Can you over work a puppy?

[Chizerpup]

My Chizer is 5 months old.

She is full of energy in the evenings. I have been taking her for long walks to expend some of that energy. She has not once not been able to bake the walks. She trots most of the way. How could I tell if I was overworking her?

[zeta1454]

Hi Patrick - it is important not to physically over-exercise a puppy while they are still growing as it can affect their development which may cause joint / bone problems in the future. There is a very good guide on this link to how much and what kind of exercise is best for young puppies:

https://www.puppyculture.com/new-approp ... rcise.html

And the chart that goes with this:

https://www.puppyculture.com/new-exercise-chart.html

The best way to tire an active puppy is actually to do training exercises and use challenges that get her brain working and will tire her more than just physical exercise. If you have a garden, set up a kibble trail by scattering dry treats for her to search and find; create a more challenging search game by hiding tiny pieces of cheese or dried sprats in empty boxes, flower pots etc. Take her out to places to see the sights and meet new people - sitting in a cafe or pub where she can settle down or on a pleasure boat ride.... any places where she does not need to be running or even walking but which offer new experiences for her.

Puppies are high energy but this should be in short bursts and with plenty of rest time in between. If you think that Chizer is hyperactive then maybe also look at the food or treats she is getting as many commercial dog foods are high in carbohydrates and some contain colourants and flavourings which can cause dogs to become hyper (as some food with artificial additives does to children).

Try to encourage Chizer to have regular rest times through the day as you don't want to get her into a routine of non-stop activity

[GoEmGo]

Our Monty is 8 months old and he definitely has most energy evening time! We have recently noticed him craving longer walks and more free runs in the park. He adores playing fetch and sniffing around our local park and woodland. We have tried to limit him to 45 mins for each separate walk and try our best to limit pavement walking.

On occasion we have taken him walking up to an hour. This is pretty rare though. We might head to Dovedale for a morning and have a longer walk but we don't go at a spritely pace with Monty being a puppy still.

Monty usually has a 45 minute walk in the morning, around 7:00am before breakfast, a ten minute stroll (this is really a sniff around some of his favourite trees down the road) around 2pm because we somehow got into this routine and he has a wee or four or five (!) and a 45 minute walk/run/games in the park after dinner. He eats around 5pm and we head out around 7:30pm.