How much excercise is okay for a 5 month old medium doodle?

[Karen Glassman]

Somewhere I thought I saw some guidelines as to how far you should walk your dog based on their age, but I can't find it now.

Is it okay to take my 5 month old Labradoodle on 1 to 2 mile walks every day? Or is this too much too soon.

Thanks a bunch,

Karen and Maggie (my sweetie pie, doodle bug)!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Im not sure I remember ever seeing a walking limit for age, but there is definitely a time and distance to wait for taking them running with you. Most vets have advised about 18 months or full grown-ish.  But for walking....if your pup seems fine with 1-2 miles, isn't stopping to rest, panting, showing signs of fatigue, then I think its great for both of you to get that much time together. Lots of training happens on walks too.  He probably takes a nice long nap afterward and we all know a tired doodle puppy is a good doodle puppy. 

[Karen Glassman]

You're right about the nice long nap :) and I certainly need the exercise, that's for sure!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I've never seen guidelines for walking just running but for any dog under a year old one to two miles at a consistent pace on a hard surface like concrete may cause injury.  But I have read that you should vary the pace, give the pup "free time" breaks where he gets to sniff and explore for a few minutes, and try to find grass or dirt paths rather than long walks on concrete.  Have fun!

[Karen Glassman]

We usually walk through a park to the river, so a lot of it is in the grass. I do give her "free time" on a long leash, which she loves. It is fun! She's a sweetie :)

[Stephanie]

This is a nice basic guideline for puppy exercise

http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-training/exercise/puppies-exercise

[Karen Glassman]

Thanks, Good things to remember.

[ginny]

I'm not sure how I'll exercise my 8 week old puppy when I get it.  I know of all of the many ways I can socialize it outside the home by carrying it to as many different places as I can and to meet many people.  However, I do not have a fenced yard and I know that at night animals such as cats, foxes, etc. are in the nearby woods.  Therefore I won't be able to let it down to play according to my vet who says it would be too young.  In fact, I won't be able to potty train it outside.  I can't imagine keeping a puppy confined inside until it is finished with its immunizations.  Again, I know of all of the ways I can socialize it by taking it places but I'm really concerned about potty training and even letting it run around the yard.  Any ideas?

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

A little square of artificial turf that is fenced off (so the wildlife can't get to it)?  I don't know if your winters are cold but you could just fence off a little section of yard with something like an exercise pen.

When we moved into our new house a couple months ago Riley was 10 weeks old - no grass, no fence.  We put some artificial turf down and just took her on-leash out there, still take her outside for potty breaks like that (but they put our grass in and it's snowy so no more turf).  

No running around the yard though - we play fetch in the house and take her for walks elsewhere.  Not really safe for walks right around our house, too much construction.

[ginny]

I'm so glad to hear that worked for you.  I was kind of thinking I would have to do something like that,  At what age then did you start taking Riley out and about?  Was she finished with all three of her vaccination series?

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

We started taking her out for walks after her 2nd set of shots but no dog parks until after her 16w shots so very recently.  We discussed it with the vet and she said that the risk of infection was worth it for the socialization with neighborhood dogs.  Parvo is rarer here than some other places though and most dogs in our neighborhood are vaccinated.

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

Gorgeous dog!  I always tried to follow the AKC recommendation about activity.  It was 5 minutes for every month of age twice daily.    So your 5 month old would be up to 25 min x 2 .

Here's a good explanation:http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/how-much-exercise-does-a-puppy-need/