Good afternoon:

I'm hoping to pick your brain's on this one. New to this board but have been reading the posts for many months. I've also ordered and watched Ed's video 8 weeks to 8 months. I'm concerned about joint problems in my 4 1/2 month old GSD female. This is our current schedule. If anyone can tell me if we're over working her, I'd appreciate it. We feed her Nutro Large Breed puppy with half a dog multi-vit, 1 epa/garlic pill and 1 calcium pill 2 times a week during the teething phase to help her out.

5:00 am-5:30 am- wake up, pee break, 15 minutes of play
5:30 am- eat
6:00 am-6:45 am- go for a walk including 5-10 minutes of playing fetch or running around in an enclosed grass field. No other dogs or people around inside enclosure.
7:00-8:00- crate time
8:00-8:15 am- pee break
8:15 am-Noon- crate time
Noon-1:00 pm- pee/eat/play time indoors
1:00 pm-5:30 pm- crate time
5:30 pm- pee/eat
6:00 pm-6:45 pm- walk
6:45-8:00 pm- indoor play
8:00 pm- last bathroom break
8:30 pm-5:00 am- sleep

Our walks are at a casual pace, she is never allowed to run for any distance, and usually 1-2 miles. She seems to enjoy it and does not whimper or sit/struggle and seems to enjoy it. The field that we take her to is a soccer field that is enclosed in 6 foot high chain link fence and is brand new so there are no potholes, etc. While there, we practice the come/recall, play fetch or engage in some othe type of fun training activity such as walking with her with no leash, just using our voice.

Please advise if this is too much. She does enjoy this and sleeps soundly at night.

The words "your overthinking" come to mind. I don't worry about how much they run on their own, just jumping. Most dogs limit themselves, some are maniacs. Just watch that your pup isn't jumping off things that are taller than her head over and over. I have had pups that liked to get on the couch and jump off the back. Over and over. I had to keep an eye on them, but most pups aren't that crazy.

The only thing I would be careful of is exercising too much after she eats. Bloat is pretty common, so I would wait about 30-40 minutes after eating to take her on any long walks or exercise. There are a few other articles on the board on that subject that you might want to search. A bunch of us did a comparison of schedules a while back you could search to see the wide variety of differences. I wouldn't worry too much.