Roading/Excercise

W

winchester21

New member
I try to get my 10 month old GWP on the bike with a pulling harness for about 4-6 miles every day. She absolutely loves to pull me on the bike and it helps keep her from tearing the house apart. I'm curious what sort of distances and/or regimens other do to maintain proper critter fitness.
 
I actually think that if you are doing 5-6 miles every day you might be over-doing it. Especially for a young dog. 3-4 times a week would be more than sufficient to maintain proper fitness.

I try to road my Brittany 5-6 miles 2-3 times a week. She will run 5 miles in a little over 20 minutes. That's when I'm following her in my vehicle. When I'm on my bike I show her down as I can't keep up with her on the gravel. She also loves to pull me on my bike but using the concrete bike path tears up her pads. I'd bought some dog boots and will try those on the path.
 
I usually wait until the dog's growth plates close before I start roading. About 18 months. Otherwise you can have some health issues down the line.

Free running, right now is all my little 5 month old is going to do.
 
V-John said:
I usually wait until the dog's growth plates close before I start roading. About 18 months. Otherwise you can have some health issues down the line.

Free running, right now is all my little 5 month old is going to do.
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Hit it right on the head....
 
Well then, maybe I'll slow it down a bit. I definitley don't want to risk any health issues down the road. I just can't imagine what her energy levels (read destructive capabilities) would be like without sufficient excercise! I'm sure you guys can empathize.
 
V-John said:
I usually wait until the dog's growth plates close before I start roading. About 18 months. Otherwise you can have some health issues down the line.

Free running, right now is all my little 5 month old is going to do.
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2+

Right now the bones, joint cartiledge, tendons, ligaments, etc are still soft and not fully mature on yr GWP pup. Plus epiphyses are not closed either. This will vary with the breed. It would be easy to damage them, perhaps permanently. Same principle as racing 2 YO TBs on the track, top breeders/ trainers know better.

I started roading my FBECS last summer from a bike using the WalkyDog bike attachment. I usually went 3 miles +/- with each dog 3X a week.; approx 12-15 mph. After a short training program, each dog pulled very well in the roading harness, even uphill. :thumbsup: I felt the results were excellent.

NB
 
winchester21 said:
Well then, maybe I'll slow it down a bit. I definitley don't want to risk any health issues down the road. I just can't imagine what her energy levels (read destructive capabilities) would be like without sufficient excercise! I'm sure you guys can empathize.
Click to expand...

As for exercise now, you can let her do all the "free running" she wants to curb some of that energy. It's just not advisable to have her pulling you 4-6 miles every day at her age.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I wish that I had more access to areas for "free running." I guess I'll just have to jog with her more!
 
My vet suggested that I not do anything over a mile on pavement until my Britt is 1 year old, but I could do as much as I wanted on grass. She also said that I can look for symptoms of even 1 mile being too much - if she acts stiff or sore at any time.

My point is if you can get her to run in grass or something else with a little forgiveness you can probably go a little farther (although - like everyone said - 4-6 miles is a lot)

If any of that helps.

Chuck
 
Anything over a mile on pavement!!! My dog is screwed! :) I'm not too worried about it but she has certainly had her fair share of pavement running. That's the downside of living in a city, gotta get on pavement to get just about anywhere with grass.
 
I wouldn't worry about the pavement thing, but as said above about the Plates, is true. I have in our pup contract that you must avoid sustained running and jumping and so on to give them time to grow. They begin closing roughly around 15-18 months. This is info we should pass on to pup buyers as responsible breeders. A dog can develop problems later due to over stress to these joints etc. Hip trouble and so on. Exercise is great but how much can be of concern. Plenty of general play, swimming, mixed in with the structure of training is plenty. I don't like young dogs jumping off tail gates decks etc. until they grow some. This does not mean that all dogs will have an issue, just that it is possible. Some make claim to the bigger faster growing pups being more susceptible. The one thing we do know is that there is a ton of ways to keep a dog in shape with out over doing it.;)
 
As always, I appreciate everyone's valuable insight. I know that I would never over do it as far as excercise is concerned (well maybe a little during hunting season!) but the whole growth plate concern is undoubtedly a concern that should always be considered.
 
I don't have any children (30 right now) so my lively GWP, Merle, is demanding and receiveing total attention. She's not spoiled at all. ;) I've never devoted this much time and effort into training a dog although I've had a great lab in the past. After the success of last season here in Colorado with the new pup, I'm even more fanatical about turning her into a polished pheasant finding machine.
 
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