Walking

Hi
I was wondering what age is recommended to being walking my puppy. I understand that it can't be done too soon so as to allow his muscles and bones to develop. We have given him a go around the back yard and after a few minutes of rolling on his back and chewing his lead, he was quite good!

I'm looking forward to walking ours too but he's way too young and hasn't had his vaccinations yet. I'll be interested to find out how to develop his exercise though so shall watch this!

Yeah, Vlad has his 12 week vaccine this weekend. We run him around the yard with his football and his tennis balls... he also has loads of chew toys... he runs himself silly when he is alone in the yard as well (we try and give him time outside when we are home so when we go to work he doesn't feel like it's anything unusual)... But, we are very much looking forward to walking him. It's knowing when and how long etc LOL. Good luck with our new little one. He's very very cute

Paddy goes out the back garden. First properly today. But, like you say, walks will be great

after the vaccinations then normally they say 5 mins for every month of age

Thank you! I am looking forward to it! He has so much energy! Be great to see if it makes a difference

Walking them makes a huge difference! Been a while since I had a pup but I know when moo did her paw in and couldn't go out she was climbing the wall! You could try mind training games with her, hiding things and letting her go find, it hekps to stimulate them and tires them out too

simular to lynne i go on an extra minute for ever week so at 12weeks 12 mins
20 weeks 20 mins so oon.
i find it gives you smaller goals to work to

Thanks! I am also hoping it helps with his biting. He only bites my husband (all puppy play and over excitement) and we think it's because my husband is so big and he thinks he can. He doesn't do it to anyone else. Hopefully being able to walk him will settle him down some! The idea for the hiding game is great! Going to give that a go tomorrow! I like the idea of extra minute for every week.

It should really help with the puppy behaviour. If you haven't done so already you can leave the collar and lead on inside so he will get used to it. You can also start to work on commands in the backyard as well instead of waiting. Good luck and don't forget the pics.

We popped a collar on Paddy today. He 'moonwalked' for a while trying to back away from it but is fine now.

Not going to try walking him (obviously) yet but he loves the back patio. He's still baffled by the grass

LOL... we put a harness on Vlad (we tried the collar, but he really didn't like it) and we have walked him around the back yard a few times. He's getting really good, but the first couple of times, he rolled on his back and chewed his leash! Silly puppy!

pixie79 wrote:LOL... we put a harness on Vlad (we tried the collar, but he really didn't like it) and we have walked him around the back yard a few times. He's getting really good, but the first couple of times, he rolled on his back and chewed his leash! Silly puppy!

okay... just an update. We have begun walking Vlad and he is really quite good! He still is a bit unsure ablaut cars and gets scared when he hears other dogs bark behind their fences, but he is getting better. He even sits when he is told (I am trying to get him to sit at roads so if he gets loose one day he might stop at them (then again, he might not!) We have been encouraging him to have wees and poos at home before we take him out so as he can enjoy his walk and hopefully not fret and think that's the only time he can go.... also because I don't like carrying poo bags full of poo Is this okay? We have only had short walks (because he is still a baby), but I am hoping that he continues to be a good boy, because we are really impressed with how easy he has been to walk!

Great news, he is still a pup and learning, I would love to not have to carry a poo bag around lol, but I haven't a garden.

Sounds like Vlad is coming on nicely

Sounds like things are coming along nicely

Paddy has his last jabs on Thursday (can't wait - as evil as that sounds!!). So we've started getting him used to the lead indoors as all he appears to want to do is chew it!

First walks are always so exciting

pixie79 wrote:We have been encouraging him to have wees and poos at home before we take him out so as he can enjoy his walk and hopefully not fret and think that's the only time he can go.... also because I don't like carrying poo bags full of poo Is this okay?

I don't think this is a good idea because exercise often loosens the bowels so you'll find that when you start going for longer walks he'll need to go to the toilet, but might try to hold it till he gets home - very bad for him.

I know it isn't nice carrying around a full poo bag, but believe it or not you do get used to it! Are there no doggy poo bins along your walk routes?

LOL, I wouldn't make him hold it in, I was just kidding about the whole poo bag thing. We just want him to know that walking is fun and not the only time he has to go to the toilet, if he needs to go he needs to go Unfortunately our walking route is in a new area, so there aren't too many public bins... but I am cool with carrying poo bags, just would prefer not to

we drove lemmy to the park 2 weeks after his last injections and walked him round for 10 minutes on the grass then drove him home. we increased it by a minute or 2 every time unless he had been running then it was back to the 5 or 10 minutes.

