Puppy exercise guidelines

The photo of "bag of floating bones puppy" keeps haunting the internet, same as the (in)famous 5-minute rule (increasing the time of walks by 5 minutes per month, so 4 month old puppy can have 20 minutes walks, which lots of people actually interpret as the total time of exercise for the pup), there is "waiting for growth plate to close" advice and so on - basically it all can be summed up with "unless you limit your puppy's exercise, you're gonna hurt them for life".

In fact, the opposite might be true - there is a disclaimer of course, and that is mainly that you should use some common sense, but basically puppies NEED and HAVE TO move, run, turn, jump etc. to develop muscles, proprioception and coordination. Puppies actually need A LOT of exercise. 

I will provide a bit more sources and details below, but common sense in this aspect boils down to a couple of rules:

- avoid too many repetitions of same behaviour or movement. If you tap your knuckle lightly with a pencil 3-5 times, nothing bad will happen. If you do the same 300 times, it's gonna hurt, swell and there's gonna be inflammation. Same thing works for any puppy exercise. You can teach them many behaviours, just don't drill them over and over. 

- free exercise is good. Mostly what your puppy is doing at their own pace and volition is good - again, some common sense is needed, as some (Pyrshep) puppies have crazy ideas like launching themselves from the sofa as high up as possible for instance, but when your puppy is running freely during the walk, jumping over logs, running through puddles etc. that is usually totally okay.

- slippery surfaces are not good - try to provide at least some surface with good grip at home, so the puppy can play there. On the other hand, varied surfaces are great, so make sure your puppy has the possibility to experience walking on grass, sand, gravel etc. 

- rest is vital and needed. Observe your puppy, provide calm environment, teach them to relax but this is complimentary to actually giving them opportunity to let off of all that energy. Again, puppies need LOT of exercise. 

- early training, including both basic obedience, trick and foundations for sport training is great. It teaches the puppy to learn, it gives them mental stimulation, fosters your relationship. 

- healthy weight is essential and it is actually better for the adolescent puppy to be slightly on the "too slim" side than the other way round. Again, I don't mean emaciated, but same as humans, dogs go through that gangly teenage stage and that is fine, they gain more muscles and substance later on, that doesn't mean you need to "fatten them up" in the meantime. Hardly any exercise can hurt you puppy more than being overweight. 

Of course, you don't have to take MY word on that, so here are two great sources to use - by dr Chris Zink, who is one of the world's leading authorities when it comes to canine movement, development and fitness. 

First is her book:  Fit for Life Puppy. I found a digital copy - here.

Second is her poster Fit for Life Puppy Exercise Guidelines - here. 

Now, when it comes to my puppies and agility training, here is what I do, roughly, as it might vary from pup to pup:

1. Just as soon as I get the pup, at the age of 8-15 weeks - we begin going for walks and I try to give them the option of off leash walks as much as possible. With very young puppies I also have a backpack/ sherpa bag, so whenever I see the puppy is tired, I might put them in the backpack for 15 minutes to let them rest. Usually by the time they are 4 months old they can easily and happily accompany my adult dogs on a full walk, which is usually about 5 km / 1 hr long.

2. Just as soon as I get the pup, we begin some basic training: recall, clicker training for tricks, mainly focused on body awareness, playing with toys.

3. At about 5-6 months of age I introduce first jumping grids, based on Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping program. I work with speed bumps (regulators), so no actual height,but already some stride regulation, soft turns etc. I do one-digit number of repetitions, one or two exercises, roughly once 7-10 days, so again I limit the number of repetitions, not the exercise as such.

4. After 6 months of age I slowly introduce wrapping the objects, running through tunnels, low jumps - again, perhaps 5 minute session once every 7-14 days - you can see an example of such session here. This is Maupka's only agility session this week:

5. After 9 months of age I begin to increase a bit the intensity and length of the sessions. I begin target training for the contacts, I slowly begin to increase jump heights, start building longer sequences etc. 

6. After 12 months of age I begin all the other equipment training such as weaves / see saw / A-frame etc. - of course starting with foundations, so when I say I begin weave training it means I start with running through 2 poles at that time ;). 

Don't treat the above as the manual, you need to do what feels right for you and your puppy. The puppy has to be mentally ready for this as well - Zelda for instance wasn't and most of her agility training happened after she was 12 months old, whereas Mojo and Brego were born adults and were sequencing much sooner than that. 

Also, I think it's good to consult the puppy with a good canine fitness specialist or orthopedist. I also believe it's worth taking x-rays before 4 months of age to see if the puppy is developing properly (at this stage early surgical intervention can prevent further damage and arthritis). By all means consult whenever something is bothering you.