So your puppy needs to burn off some energy or your going to lose your marbles?
In this video, I’m going to share my top tips all about puppy exercise so we can get
your puppy tuckered out!
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Michele here with How To Train a Dream Dog and the creator of 30 days to Puppy Perfection,
The online puppy training program where you can train your puppy from the comfort of home.
First things first…
It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t talk about keeping your puppy safe, after all,
it’s one of the most important things to consider when exercising your puppy
Safety guidelines go like this…
Your puppy’s growth plates aren’t fully developed until they are about 18 months old,
some dogs need a little longer before their growth plates are finished forming
Growth plates allow your puppy’s bones to grow longer until they are fully grown.
Once your puppy reaches adulthood the growth places have become harder and fused to the
bone.
Before the growth plates are fully formed they are soft like cartilage…
which is why it’s important not to injure those growth plates before your pup is fully
grown.
Damaging growth plates can cause a lifelong problem or even problems that occur much sooner
in your adult dog than they would have had if they didn’t injure those growth plates
as a puppy.
Puppies damage these growth plates when they put too much strain on them from jumping off
furniture or stairs,
running or walking for extended periods of time or just being an excessively rowdy rambunctious
puppy.
Since we need to drain pent up energy out of your puppy...
otherwise, they go stir crazy, we are going to be safe about it while having lots of fun!
On a side note before I jump into all the ways to safely exercise your puppy.
I wanted to mention that if you take your puppy for walks, which you should be going
on if they are up to date on their vaccinations,
the walks should only be for about 5 minutes for each month of age.
You should be going on these walks at least twice per day
For example: Your 3-month-old pup can go for 15 min walks 2 times per day
Now keep in mind that your puppy should get both mental and physical exercise throughout
the day
Mental exercises consist of brain games or training games such as the ones found in this
video plus any other commands you are working on teaching your puppy
If you want more info on other things you should be teaching your puppy before tricks,
make sure you grab the Free New Puppy Starter Kit the link is in the description below this
video
I do this silly game with my pups called puppy push-ups as one of the ways to work on commands
and exercise body and brain.
And canine enrichment games such as the ones found in this video…
you’ll want to check out both the brain games and canine enrichment videos to get
some really great ideas of things you can use around your house to create canine enrichment
games.
I’ve also listed some puzzle toys that would be great for your pup too, the links to these
are in the description below too.
Since we are on the topic of safety…
don’t take your puppy on super long hikes, as this puts too much strain on their body,
Never ever let your dog race up and down the stairs as a way to get rid of energy.
I’ve seen people post in Facebook groups that they throw a ball down the stairs and
make their pup go get it at the bottom only to run back up to do it again.
This is incredibly dangerous.
When I worked at the Vet’s office we saw several injuries for stupid stuff like this!
Torn toenails, torn ACLs, broken bones.
It’s just not worth the risk!
ACL surgery can cost anywhere from 2-6 thousand dollars!
YIKES!!
I also want to make sure you don’t prematurely turn your canine companion into a running
partner.
If you’re an avid runner you can start running with your pup after those growth plates are
fully developed which if you remember is well over a year.
Now …. I wanted to share some fun ways you can exercise your pup physically…
Some of these ideas are simple like playing a game of hide and seek in your home
and others are a little more creative.
Before I share the more creative ideas, lets talk about tug for a sec.
It can be a good way to exercise your dog...but only if done the right way.
Puppies have baby teeth until they start teething and the adult teeth start pushing through,
this usually starts around 4 months.
This means we can not play tug too rough with our pup because we do not want them to prematurely
lose their baby teeth
We also do not want to injure their growing bones, spine or neck.
This is why you should never whip your pup around once they’ve latched on to the tug
toy.
You can apply gentle resistance, slow swaying movements, and in general just act like the
toy holder.
This is also a really good time to work on teaching the drop it cue, some impulse control
and sit.
See, I turn all play sessions into a way to multi-task, I can teach my pup manners, build
a stronger bond together and exercise my pup all at the same time!
You
can always invite another puppy over for a playdate.
Make sure the pup is similar in size and temperament.
Playdates are great for physical exercise but also a great way for dogs to learn how
to better communicate with each other.
I’m big on confidence-boosting with my pups so I tend to create games and exercise opportunities
that work the brain and body such as this wobble board.
We want to teach our puppies how to handle different sights, sounds, smells and so on.
This is one way we work on socialization skills, you can check out this video for more info
on the best ways to socialize your puppy.
So this wobble board as you can see allows the pup to step on, walk around and build
stability and even strength
Remember when you can tire your pup out mentally and physically at the same time it’s even
better since they will tire out more quickly.
I like to work on exercises that help my pup learn more about balance and awareness.
So this cavaletti or ladder can be used to teach pups how to step over each bar.
It may look super simple to you but to your pup it can look like a fun challenge to overcome.
Remember we are not turning this into a jumping game.
Jumping too early can cause lifelong damage.
You want to make sure your pup goes through this slow and steady.
Moving on to the next exercise…
I use something called a flirt pole.
This is a pole with a bungee rope attached to one end and a toy attached to the other.
For puppies, I make sure to keep the toy low to the ground to avoid jumping and I tend
to swing the lure around slowly so I don’t make the puppy turn too fast as they are racing
around trying to chase it.
Fast turns also lead to damaged growth plates.
Now before I share my last tip with you… you’re really going to love this one!
Be sure to hit the subscribe button so you get notified when next week’s episode comes
out.
My final fun tip to exercise your puppy… create an obstacle course from items found
around the house and lure your dog through it.
Chairs make excellent tunnels, a hula hoop makes a great item to hop through, take that
ladder we talked about before and incorporate that into your course, use a step stool as
a low object to climb over.
Go slow and have fun!
In the comments below tell me which one of these activities are you going to try first
with your puppy?