and joint issues, so as much off lead time as possible and train them to not pull on the lead.
Mid walk, teach them to sit down and rest. Learning to rest while out is a very good skill to have. Walks do not need to be all moving forwards; this rest time is very important for young dogs.
If you notice that your dog is limping after exercise, give it a rest and get it checked at the vet.
Give assistance when young dogs are jumping in and out of a car. If they are a large dog and, in a boot, ensure that they are wearing a harness so you can hold the harness as they jump out and ensure they do not land with pressure on their joints. Giant breeds should be trained to use a ramp.
What is an Active Walk?
And active walk is a walk, generally on the lead, where the dog is forced into doing repetitive movements, going forward repeatedly for a long distance. This is often on hard surfaces, such as tarmac and concrete, resulting in lots of repetitive strain on young, growing joints.
What is free play?
Where the dogs are generally off the lead in a secure area and allowed to dictate their own speed, they can walk, stop, and sniff, catch up, have a play, have another sniff, have a run around, what ever they feel like. If they are feeling tired, they can also lay down for a few minutes rest. These walks are good for practicing recall, boundaries, and social skills. We often walk on the moors or fields for this kind of walk. Dogs can do double the time of a free play walk to the Active Walk, and the free play walk is great for their social skills and other skills. This is the type of walk we like to do with most of our dogs, and the type of walk most of our dogs prefer, as this is their time!