Quote:

Personally, I don't see a problem with running a dog 10 miles on pavement once a week at 14 months old, especially an athletic, medium size dog like an Aussie.

Okay, I've thought about this some more.

Everything I've read recommends waiting until around 18 months of age for longer "forced runs" (such as being a jogging partner). Yes, they might be fine at a younger age, but why rush it? Hopefully this will be a dog that is jogging with you for the next 8-10 years. I would rather wait for an additional 4-6 months to be on the safe side. It is well worth it to have a healthy, comfortable older dog.

The OP does a decent amount of running with her, several days a week If she were 3+ y/o and properly conditioned, eating a good performance food, it should be no big deal. But it's a young dog, eating a middle of the road food. I wouldn't force the issue with a dog this age. I'd get her on the next step up in diet, and stick with a few shorter runs a week. Look for ways to spice up these shorter runs and keep them fun for her. Then a couple months down the road when she is more physically and mentally mature work on adding in distance. If a break from longer distances, a change in diet and some time to mature doesn't really make a difference, I'd head to the vet to check out her hips, make sure there isn't some other physical issue. Then I'd start looking into performance supplements or evaluating if she is cut out to be a jogging partner.

Historically herding breeds such as the Aussie and Border Collie slowly built up their endurance through every day travels around the farm/ranch. They might have covered a decent amount of ground some days, but it wasn't in a repetitive motion on one surface. And there were breaks in between. If a young dog couldn't physically or mentally handle the pressure of a certain stage of training or the work, they wouldn't force the issue, but let the dog mature a little before continuing.

Anyways, thats just my opinion

I don't know about other breeds, but I know that the growth plates don't cloes until around 18 months on GSD's. I don't even put my dogs on the treadmill until they are 2 & even then I don't run them on it. I would be even MORE conservative about running young dogs on pavement for even short runs let alone extended ones. JMO