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running a puppy
It's been a long time (~13 years) since I've had a puppy. I can deal
with the chewing (Just need to replace the carpet again...) but I'm getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to exercise the pup like my other dogs. Jarreau is a Standard Poodle/Giant Schnauzer ("Poozer") mix and he's now about seven months old and almost 60 pounds. http://lairds.org/Kyler/family/Jarreau/ He plays a lot with Morgan, our young dog, and he does well at the dog park but he *loves* to run. I try not to let him run too much or too fast but it's never been easy. http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer A good run does wonders for him - and it lets me sleep through more of the night! I've read suggestions on waiting until dogs are one year old to run significantly but for giant breeds I've seen six months added. Recently I read a skijoring book that mentioned running dogs in races after six months. So...what's the scoop? First, is a Giant Schnauzer mix really a "giant breed"? I usually think of much larger dogs (Great Danes, Mastiffs, ....) in that category. More importantly, what can I safely do with this guy now? I sometimes take him on bike rides. He rides when we're on the streets and then runs with our oldest dog on the grass when we're on trails. http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer He also runs in the ditch and in the fields at the farm. http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer I've been successful at keeping him from running on pavement. Is that enough? I've been thinking about winter activities lately. I was planning to foster an adult Husky or Mal to complement Morgan in front of a sled but I'd love to include Jarreau in our activities. I don't want to damage him, of course, so I'm looking for information about what he could safely do. Would it be o.k. for him to run alongside the sled in the snow? I expect that snow will absorb a lot of the shock. What about pulling? I've been coupling his collar to the harness on our oldest dog, Grazie (using a shock cord). At first I used his collar because I didn't want to encourage him to pull. Now that he's bigger than Grazie I just want to give her a fighting chance to control him. I wonder if he'd be better off if I just allowed him to pull with an X-back harness on his own line (so he could easily lag a bit and I'd see that he's tired). Suggestions? I plan to have this guy for a long time so I'm willing to invest some frustration to prevent injury but I don't want to avoid exercise needlessly. What can we do safely in the months ahead? Thanks! --kyler |
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