hack a 40mile walk?

Is it cruel to go on a fourty mile walk with staffy? Will roughley take 20hours with breaks plenty of water n food? For charity.

How old is the dog and on/off lead?

The youngest is 6month very hyper. And the oldest 2year. And on lead would be alot of people around walking in seperate groups. X

The youngest is mine and oldest is my mums. Wouldnt think it for sapphire as ithink it mite kill her legs. X

Are you planning on doing it in a day thats a long walk? I would with Moo as long as she was off lead Xx but sounds like a camp out. 40 miles is enough for me over 3 days with pubs between

Haha and no its plan to set off at 4 am and fin at 3am the next day thats included breaks. Its called louisesmalleywalk.co.uk have a look its to raise money. How old is moo. I could do it with sapphire if it was over a certain amount of days but i think it would be too much for her all in one day. X

For the young one it sounds like far too much, but for the older one with breaks and plenty of water and energy, etc., I reckon it'd be OK. It definitely depends on the individual dog though, if the dog is energetic and you think it can manage it, then go for it

Janey, why would you do it only if Moo was off the lead? I envy her recalling skills

Both dogs are fab off lead and recalls are fab too but they get giddy round people dont want any accidents. X

Moo is 4ish and as she suffers from arthritis as long as she was off lead I would do any distance with her weather depending, when on lead I think a distance walk is too much unless they are trained to walk the miles.

Off lead they can take it at there own pace, on lead they have to keep up.

Far too long of a distance for the younger one. The older one maybe it really depends on how much exercise the dog is used to.

Speak to your Vet and ask the question, I would say too far for the little one and maybe too much for the older one too, don't forget your dog cant tell you "i'm tired and want to go home "
It may be ok if you can train up to it with longer walks as the time draws closer?

katie.lm761 wrote:The youngest is 6month very hyper. And the oldest 2year. And on lead would be alot of people around walking in seperate groups. X

Absolutely not!

Six months is way too young for such a venture - she'll damage herself. I wouldn't recommend more than about an hour at most at 6 months old.

I strongly agree with Caryll above.

Far too young. She would harm her growth plates in her legs as well as injuring her paws.

My youngest is 13mths. Loves his walks but an hour at a time is enough for him.

Wouldnt even consider it with a 6mth old pup

A 40 mile walk would be far far too long for a 6 month old dog. There is no way I would even consider it.

Much to far IMO. My Logan is 15-16 months and very fit but I wouldn't dream of doing that with him.

Oooh, much as I love long walks with Pixee, that would be a no no for us. One main reason is her injury to shoulder, which is doing very well, just wouldnt want to make it worse. Plus, how many breaks and how long for are they for?

Personally I wouldn't take either dog , this sounds very similar to the Lyke Wake walk and as you are moving in groups there's a certain need to try and keep up so unless you are walking with a group that all have dogs and are all prepared to stop a lot extending your finishing time by nearly 3 or 4 hours than I think its not a good idea

Don't know what the terrain is like for this one but estimated times on average for the Lyke Wake Walk was 20 hours ish

I wouldnt take sapphire on the walk shes far to young. I was thinking of rex hes done 10mile.

Even a two year old would struggle with 40 miles if it isn't used to it.

It's fine for dogs like Huskies that have been trained for long distance work, but most dogs would end up quite stressed and could well have problems with their paws & legs.

ye id say the young one is too young, but the 2 year old will be fine if shes fit and healthy

BoroGTI wrote:ye id say the young one is too young, but the 2 year old will be fine if shes fit and healthy

'Fit and healthy' is very different to 'Used to 40 mile walks'.

I would still recommend that you don't take either dogs.

Total agreement with Caryll.

I would consider my Logan to be a fit dog but there's no way I'd put him through that amount of exercise. He may possibly be able to do it but it is far too much.

Certain breeds, yes no problem, most breeds wouldn't be built for that. It would take a lot of building up over time to be able to acheive that safely, if at all ever.

I think its fair to.say only you know the dog well enough to make the call, but your obviousely not totally sure or you wouldent be asking, so iI think you have your answer ha!

I would suggest if you have time build up to it. I saw a guy with a couple of staffys crossing striding edge to Hellvellyn yesterday which is about 8 miles total and his dogs seemed happy enough. If you take regular breaks the older one will likely be fine.

I would suggest getting an interval training program, there's some good ones for smartphones these days

Far to long a walk for a 6month old pup regardless of the amount of breaks, the older dog may be alright if in good health though and has has training on endurance and is used to walking long distances, but great care needs to be taken on their pads on the feet as if the terrain is rough could cause them to split and be very sore

Its a very big ask of any dog regardless of breed tbh and something that would require training to do safley. if you do decide to go ahead please be aware that you may have to abort if the dog gets to tierd. Youll also have to think about a feeding shedual with some high protien and energy foods given in small portions throughout the walk and preferably wet to help keep hydration up. If i do a big one over 12 miles marley gets a fish gruel and vitamins two hours beforhand and i wouldnt risk laska yet at nearly a year old.

40miles would be to much for the 6month old staff..when we first started taking lacey on the bike if we took her to far she would be limping the day after and at 6 month 6-7 mile was to far for her..