Doodle Exercise

[Lisa Koch]

Wondering what you all do for exercise with you doodles? I know they need both leash time and free play. How long of a walk do you take them on as baby puppies vs. the adolescent/adult years? Also how do you make sure they are getting enough during the winter months? We live in MN and we have long cold winters. I don't want to have a board/under stimulated puppy as I know that leads to trouble.

[Gail and Bailey]

Welcome, Lisa!  Join the Puppy Madness Group and post this question.  I am sure you will get tons of responses from others with puppies!  You must be so excited!

[Diane and Alma]

Congratulations and welcome to Doodle Kisses!  I checked out your page and noticed that your puppy will arrive December 1st.  How exciting! 

We have a 5 year old goldendoodle named Alma.  We didn't start taking her for walks in the neighborhood until she had all of her shots.  This is very important since they can pick up diseases including parvo.  So, we did lots of play time and basic training in our yard and home until that time.  I can't remember if she was 16 or 20 weeks old when she finished her vaccinations - the puppy madness group or other's here on DK can confirm that. (You can always ask your vet.)

After she was up to date on shots, I walked her twice a day.  Once in the morning for about 45-60 minutes and again in the evening for 30 minutes.  I even bought a reflective vest to wear and put a blinking light on Alma since it was dark at night.  We also taught her to play seek inside the house.  It's still one of her favorite games.  We hide a toy after we show it to her and she has to find it and bring it back.  Alma is a mellow dog.  Your puppy might need more exercise depending on his personality.  But since you have 4 kids and another dog, your puppy will probably get lots of play time. 

We also joined a puppy socialization class though our vet.  We did this prior to all shots but felt it was pretty safe because all the other puppies were checked out by our vet.  The class was held inside in a well cleaned area.

Please post pictures when you can.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

So many doodles are high energy and get into mischief if they aren't given lots of exercise, but not all of them are.  Neither of my doodles is high energy and don't require tons of walks or exercise. I have a Springer Spaniel who is high energy and needed lots of energy draining activities when he was younger.