walking a puppy to much????

Hi everyone, I have just got my first dog ever, its a german shepard cross with a golden retriever, he is 11 weeks old. A friend of mine told me i could damage his leg bones if i walked him to much at this early age, can anyone tell me if this true?? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

Your friend is right, I wouldnt take him for any 'walks' as such at 11 weeks of age, his usual playtime should be exercise enough, the general rule is at 4 months when the vaccines are finished short walks are okay, by 6 months a 30 minute walk should be okay increasing gradually. Theres a lot of conflicting information about this on the internet though, what Ive found is vet sites say no to a excessive/lengthy exercise, especially with large breed dogs.
A guy that used to run an agility/obedience school many years ago had a strict policy for large breed dogs, he wouldnt allow anyone to enroll their dogs for agility until the dog was at least a year old, his experience was 40 years breeding and training dogs for the airforce then his own canine security company.
I know other people have differing opinions on this but I tend to go with the vets, I used to work for an orthopedic (Board Certified) vet and got the 'lectures' about this often. Your pups hips and growth plates are not ready for a lot of stress until about a year-18 months.
Just my opinion though based on the information I have. You could discuss this with your own vet though.
Hers a couple of sites.

http://www.vetschool.bris.ac.uk/schools ... age_02.htm

http://www.virtualvet.com/petowners/dog ... re08.shtml

 

The problem with agility at a young age is more with the jumping than with walking or running.

But I agree that with a large breed dog, you don't want to take chances. I would call and ask your vet what he says about taking him for walks. You DO need to start leash-training your dog, but I would think short walks would suffice for that.

 

have them out, not for too long tho

I had 5 lab puppies and they loved to roll around outside. If you have a fenced yard, let your pup run around wild. This way if he gets tired, there is no pressure for him to keep going. Just keep an eye on him, like if you are playing catch with him[wich is loved by all puppys], make sure you don't make him run too far for too long. make about ten short throws and then take break to keep your puppy fit, but not exhausted.