Great stuff

the puppy stage where they first head out into the big wide world of ours can be very exciting but daunting at the same time.
So many new things to see and sniff and so many new noises etc..... It is good to intriduce them to as many new situations as possible while they are young. They may be frightened at first because it is all so new, but before long they will adjust to all the new happenings etc....
Just make sure you are supportive and introduce them in a positive manner.

I rememebr when RoXy was very young she barked the first time she saw a bike, a pram, a swan, a cow, a horse. So many different things. But getting her out and about over time she has become more relaxed in various situations.

Good luck, and have fun

Take a look at the chart in this link. It gives you a good idea of the many tings/situations to expose your Pup to so they can learn all about the world around them

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t5488-puppy-socialisation?highlight=puppy+socialisation+chart

once you can take your pup out walking, the sky is the limit...

they just love getting out exploring the big wide world...the more things you can expose them to , the better.

I was walking Winston down our road today , we don't get much traffic, and a huge noisy tractor came along with flashing lights on it... I made Winston sit off the road and he just watched it go past.. but his eyes nearly popped out his head as it got closer!

I've been putting Chloe on her lead in the house, as advised by the vet. She isn't having her last lot of injections until 20th, I didn't realise they could be done at 10 weeks - I know Paddy got 1st injections at same time as Chloe.

We keep her collar on all the time and she's got used to it. I've taken her for rides in car with me, but found out going too far leads to travel sickness

vanessa wrote:

I was walking Winston down our road today , we don't get much traffic, and a huge noisy tractor came along with flashing lights on it... I made Winston sit off the road and he just watched it go past.. but his eyes nearly popped out his head as it got closer!

LOL... Vlad's big thing is when people pass him! We tell him to sit and he does, but his whole bum is wagging because all he wants to to do is say hello to everyone and for everyone to love him and pat him! We're trying to teach him to be well mannered as I know not everyone is comfortable with dogs and even if we think he is just being an adorable puppy (which, of course, he is! ) not everyone else does. Still, it is super cute watching his whole bottom wag because he is so excited!

oh I can just imagine Vlad's little bottom wagging.. yes they just think everyone wants to be their friends .. don't they!

Okay, so Vlad is a walker. He loves them! He sits and lets us put his lead on and then shows us the way to the front! His walks are only brief (about 20 minutes) and today I managed to get through nearly the entire walk with a slack lead! He just trotted nicely beside me. Was lovely! His main issue is he just thinks everyone and every dog is his friend! We opened the garage door the other day for out walk and a ginger poodle came in! Shocked us, but him and Vlad were happy to get to know each other! His owner was close by! Vlad had a pack (4) small fluffy yapping dogs barking at him yesterday and he was still bounding around with his tail wagging because he still wanted to be friends! It's nice because people are seeing us walk him now and stop and pat him and say hello... which he LOVES! We hold his harness and make him sit because we want him to learn to be polite, not just a big jumping (affectionate!) mess LOL.

aww Vlad you are a little already! Good boy !

I can't wait for our 1st walk next Friday, I am lucky as right outside the front door is a decent sized patch of grass which will be ideal for the 1st outing, just round the corner is a larger grass field where loads of dog walkers bring their dogs.

Up til last Friday he showed no interest in going outside but now he seems well up for it. I'm just gutted he can't go in the garden yet but the vet has advised us not to because of the neighbours cats that poo everywhere.

LOL... spoke too soon... we had moments of slack lead today, but the rest was like he had sensory overload... and it was a much quieter walk than usual. Not many cars or people, but he wanted to know what EVERY noise was and he wanted to race ahead to the people metres away! My husband said his walk this morning was good. He ran into his ginger poodle friend and a lady who has a staffy cross asked if it would be okay if they were introduced. Hers is a rescue staffy and apparently was very good with Vlad... let him know who was boss, then proceeded to let Vlad jump up and cuddle his head with his his paws. My husband sat him down and the other dog I am told was very patient with him (he'd need to be, Vlad's love for everything is hilarious... he's like Ferdinand the Bull ) Walking has improved his behaviour... he is still very much a puppy, but the play biting has almost stopped, and he settles down much quicker! It's an all round win