How far can puppies be walked daily?

[Steve Drury]

Our Daisy (10 days shy of 8 months / medium goldendoodle) graduated from her first obedience class this afternoon. When talking to the trainer after the class I mentioned I have been walking her almost 2 miles daily for the last 5 or 6 weeks.
He said she was too young to walk that far as she is not fully developed skeletally. He said the prolonged impact of a walk on concrete at this age could result in problems when the dog is older.
His suggestion was less than 1/2 mile daily until one year old.
Has anyone received similar advice from their vet?
We'll call our vet tomorrow----but it is on my mind right now.

[Kim Williams]

Hi Steve,
Congrats on your first obedience class graduation. My obedience teacher and vet recommend 12-18 months for repetitive or "forced" exercise. They base this on when the dogs growth plates close. My obedience teacher told me to read info by Chris Zink on caninesports.com. I hope this helps a little.
Kim and Parris

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

Steve, Our vet said the same as Kim's. 12-18 months, building up slowly as tolerated during that time by watching pup for signs of fatigue.

[Adina P]

1/2 a mile seems awfully short! i know looooooong walks and jogging are out of the question...but I just can't imagine that it would be that much of a limitation. Let us know what your vet says.

[Steve Drury]

Thanks Kim and Sue. Allowing the growth plates to close makes perfect sense.
Fatique is not an issue by any stretch of the imagination. By the final leg of the walk I'm fading and she's going strong.
When she gets home she runs to find my wife and "tell her" about the walk......bouncing and wagging.....full of news.
I go looking for a chair ;-)

[XMAS2008DOODLEOWNER]

I believe most vet would said the same thing but what I don't understand is that if these dogs would be in the wild wouldn't they walk longer looking for food. Think about it at home most dogs just sleep most of the time and waiting until they are 12 - 18 month for a longer walk is a long time. Well, I just got my Labradoodle at 8 month and take her walking everyday 30min and 10 more min of fetching once were back home in front of the house and believe me my dog is now 9mnth and 35lbs and when we go inside the house she does not drink water and she shows no sign of tireness. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it.

[Steve Drury]

Walking only. I have a torn meniscus in my right knee; mild arthritis in my hips; and burstis in my hips.
We do spend most of our time on sidewalks for my benefit of the flat surface. But the route takes us through a large park and a school campus. I could easily let Daisy walk on the grass through those areas. That would amount to about 40% of the route.
Currently I try to keep her on the sidewalk and moving at a steady pace. When I let her go onto the grass in the park and the school yard there are too many interesting smells. She would spend all day there if I let her.
We'll have to find an acceptable compromise once the vet gives us some guidelines.

[Yvonne, Riley, Murphy and Luca]

Riley is 13 weeks today and I have been walking him almost everyday( I think we missed 3 days in 3 weeks because of weather) and he walks easily a mile and a half right next to me the whole time. I think he could probably do more but it is COLD outside, I will start longer walks when it warms up a little more.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I heard to not run with puppies, but never heard anything about walking. We walked Dexter 1-3 miles a day from 5 months on.

[Sandy]

Without walks I would go insane! Toby has more stamina than we do. He usually goes on 2-3 walks a day, from anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes per walk. He enjoys cold more than warmth, so on those freezing cold days, I'm still out there walking. In fact, this morning the wind chill was -23C, and there we were out walking. Even in the house he prefers to lay on ceramic tile, silly guy. Our walk usually takes us through the neighbourhood park, so he meanders on the grass quite a bit.

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

Steve, maybe The Doodle Fitness Group has addressed this before.

[Steve Drury]

Thanks. I checked there first. Nothing along these lines.

[katherine willis]

I walk Sandy, now 9mo, 6 miles each morning.We travel at a 13min/mile pace. I have done this since he was 5 mo. I usually take him twice a week to a puppy play group and don't take him on those mornings. My trainer raised the same issues as the ones others have sighted but my vet, whom I trust greatly, said not so. He told me to watch Sandy. If he seemed tired after a walk or limped, then I should cut back. My route is a paved flat trail. Sandy is thriving. He loves the walk and when we come home is still capable of running around the house at full speed.