Exercising a German Shepherd Puppy Health

Erm.... if you remember you didnt actually say that until recently. Im not trying to make you look bad at all. If you look at what i have said there is nothing bad about you, i was worried about the amount of exercise for Ki. There is nothing on this thread that i havnt actually said to your face. I would never back stab anyone, I wanted opinions to make sure what i was saying was actually right.

Actually 30 mins in one walk is way too much, you will not see any damage you are doing until later in her life.

As for training whilst you are out & allowing your other dog to do as it pleases-hm I think you will find that you do not have both your dogs under control at the same time. Training in the 1st instance should be done at home away from distractions & only for a couple of minutes at a time, puppy's attention spans are only about that long & anything over a couple of minutes is wasted training.

If your puppy was vaccinated twice under the age of 10 weeks, the likelihood is that she does not have full immunity. Did you have a titre test before vaccinations were done ? Maternal immunity can last up to 3 months of age & beyond

Saying i let my dog do as he please is a little far fetched. I let him walk, sniff and pee. Having a dog under control does not always mean having them walk next to your heel every second. If he is shouted to he will return immediately. Kirah is a highly intelligent dog and has been trained at home. Now she is being trained outside too where there are distractions and she is doing very well.

Veterinary surgeries now vaccinate at 8 and 10 weeks. This is the manufacturers specifications and not my own.

I think a huge problem now is a lot of people tend to forget that dogs are working animals. In the wild a puppy would be following their mother which could be longer than 30min walks. I'm sure the mother wouldn't be thinking "oh my puppy is now 3 months, only 15min walks and then we better stop". She would do a lot more than that and a lot more strenuous in the house, so i actually do think it is better for her going for a 30min stroll around the path. She still gets plenty of play time, she gets plenty of training and also plenty of food and sleep. I wouldn't have got her if i was going to end up causing future problems. The time when i did end up walking for almost an hour, i realised my mistake and haven't done it again.

Oh dear you really do need to research more, it is far better for a puppy to be titre tested & not vaccinated until 10 weeks or more as there is less challenge to the immune system & you will then know that the Maternal Immunity has actually waned sufficiently so as not to affect the vaccination.

As for your GSD puppy being a working dog, she isn't she's a Pastoral dog(the word Shepherd might be a subtle clue you have missed) Does she come from stock working parents or VPG dogs ? If not she isn't a "working dog"as you like to call the GSD

As for in the wild puppies travelling long distances at an early age-is your puppy from Feral parents ? I very much doubt it so she isn't like a "wild dog"or are you thinking of the cubs of the real wild wolves(ie not the ones held in zoos or parks)-They do not follow their parents at a young age, they are completely weaned by 4 weeks of age-so that the breeding pair of their pack can go hunting. They are left with their full siblings from the previous years litter, who act as "nannies"protecting & teaching them to play & survive

I don't know how many GSDs you have owned from a puppy nor how many GSDs you have had over the years, however as a GSD owner for over 50 years i was advised by the breeder of my first bitch(in 1958-her name was Gwen Barrington-please google her if you don't know who she was)not to over exercise her whilst she was still growing & I have kept to that for all my GSDs. I see so many GSDs that have been over walked/exercised as a puppy, in later life they have so many problems that the owners always lay at the breeders doorstep.

However sadly I'm sure you will do what you consider to be correct for your puppy & that's your right, such a pity

For what it's worth all my pups go out for around 2 hours along with the rest of the rabble but as we walk on grass and woodland the ground is quite soft and while the bigguns are running around working off their energy the pups pootle about meeting and greeting and taking in their surroundings. They get to see how the others interact with other dogs and come across bikes, horses etc and see there's nothing to worry about with anything they meet. How anyone can do all of that in a 15 minute walk has always bewildered me tbh. As long as the pup gets plenty of stops and rests and you build training into the walks such as sit/ stay with distractions it's fine. It's also the best time to establish a reliable recall when the pup never wants to venture far anyway and will stick like glue. Just my opinion.

So you take your puppies out from day one for 2 hours ?????? I for one would never ever allow someone who does this to have a puppy of mine, how many GSDs have you owned ?

Yeah There's plenty of benches. I already said they don't spend 2hours walking and they're not on lead either, nor are they chasing around with the other dogs. We wander, we dawdle, we train, we sit and watch the world go by, it works just fine.

