Can exercising a young dog be dangerous?

[laceybaby]

Primarily, I don't like to see a puppy doing enforced running. A puppy free playing in an open area is great, that is what they are meant to do. A puppy going for a 5-mile jog on leash, not a good idea. My own choice will always be to err to the side of caution, you will hopefully have many years with the dog, and can do all kinds of exercise when the growth plates are closed.

So at what age should it be safe to do longer distance jogs, bike rides, etc.?

[SnowKoi2010]

But is running considered high impact?

Depends on a few factors. What's the surface? How long is the duration of the running? How old is the dog? Taking a small puppy on a 5 mile jog on concrete is quite a bit different than running while playing in the backyard. I posted up a thread here several months back (could have been over a year, I don't recall) with the x-ray differences of a young 4 month old puppy vs a two year old dog. The growth differences are amazing.

Snow, get off your high horse. It wasn't long ago that you were asking such questions. In fact, you still do.

Wasn't being rude. Sorry if it was taken that way and I have been off my high horse, some of you just thinks yours rides lower then mine. All I am saying is go ask a vet. Don't rely on internet resources.

And what questions where I asking? OH! Ways to work out a dog with HD. Which I have prior to asking all of you, spoken to my vet. Thank you.

[Adrianne]

Eh, point is those of us with far more experience and knowledge than you still find ourselves in a less than "I'm smart, you're dumb" persona. Just be careful how what you say might come across, this is a forum and infliction can be tricky.

I sure hope extreme activity didn't encourage HD symptoms in your dog just as I hope others would avoid extreme activity in an effort to stave off joint issues as long as possible.

Lacey, on average you can trust growth plates to be secure and closing around 13 months. There are dogs that can be as soon as 8 months and as late as 24 months from what I understand.

Growth plates for dogs close on the average at:
Proximal epiphysis of the humerus 10 to 13 months
Distal epiphysis of the humerus 6 to 8 months
Proximal epiphysis of the radius 6 to 11 months
Distal epiphysis of the radius 8 to 12 months
Olecranon of the ulna 6 to 10 months
Distal epiphysis of the ulna 8 to 12 months
Proximal epiphysis of the femur 7 to 11 months
Trochanter major of the femur 6 to 10 months
Trochanter minor 8 to 13 months
Distal epiphysis of the femur 8 to 11 months
Lateral condyle of the tibia 6 to 12 months
Distal epiphysis of the tibia 8 to 11 months
Proximal epiphysis of the fibula 8 to 12 months
Distal epiphysis of the fibula 7 to 12 months

[laceybaby]

Thanks Adrianne!

[Enamorada]

Great info in this thread.

[VaBeachTennis]

I take my puppy on morning walks to the Ocean 1 mile each way, then she runs on the beach (canters), pees, chases my other dog, then we turn around and come home where she is walking/trotting, pulling forward on the leash, harassing my other dog (in a good way), comes into the house like a barrel of monkeys until I kennel her so she can calm down and drink, then eat later. Is this too much exercise for her?
In the afternoon she has a shorter walk, but plays with a flirt pole with me, tug of war and wrestles with my dog, can jump in the back of my Jeep Cherokee, and go for a .33 mile walk canter in the woods in our local park. She's 14 weeks old. She's harassing my two year old Malinois to play right now as we speak!

If I didn't exercise her like we do on our daily routine, I am afraid of what she would be like!

[Leslie H]

if she's letting you know she's comfortable, go with it. I'd just avoid any joint pounding. Sadly, this is a dysplasia prone breed that frequently is asymptomatic, and the tendency to complete recklessness with regards to their own physical well-being, so it makes me more conservative than I might otherwise be.

[VaBeachTennis]

if she's letting you know she's comfortable, go with it. I'd just avoid any joint pounding. Sadly, this is a dysplasia prone breed that frequently is asymptomatic, and the tendency to complete recklessness with regards to their own physical well-being, so it makes me more conservative than I might otherwise be.

