Running 4 Kms In The Morning And The Night

[vicdrg]

I've had a request from people who seem really nice who want a dog to run 4 kms with. Where can I get information on how good or bad this is for a dog, what sort of dog, what are the signs of a dog being run too far? At what age could a dog start running this sort of distances without damaging anything. One vet says a year before any extended exercise.

[Cosmolo]

I have clients who do similar jogging with their dogs. I would just make sure they are looking at an active adult dog who will really enjoy the opportunity to have that kind of exercise and make sure the running won't be done on hard cement the whole time. My clients jog at the beach, through the park and down the road home and both of their dogs seem to absolutely love it. 12 months for a medium dog and 18 months for a large breed in my opinon.

[Leema]

As long as they build the dog up to 4ks slowly, I think that such fitness would be great for a dog. :rolleyes:

[vicdrg]

thanks for that.

[Mrsdog]

I used to run 10k with my Dalmatians, and then they were looking for more. So like they say "horses for courses". Some dogs can run all day but in short bursts and these might not want a prolonged run - herding breeds for instance. 4k would seem to be a reasonable distance for a lot of breeds, but certainly not for dogs under 12 months of age.

BTW all that running didn't do my knees a lot of good!

Noels.

[Kahn]

Our two border collies are 11 months and have just starting running 1km with them, then walk 1km and then run 1km. (By running I mean, me almost being dragged by my dog who is rearing to go). They love it and I am sure would love to run more (good thing I am not fit enough yet because they are still a little young for any more than that).

[MonElite]

I used to do 10+km bike rides with my dobermann.