Hello-
I was wondering how far and/ or how long to walk a 15 week old GSD puppy? Kaiser walks fairly well on the leash, he is curious about everything of course!!
When should he begin to walk beside me and not behind or in front of me?
I had read not to over work them so as not to hurt their growing bodies, what is too much or too far?
He is not over tired when we get home, and sleeps very well at night and during the day.
I train 5- 3 minute intervals throughout the day. He is quite smart and picking up the Marker Training very well.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I didn't worry about my pup walking beside me so much until she was about 6-7 months old - even then it wasn't a heel but more a move with me.

What I did was attach an 8ft leash to her and do her walks pretty casually. Then every so often I would call her "in", mark and reward then teach her to move forward with me for a few steps, then mark and reward. When she was a little older, and had learned what it meant to move forward with me, I started holding the other end of the leash, everytime she tried to move ahead I would stop, she would turn to look at me as if to say "what? Why are you stopping", I would tell her to "get in" when she came then we moved forward. She really soon learned that she only moved forward if she moved with me.

Now that she is almost 9 months, she walks beside me and I actively inforce the walk with me, not in front, by doing a U turn everytime she tries to go ahead (I don't yank her though, just change direction and say "in" at the same time) Then we turn around and try moving forward again.

You have to practice this stuff on a Non-walk. Meaning you first walk the dog to drain some energy, then you do a learning leash manners walk, otherwise, this process could take a longer time than necessary.

At 4 months old I put a long drag lead on and let the dog explore and romp on it's own as much as I feel safe about and the area warrants. Lots of hand clapping, recall shaping, retrieval games and making it a fun experience to be out and about.

Walking nicely on a lead is farther down the road. Lots of time for that.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy