# Running too much??



## BAS (Mar 10, 2010)

My V is 18 weeks old now and doing great. She started the off-leash dog park visits this week and is quite confident.. She evens jumps up on the big dogs if they get too rough. 

She is a bundle of energy and even an hour and a half running at the dog park does not slow her down. She is from a strong hunting line.

I started letting her run along my bicycle with a Springer. I have heard it may not be good for puppies to run too much. It is not forced, she pretty much pulls me while I coast. Is this bad for her joints at this age, or are there other negative associations??

Thanks!


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## brankulo (Jan 5, 2010)

that is the way they are. mine is 10 months now and wears out all the dogs in the dog park, even ones that come hour after her. she just chases whatever runs. concerning biking i have only heard you are not supposed to run them too much until they reach 1 year, especially on hard surfaces. i am trying to get mine used to bike everyday, taking her about half mile to ball field where she runs and back. that shouldnt harm her in any way


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## minnere (Jul 8, 2010)

I have had this concern as well. I asked both the vet and the breeder and they said to wait for the "routine" type running until he is at least a year old. My puppy is only 10 weeks old but the problem is, he REALLY wants to run every time he is on the leash. If we don't get him out and let him run around or go for a really long walk, he has these "moments." It drives my husband crazy, me not as much but it is still difficult to deal with. I feel like it is related to him being in his crate. Whenever we take him out he becomes spastic. He tries to dig in the carpet (like it's dirt or something), he tries to eat everything (normal puppy behavior, I know), he will start nipping at me when I try to correct the chewing on the furniture. He just seems to have a few moments of insanity!!! Truly!!! Is this because of the amount of energy he has?? What are some other things I can do with him to get that energy out? I think he is just the cutest thing ever and love him to death, but my husband is in grad school so he doesn't think it's so cute when he's trying to get work done. 

I am really worried about when I go back to school (I'm a teacher), because my husband will be first home (he's a teacher too) four out of five days. He does not quite have the patience I do to get that energy out. Any tips for me and my husband?

BTW my husband does love the little guy because whenever it's time to cuddle or play he's the first one to volunteer!


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## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

Our little pup is 12 weeks old. I take him for a 20 min walk in the morning (some on lead, some off) then another 20 mins at lunchtime and then about 30 mins off leash in the evening, meeting other dogs, playing in the river etc.

I have found that after each of these walks he is much more energetic than before we went out and the best thing to calm him back down again is some time in his crate otherwise he'd just keep going forever! 

He then generally settles down all morning until lunchtime and then again all afternoon until about 5pm. 

During the day I alternate activities which wear him out but without getting him excited. We practice being patient (he's not allowed out of the crate, even with door open until I say 'ok'. The same with food. He waits for his food until he is calm and really not paying it any attention. If I find he is chewing something that belongs to me I try to 'claim' it. Give him the no word 'ut uh' then move in front of the object. Next time he goes for it I put my hand there as if to say no, move away. I find this means he has to think about what I want him to do and he moves away onto something else. 

He will also have some time with a chew bone that he doesn't normally have at any other time. The same with the stuffed (frozen!) kong. His toys only come out when I want to play. He doesn't have access to them 24/7. We don't play too many tug games as I think it encourages him to nip. Lots of retrieving as it's quite controlled and wears him out. Also I have several sessions of clicker training during the day. He only lasts about 5 mins then his concentration breaks and we move onto something else.

The crate has been a godsend. I couldn't live without it!! He doesn't go in there for punishment but like a child when he is over the top and needs to chill I find he settles a lot better in there. We also currently only allow him in the kitchen with a stairgate during the day until he is really tired at night about 9:30pm when he sits on the sofa and watches TV with us.

We also use the ignore thing a lot. Every single time I come back into contact with him he gets completely ignored until he is settled and doing something else. If he gets too much, again he gets ignored. Some days it seems like I am ignoring him most of the day!! I tell everyone to follow this rule, although with guests it is a little tougher as they all want to play with the cute puppy!

This doesn't mean he is perfect all of the time. He has a wild couple of hours in the evening where none of the above works!!! We just work through this and slowly he's getting into a routine and becoming calmer.

Just realised this is nothing to do with running but hope it's helpful. Different things work for different people so keep trying - you'll soon find what works for you an puppy!


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