It’s a fact that most pets are over exercised as pups and under exercised as adults
The following information that I found in the January 2004 publication of Your Dog magazine should serve as a guideline to a new puppy owner, and should be given as a fact sheet with all pups that will grow into the larger dog breeds
- Nutrition is equally important as exercise in maintaining the correct skeletal growth of all pups.
- Puppies kept on a diet which maintains them in a lean rather than plump condition will have a reduced risk of developing any orthopaedic problems.
- Pups carrying too much weight will inevitably put excess pressure on joints and exacerbate the level of degeneration
- Hip dysplasia occurs in many breeds. It is a genetic trait but management of pups and young dogs both nutritionally and through exercise is believed by some breeders to play a part in reducing the problems associated with this inherited disease
The big breeds used to be in the hands of a dedicated band of enthusiasts and just a few pet owners who understood their demands and idiosyncrasies. These breeds are now widely available and while every effort is made to educate the new owners of pups, in most cases they can’t wait to get their impressive new Akita or St Bernard pup into the park.
Responsible breeders of these pups stress to all new owners that they must adhere strictly to their puppy owner’s guide; this covers feeding and exercise to ensure that the pup’s development is unimpeded and correct, and that joints and muscles are not put under any undue stress. Many top kennels who keep the giant breeds are extremely strict in the way their youngsters – and that includes dogs up to the age of a year old are exercised.
Controlled exercise is not only necessary for the well-being of pups of the big breeds; pups of all breeds must be treated with care and not considered a plaything that flops once it has had enough. Many pups taken straight from ‘the nest’ suddenly find themselves in a family environment and at the mercy of young children – a situation that can lead to all sorts of health problems.
Pups need time to grow and, like small children, they need lots of rest to achieve that. The worst thing any pup has to endure, often as part of his daily routine, are sessions of frantic exercise – either chasing the children round the garden or endlessly retrieving a Frisbee. The outcome of these mindless and highly damaging workouts is an exhausted pup that collapses in a heap. While he may look as though he’s sleeping soundly, he’s probably suffering the first twinges of pain that will gradually become more severe as his exercise regime becomes more intense. How many new puppy owners see their pet flat out on the floor after a bout of frenetic exercise and smile to themselves, thinking that he has had a really good time and is now relishing a sound sleep? In effect, the half an hour of charging around the garden has put tremendous pressure on his developing joints as he pounded the ground, running and jinking, during his so-called playtime. This type of mismanagement of a new pup, which is disastrous for the large and giant breeds, and certainly of no help to small breeds, is typical of that meted out to many new family pets, and it could land the pup on the vet’s operating table before he’s six months old.
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