& how many GSDs have you done this with ?

None so what, I have Dobermanns another breed prone to bad hips etc and in need of extensive socialisation.
I was giving my opinion and saying what I do, at no point did I say anyone else should do as I do unlike yourself. Your tone stinks in my opinion.

It is a website where people can express their own opinions but in return have to respect others.

Agree! I've had gsd's all my life too, and 30 mins onlead even for a 14 week old puppy is far too much for a large breed such as this with disasterous consequences. Fine if you want a dog for maybe 4 or 5 years, but if, like me, you like them to stick around well into their teenage years, then THIS is the very time you build the foundations for that! My brother had to have his beautiful 4 year old gsd pts because he did too much with it as a puppy:-(

30 mins of FREE running is absolutely fine, but dragging it on a lead for that length of time would be a big no-no in my book.

Try and think about what you're doing. Maybe ring the vet and ask for their opinion and I know what they'll tell you. Smokeybear is also right when she says the socialisation is THE most important thing with these puppies, but that doesn't mean to the detriment of those fragile, growing, great big joints! Good luck, you have some good advice on here, try and take some of it.

She gets 30mins off lead walking. She doesn't really run around and tends to stay nearby. I think she does more crazy exercise in the house than she does on a walk. She's a typical bouncy puppy and would break her neck trying to play in the house.

I should explain i mean by the way she plays, not that i stop her playing in the house. She is more sensible on a walk than chasing her toys and nearly forgetting about the wall ahead

Tbh all my dogs have been vaccinated at 8 weeks and allowed out at 11 weeks. Ive never had any problems. Altho i have been always told that the mothers immunity still lingers in the body for a month or so after the vacs. There is always that risk that the mothers immunity may counter act the vacs but its the same risk as the vacs not working at all. If it was such a bad risk they wouldnt even have the option to vaccinate your dog at 8 and 10 weeks.

As for dragging the dog on the lead she would never do that, ive never seen her mis treat any of her animals and all of them are trained. Even the cat which i actually have never seen before.

Like i said i was worried about the amount of excercise that she was getting but after speaking to her more about it, she then said that it all included getting the two dogs ready and her son, then after coming back from the walk and getting eceryone ready then looking at the clock.

Personally ive never had a big dog before but i dont think 30min is excessive especially if its just plodding along at the dogs pace

Yeah Tiki doesn't seem to think he is a cat though. Or maybe he is just so intelligent he knows he gets better stuff when he does as he's told. Plus he loves attention.
You could stir up a whole big hooha about vaccinations.

When I replied I had just read this, and assumed you meant you walk her to heel onlead for 30 mins???!!! :? Now you say it's offlead work for 30 mins in your later posts?

when I went to puppy training, I was told the heelwork takes a lot out of them at that age, so to me, 30 mins of heelwork is a LOT to ask at this young age imo. Free running does no harm at all coz the puppy will just stop and flop if it wants to, just coz it can! good luck with her anyway, I'd hate for you to end up like my brother did with his much loved gsd.

Oh sorry for the confusion. I mean she just sticks around at my heel. She tends not to bound off a lot and stays near me. Not literally at my heel but very close. She is only on the leader to the field obviously for the roads.

I hope never to have problems with her, they become such huge parts of our lives, don't they? I made sure she had a good hip score and stuff. Parents were both fine. Hopefully she wont develop any hip problems.

How did you do that ? she cannot be Penn Hipped until she is 4 months & there is no other way of assessing her hip status before this. Just because the parents have good hips doesn't mean she will have the same or better

Whatever, as you have no experience of GSD puppies stating that IYO it is fine to exercise a young puppy for 2 hours at a time is very misleading to anyone who does not know that you have never had a GSD puppy reading this thread.

All breeds need socialization & it's quite possible to socialize without exercising a puppy. My puppies(& adult dogs)go everywhere with me & get exposed to the outside world from the first day I get them-pre vaccination etc You don't have to have a puppy on the ground to do that

As you will see I said they go out for 2 hours nowhere did I say they are walked for 2 hours. Do try reading the post especially if you then quote it back at me. I said we sit and watch the world go by, we meet and greet, Oh whatever it's all there quoted again for you to read.

Funny isn't it how some can dish out their opinion but always have to criticise others for doing the same isn't it.