Thank you. By "joint pounding", do you mean going over jumps or when she switches directions when chasing a makeshift "flirt pole"? I never would have thought that Pitbulls are HD prone, thanks for the heads up! I do check out her gait and overall demeanor as well. I have slacked off with the regular walks for a couple of days and she is off of the hook!! She's picking on my Malinois to play and they will literally play for almost an hour straight. I hung an old leash on my chin up bar and she was trying to jump up and get it! Malinois can have HD as well. I've bred, raised, and trained over 15 of them, but I still know that there's always something to learn. I'm pretty much raising her the same way I raised my Malinois pups, none of my Mal pups came up with HD, they were still doing 4ft high jumps and scaling walls at 10 years old, then I would "retire" them and just play fetch, etc.

[Leslie H]

Yeah, they're over 20% dysplastic if you check OFA. They have a lower percentage of elbow dysplasia, though it still occurs. Luxating patellas, bad hearts occur occasionally, torn cruciates more frequently. Throw in demodetic mange to round things out. The bad hips seem to be less common in the more gamebred lines, though very few are x-rayed. As a breed, their tendency to throw themselves whole heartedly into physical activities can sometimes be detrimental.
Your girl being bred in less than ideal circumstances, I'd look at her structure, and as long as you don't see anything really disconcerting, like super straight rear angulation, or way out at the elbow, I would continue to let her play. I wouldn't jump her until she was older, I just started jumping my female when she turned 1, as we train in agility. I also just started increasing her drag weights so that she needs to actually work a little (weight pull training). Up until now, she had just been learning the behaviors for the task. I'll x-ray her in a few months, (she just came out of heat) before I work her too hard, also do a cardiac test. I did both of my older dogs before I worked them.

[Misskiwi67]

W
Honestly, Snow has ran and ran all over the place when she was little and the only problems she has is HD, which is genetic so I doubt she got that from running while she was younger. Koi also has been a hard runner trying to keep up with snow. And she is perfectly fine. I would think that not having your dog work out while younger would make it so that the muscles wouldn't develop correctly in support with joints.

I am no expert, But this is what I think. I could be wrong so lets see what the Vets on the site has to say.

The vet says studies have shown that activity level can be equally as important as genetics. Diet, genetics and activity level all play a role.

Puppies should not do excessive running, jumping and other high impact exercises until they have reached the majority of their growth, 1 year of age being the general recommendation. So no flirt pole jumping, heavy sprinting, no enforced jogging, agility training should be restricted to floor skills only.

[VaBeachTennis]

Yeah, they're over 20% dysplastic if you check OFA. They have a lower percentage of elbow dysplasia, though it still occurs. Luxating patellas, bad hearts occur occasionally, torn cruciates more frequently. Throw in demodetic mange to round things out. The bad hips seem to be less common in the more gamebred lines, though very few are x-rayed. As a breed, their tendency to throw themselves whole heartedly into physical activities can sometimes be detrimental.
Your girl being bred in less than ideal circumstances, I'd look at her structure, and as long as you don't see anything really disconcerting, like super straight rear angulation, or way out at the elbow, I would continue to let her play. I wouldn't jump her until she was older, I just started jumping my female when she turned 1, as we train in agility. I also just started increasing her drag weights so that she needs to actually work a little (weight pull training). Up until now, she had just been learning the behaviors for the task. I'll x-ray her in a few months, (she just came out of heat) before I work her too hard, also do a cardiac test. I did both of my older dogs before I worked them.

She certainly does throw herself at everything! She is wearing my 2 year Malinois out. They can literally play fight, tug of war, and wrestle for an hour.

Thank you very much for the information and advice. That's a beautiful specimen on your avatar. Here's a side view of my puppy regarding structure: (She's 14 weeks old in the photo)

[Leslie H]

Well, it looks like she's got good angulation in the rear. She reminds me of a friend's rescue pup. She competes in agility w/her adult rescue APBT's and a rottie. She hopes her pup will not get too heavyset or front heavy/wide. Like your pup, he has a surprisingly nice rear. It's really hard to look at structure between the ages of 9 weeks and a year, because pups grow so unevenly and sometimes funkily.