How long can you walk a puppy for ??

[ginny!]

As some of you may know we recently got a puppy, she is now 14 weeks old. She is a Spinone, so a large breed of dog. We are wondering how long it will be before we can take her on 'proper' walks?? Is it 12 months ??
I read on a thread not long ago that its a max. of 10-15 mins of walking until 6 months. So after 6 months how long would be an ideal walk??

 

[Bodshi]

Hi there

Lucky you having a Spinone! 'Fraid I don't know much about them but we have a Pyrenean (another large breed) and know you shouldn't walk them hard until they are at least a year old, because they grow and put weight on so quickly that any additional stress on their joints could damage them.

It is important to socialise the dog though - we were told at puppy training that although we couldn't take our Pyr for long walks, we should walk him round the block to 'meet' other people and dogs (even if only by scent) and put him in the car and take him to our nearest town (only a small market town, not like a huge City Centre) to get used to crowds - he loved that cos he got loads of attention!

Many years ago I knew a Great Dane breeder who only let his puppies out on a run in the garden - kind of like a washing line with the dog attached by its lead. He said if they were allowed to jump about and play rough before they were a year old it could damage the joints and deform the limbs. I'm not sure whether this attitude still persists today!

 

[ginny!]

Thankyou for the reply.
Thought it was 12 months, mum asked me to check though
I guess we could take her to towns, we have 3 near us which are all nice, and one has a walk by the river which should be fun She's already had 2 visitors to our house to meet her. One was a puppy and apparently she didn't know what to do (her mum only had one pup - her!!) But soon caught on and started playing. The other dog was Dexter's (our other Spinone) girlfriend
She shouldn't be too hard to socialise, she's a very friendly dog anyway.

Have to say, i'm not like the idea of the Great Danes

 

[Bobster]

There are lots of different schools of thought on this. But as a rule little and often is best and avoid running and braking/twisting type exercise e.g. running hard then stopping for a ball as this is what does the damage to growth plates. Some people say 5 minutes for each month of the dogs life a few times a day. As said this has to be balanced with socialisation!! Maybe the breeder could advise? Lovely dogs Spinone's - enjoy her! Think we should have more photo's though

 

[Ginger Thing]

I've stuck to the '5 mins per month' rule pretty much with my flatcoated retrievers, but I think it's more to prevent people dragging pups round on lead for hours when they have had enough and want to sit down.

Mine go off lead and run around in the woods like they would in the garden, but they can stop and rest if they want and I take them back to the car if I think they're tiring.

Quincy is now 6 months and we do about 30-40 mins off lead, might stretch to the odd hour occasionally but nothing more until he's one. I couldn't believe what I read on a fellwalking website - they took a golden retriever pup who didn't look older than 4 or 5 months on a 6 hour mountain walk

 

[ginny!]

Thanks everyone She loves walking with our other dog, and she loves meeting new people

I'll add some pics in a moment, its difficult to take pictures of her unless she is sleeping because she moves around constantly

ETA: you've probably seen these 2 on my other thread but I love them

haha, funny face

Dexter (our other Spinone)

 

[ginny!]

Bella & Dexter to compare sizes

With her fave, VERY loud, squeaky chicken

It WAS a nice picture until she moved

Hehe, lots of pics, sorry

 

[cynthiacruz]

I have a large-breed pup myself (a Bernese Mountain Dog) and went through the same “how far can we walk?” question. The general rule of thumb my vet gave me was 5 minutes of structured walking per month of age, twice a day max, until they’re fully grown. So for a 14-week Spinone, you’re still in that shorter-walk stage, and the real “proper walks” will come gradually over the next several months.

What really helped with my Berner’s socialization and exercise without overdoing it was mixing in mental enrichment, short training sessions, puzzle toys, and little “adventure trips” to different environments. Like you mentioned, visiting towns or riverside walks is great because it tires them out mentally as much as physically.

If you want more ideas on low-impact ways to keep a young pup engaged and safe while they’re growing, I found some useful guides on Four Dog Paws to check out a few that focus on joint-friendly activities for large-breed puppies. It gave me a lot of peace of mind knowing I wasn’t pushing my dog’s joints too early while still giving him a full, happy puppyhood.