Great advice! Another question for you - because she is still only 16 wks and her bones are still growing and developing, how much exercise it too much? I have gotten mixed remarks about this - some people tell me to take her out and run her like crazy, others say small bits of exercise here and there because her bones are growing. I'd like to take her for a bike ride - I know she can keep up - I just don't want it to have a negative impact on her growth. Thoughts?

This is my opinion only. It reflects what worked for me and my goals.

I would not do the bike riding of jogging with the dog yet.

I would instead opt for fequent and long walks. If you have the opportunity with your location and dogs temperment to do long off leash walking (draging a very thin long line), that is what I would find the best. I did it off leash because a dog that would be comfortable ranging was important to me. This gives the opportinity for the pup to explore, run if it wants to, rest if it wants to. The exersise can be long, but it is self directed by the pup, and does not involve any repetitive pounding. Without calling the pup to me, I would reward the pup (with food) for coming to me/checking in with me.

If you can't do those types of walks, I would do the same type of thing in a big yard or park (not dog park).

At 16 weeks I did walk my dog 3 times a day for about an hr at a time. Of course the whole hr was not walking or running, lots of sniffing and exploring, all at the dog's pace. If my dog had been laying down, or dragging his feet during these walks, that would have been a sign perhaps we were overdoing it, but he never seemed tired.

At home we would play ob and tug games in shorter 2-10 min sessions, always trying to leave the dog wanting more, but getting some brain stimulation in as well.

If there is another dog she likes to play with (that you know and trust, not random dogs), and it fits in with your training goals, dog romps can be very good for tiring the dog out with "self directed" play as well.

Hope that gives you some ideas....of course my dog is not a Mal so you may have to tweek things...

I agree with Jennifer - 16 weeks is far too young for running alongside a bike (even though they sure can put on a good game face at that age! :grin. If you set her up to want to please you by following, she'll do it out of desire, but she will probably push herself farther than she should at that age - you're absolutely right about her joints and they could be negatively impacted by a lot of hard running. Walking, as Jennnifer suggested, is a lot easier on those legs, and gives them a chance to take their time with the world.

My dog LOVED to do spontaneous sprints when he was little - just down and back 15 feet or so a few times, as fast as he could - which we let him do, but didn't push him to do. If you give your pup lots of room to run, but don't ask anything big of her (keeping your play sessions short), she'll be able to spaz out and race around if she feels like it, till she tires, then she'll take a rest. Giving her the opportunity to slow down and go her own pace is key. I'd also watch play with other dogs - it IS the best way to tire them out - but with a young pup, just like a young child, you need to make sure they don't overdue it. Most times with playing puppies, again, one of them will tire first and end the session anyway.

Hope that helps,
~Natalya

My opinion too, do not run the pup alongside the bike, ditto on what's already been posted...although I will add that "socializing" your pup to the bike now is a good idea.

I've done short city blocks riding my bike with pup alongside...slow pace (walking) but for sure think if you plan to do this in the future, short, short but weekly/bi weekly sessions now will help immensely when you introduce riding later.

Great advice! Thanks! We typically do 2-3 walks per day now - but let me tell you, this little one doesn't go anywhere walking...she runs full speed ahead! We have been working on her obedience - she is a star with her sits, downs, come and stay commands. She has here heel down but can only stay focused for about 20 paces which from my experience with puppies in general, is pretty typical. We do ob games and bite games but its getting to the point where I am going to need a bite suit myself just to protect me from those razor puppy teeth...if she ever accidentally misses the tug, watch out! Ha! Anyhow, thanks for the great advice! So...in your opinion, if I start socializing her to the bike now, how old should she be before we take a ride/run together?

I've read here, and plan to wait on any true exercise/conditioning until the pup is 12 to 18 months...it seems like a long time, but man, my pup will be 6 months already at the end of this month. Time flies.

 Quote:

We typically do 2-3 walks per day now - but let me tell you, this little one doesn't go anywhere walking...she runs full speed ahead!

Perfect! Does she run back to you too? Love it when they walk/run 10 times the distance you do on a walk That is one of the grand benifits of being able to do off leash stuff IMO

 Quote:

So...in your opinion, if I start socializing her to the bike now, how old should she be before we take a ride/run together?

How long do you think you CAN wait
I would say you can introduce the bike now, you can even go for a very slow ride up and down the street for practice. If you plan on doing it on lead, without a bit more ob she may get under your tire, pull like crazy or some such thing. Great to introduce them to someone else riding a bike too, as distraction training. An adult Mal X I took care of for 2 yrs was pretty obsessive about chasing bikes, motorcyles and skateboarders given half a chance

My dog had to start running at an earlier age than I would have liked (at 8 months he started comming to work with me and he had to run some mostly downhill, which is the worst IMO, about 4 days a week)

At a year I took all restrictions off, even though they mostly had been off earlier. (I still try to limit hardcore downhill running if I can). I have a smaller, agile breed. If I had a larger breed I might have been more concerned. I would somehow be less worried about a Mal than a GSD, maybe Mal people would chime in? I have seen no ill effects from the early exersice yet, but GSD people have said their joints can just wear out quicker and if the pounding type of running is limited, they will be work able for longer. Seems to me it might be hard to survive a year or more with a Mal pup not allowed to run!

I always run or bike, ski on soft surfaces. A dirt road would be the hardest surface for us.

Sorry no definate answers...

Thanks! We'll see how long I can wait She's a fun pup but near impossible to wear out. Today, we spent the afternoon at the beach - she could run and play as she chose, with mandatory rest times in between - I swore she would zonk out when we got home - no chance! She was running and playing the second we got back. I ended up crating her just so she would take a nap! Silly pup...

 Quote:

I ended up crating her just so she would take a nap! Silly pup...

To pull it back to the OP.... did she bark and chew in her crate tonight......?

For your sake I hope not

Nope! The black sheet with a fan next to the crate has worked wonders. She slept the entire night!