# How much can we walk?



## Bogifromhungary (Mar 19, 2014)

I have a vizsla pup I brought back from Hungary this past Christmas that will hit 5 months old this week. I have her enrolled in puppy class where I happened to mention us going on a hike in the woods (3 miles total) and how well she did off leash. ( she always stayed close and kept turning around waiting for me...) Well, the trainer told me that long walks like that are an absolute 'no-no' because of the damage to their growth plate and made me feel really bad about it . I knew I have to wait about a year old before we can start running but what about walking? Is there a minimum age for longer walks also? I know in Hungary they start training the pups for hunting at 6months or even sooner.. Any thoughts?


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Yikes. Welcome. Walk that dog and ask the puppy class person for the document they are using to come to this conclusion.

Go to the search box and type in running. Many conversations on this subject.

Here we run Vizslas in puppy stakes in the fields at six months from horse back.

RBD


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## Bogifromhungary (Mar 19, 2014)

Well, thank you for the reassurance. After reading some posts on running, I still feel like there's a bit of variance in when to start longer runs/walks with v pups. I know the puppy trainer means well but she knows nothing about this breed...


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

The important thing at that age is to let your dog set the pace, and the softer the surface the better.


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## Happyhappyhappy (Jan 8, 2013)

My 15 mo Vizsla, Afton, went up to 1/2 mile (walks with sniff breaks) until 6 months. 

By 6 mo, we started adding on in comfortable weather and we mixed in short swims (exhausting). We followed my own running training go-to guideline of never adding more than 10% distance in a single run and not adding speed and distance simultaneously. I think this rule of thumb is a decent approach when mixed with softer terrain and dog-directed...

Well....... Actually, it was the dog-directed off-leash non-run activity that caused us trouble. My boy and I were in the backyard at 14 months. We walked down the trail toward the stream and he came up on a flock of turkeys.... Long story short, turkeys can fly and Vizslas will try.

As a runner, my soreness can be easily overcome by my logical mind. Take an Advil, dial it back some...

But, maybe Afton was sore from the walk in the snow, maybe his pads were so cold that his steps were uncertain, maybe he thought he could climb that tree. Either way, his instinct took over and I could not help him dial it back. Now, we are 4 weeks of rest and still looking a tendonitis, an MRI, and PT.

The take home: ? Maybe it isn't just age (month or years) or stage (training them to pull off the hunt) or distance (vigorous, tethered, or not). These Vs are brilliantly complex... Just like life itself.

Enjoy every moment! H3


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## BirdWatcher (Jun 12, 2012)

HappyHappyHappy I am so pleased to hear that Afton is moving forward and you got a better understanding of his condition. I was thinking of him.

It is amazing how much the lead walks do seem to do the trick. Burdy had infraspinctus damage and I could not really see how being on a lead as opposed to doing her own thing was going to help, but it really has. She is older which helps as she has learned to relax into 'stop and sniff' walks. We trail around rabbit warrens etc and she creeps around those s-l-o-w-l-y which is fine until a pheasant flies up .. the other thing we have cut out is playing with other dogs which feels miserable but just has to be done. There is a lot of advice on the forum which helped and we do things like lead walks around the pet stores and the garden centres, trips in the car etc.

Have also taken Burdy for canine massage which is a kind of sports massage for dogs - and that helped both Burdy (physically) and me in understanding how she is experiencing discomfort and what all the steps to healing are doing. She would come out of a massage and be so sleepy and restful which I thought must be helping. There are also herbal (comfrey) rub products made for horses (but OK for dogs and people) which I haven't tried but keep meaning to.

We did a lot of swimming last summer (before the limp)and I am waiting for the temperature to rise so that we can get back in. She loves swimming but particularly with me which is great but it's not that easy to find lakes and quarries that you can swim in together. The other issue with swimming isn't so much the swimming itself - which all of the advice indicates is beneficial - it's the scrambling around the bank over rocks, zoomies on the beach etc. around the water which aren't so soothing.

I have also been giving glucosamine and chondritin. I am still not sure about this - and if anyone knows how much this helps and good sources etc. it would be good to know. 

The other thing I have found is that recovery seems to come in waves. The limp resolves and then shows a bit and so on, but what you are looking for is a an upward curve of improvement. It does get hard especially when they are obviously feeling fine and ready to go. I doubt there are many young vs who are on the rest regime who don't flout the rules sometimes. There are moments when containing their energy is very hard. 

Sometimes I feel worried that this injury will affect Burdy adversely long term but then I try to focus on the fact that she only lives in the now - and I will always make sure her 'now' is OK if you know what I mean. We are both learning the art of the slow walk. 

Besides all that I'm so pleased to hear Afton's condition is improving. You are doing everything you can for him and that will give him the best chance of a happy, healthy life. I hope also that you are getting good support from your vet. Really good news


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

BirdWatcher said:


> I have also been giving glucosamine and chondritin. I am still not sure about this - and if anyone knows how much this helps and good sources etc. it would be good to know.


They absolutely help! My almost 11 yr old chow mix is slightly arthritic and gets a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement daily. If I forget to give it to her she'll come and "yell" at me. It works so well that she rarely needs to take her prescribed anti-inflammatory and she just thinks she's getting a treat. We use Sergeant's brand, but I'm sure there's nothing special about it. http://www.sergeants.com/products/ProductCatalog.asp?one=1&two=18&three=86&pr=857 If you're more inclined to go with a natural source, raw poultry feet are supposed to be chock full of the stuff and provide a good dental cleaning as well. 

Bogi, perhaps you could offer to have your trainer watch your pup sans walk in the woods. I'm pretty sure she'd change her tune after dealing with the pent up energy of an unexercised V. ;D


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

I have posted in the past about this and there is no research on this - advise given comes from people's personal opinion, not science!

Exercise, as well as potentially damaging joints also builds up muscle that supports joints so reducing the wear and tear. The most sensible advice I have seen (IMO) was from a vet that suggested what was most important that the exercise was consistent, i.e. a similar amount each day allowing the muscle to develop as required. The worst scenario is a dog that gets little exercise during the week and then taken on massive walks at the weekend.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

> The worst scenario is a dog that gets little exercise during the week and then taken on massive walks at the weekend.


Also bad for older humans. Causes many of the heart attacks that kill people every weekend. 

Consistency in all things makes for a happy & healthy pup as well as most humans.

RBD


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## mlg1900 (Jun 12, 2013)

We were walking Ginger about this much at the same age. The neighborhood loops is approximately 3 miles and takes between 50 and 60 minutes to walk, depending on how many stops there are. She was on the leash and we would usually stop halfway and go to the baseball fields for some of leash playing / running. Then continue on. I never noticed her having any type of limping or soreness, or anything unusual like some of the incidents I have read on this forum.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

I might get into trouble for this but Penny does more than that now and she is 4 months old. At three months she was walking a mile to the bigger park near us and then running off the lead for a half hour or so before walking the mile back home. With all the running she does at the park I am sure she covers more than three miles. 

The other day we walked her 2 miles to a massive park and then let her play with a V we met for about 20 minutes. After that she was very tired and we carried her home. 

As long as she is happy, not stalling, and I am not tugging on the lead we consider it to be fine. We watch her carefully for signs that she is tired and she has never acted sore or had any outwardly adverse reactions to these long walks. She loves to explore. 

That being said, she goes on at least three long walks a day and always has. Her walks are similar in length each day so she isn't going from almost no walking to very long walks on the weekend. Our dog walker had her out for 6 hours yesterday. He carries her when she is tired (she has a carrying harness like a baby) and she plays with dogs at other times. He has raised many dogs and has a vizsla mix so he understands the energy needs. 

We try not to have her jump or take stairs and we walk her mostly on grass. She loves to be outside but when she is out she gets a lot of exercise.


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## aliciavp (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi everyone, very helpful info - had been a little concerned about whether we are exercising Lazlo enough/too much... with a 25-30 minute slow walk (where I really have to coax him) and a 30 minute play in a park per day, Lazlo seems happy (he's only 10.5 weeks)... but I wanted to ask, are stairs bad at this age? We have two flights, and Lazlo loves to run up them... we mostly carry him, especially when we think he's due for a toilet break, but was just wondering whether we should be carrying him at all times?

thanks in advance


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

I just read a study that said this: "The use of stairs on a daily basis doubled the risk of radiological canine hip dysplasia while off-leash exercise in park terrain more than halved the risk and these two effects were limited to the first three months of life."

I would say not to let him run up the stairs (or down).


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

hcrowder said:


> I just read a study that said this: "The use of stairs on a daily basis doubled the risk of radiological canine hip dysplasia while off-leash exercise in park terrain more than halved the risk and these two effects were limited to the first three months of life."


I've wondered about this too, thanks for asking aliciavp and for posting hcrowder! We limited Dexter's stairs when he was young too and opted to carry him up and down most times until he was too heavy. I'm glad we were paranoid enough to do it  And it was great for toning my arms... haha!


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## Idntnw (Mar 21, 2014)

I asked my vet, who is familiar with the breed, about exercise for our 4 month old. She told me to take him out and have unstructured exercise. Go for walks in the woods or neighborhood, take them at his pace and don't push him. We take him to the woods and let him run as we are on the trail walking or maintaining the trail for our local club.


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## Chaos911 (Oct 30, 2013)

We have double trouble. Wood stairwells. 2 levels. We gate them yet ( he's 5 mos) to make sure Blaze limits time on stairs. And we have mostly wood floors. Our other dogs have survived without injury. But we are cautious.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Somethings R simple - the puppy sets the pace & you control it - up hill on the way out - down hill on the way back - a 2 acre field is all you need 2 run a puppy - water in your pack - and willing to carry the pup out of the field - your post was NOT about you - great job - always amazise me the posts that start with I want 2 - these are not about the PUPPY !!!!!!!!!!


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