I am beginning to wonder whether I am giving Bella too much exercise and hope some of you may have some input.... While Bella absolutely loves our hikes - I am not sure if she is sore or just tired afterwards. We hike usually 5 days a week - between 5 and 9 km each time - by my GPS so she surely covers more ground with the running back and forth, Where we hike is very open and soft ground. I know that I am not to train her to run with me on the road until she is 18 months because it is much harder on her bones/joints etc. but after our hikes she moves quite slowly. Again I am not sure if it is just that she is worn out or not. Today for example we hiked 9km and she has been sleeping off and on ever since. When she gets up to move she does so very slowly. On the Tuesdays and Thursdays that we do not hike she is back to her crazy puppy self and moves up and down very quickly.....any thoughts / comments would be greatly appreciated!! Do you think I am overdoing it with her??


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Okay, I'm American so I had to do the conversion, but I think it's 3 to 5 miles or thereabouts. I don't remember if I've seen Bella's age before but my vet has said as well as others that its about 5 minutes for every month of age. If Bella was 6 months old that would be a 30 minute hike. At a year she could probably go at least an hour, but if I take Tayla who will be turning a year on Saturday on a 60 minute hike she would be exhausted after. I don't think I can walk more than 3 miles in an hour and probably not that far. So if you are walking more than an hour and she is under a year old that might be too far. Hope that helps.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

How old is Bella?

I take Maverick maybe 3 times at most a week on our hikes which is about 3mi round trip, but gets quite steep. He's only 8mo so this may be as much as I want to get him hiking for now as he still has plenty of growing to do. His recovery time after a hike is at least a good one hour nap (his problem is falling asleep cause he's so darn nosy).

If I were you I may cut back the hiking to 3 days a week for a bit and see how she does. Could just be overdoing it, especially if it's up a hill and has some steep inclines. Also, how many breaks do you take? On our hike we stop at least 4 times for a good 5-8min before continuing up or down.

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If she is stiff after exercise, I think you may be overdoing it. I have seen Molly really tired, and that means sleeping even when I am in the kitchen preparing food, but I have never seen her move slowly after exercise. Even when she is tired enough to not check out what I am doing in the kitchen, I feel like I may have overworked her that day but I may be more cautious than most.

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Wow! Thank you for quick responses. Bella is only 5.5 months old. Today's hike was almost 2 hours and we don't really take any breaks - just when I call her back to me - she sits - receives treat and off we go again. Today she even ventured for a swim which freaked me out because it is quite chilly today and that was her first real swim! From what you have all said it seems that I need to slow down on these hikes both in frequency and duration - which is too bad because I enjoy it as much as she does - but obviously I need to consider that I seem to be overdoing it right now. Thanks again!


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Wow I applaud your stamena. If you go every day I would certainly cut it back to no more than an hour and see how it goes and I would take a break at the 30 minute mark for maybe 5 or 10 minutes.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

Thank you. We will definitely try that - there are some benches along the way - may have to try them out


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Lucy and I try to walk at least once per day--about 2.5miles this morning--probably less then a mile tonite with granddaughter too--she comes running when I get the 'easy walk' harness out--vet says all is well

5.5mo is still very young. I didn't start Maverick hiking til the end of Sept when he was close to 7mo.

My personal novice opinion, you may be overdoing it. Your stamina amazes me, but your dog may also be hurting a bit from it. I would say slow it down, take more breaks, or cut out some hiking days altogether. If I were you, I'd keep it at maybe 3 times a week. How steep does the hike get?

Taking a look at my normal hiking route with Maverick we start at roughly 400ft and at the highest point end up at 1250ft. So it is a challenging climb and I keep it at 2 times a week at most, we try to go at least once every week with consistent stops.

Great job exposing your pup to the outside world though. Seems she loves it, but until she's maybe a little older I would say take it easier. You can still go everyday, but maybe cut the duration and distance. Like you I love taking Maverick hiking, but I know I shouldn't over-do-it with him.

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Thnx Dezymond. Elevation averages 30 metres or so. Nothing too crazy although there are some steep spots. We are in the process of moving so our/my time will be limited for the next couple of weeks - so the frequency will slow and I will cut the duration for a bit and slowly increase as Bella gets older. She has only just now returned to her pupp-isms - some 7 hours after today's hike! Poor sleepy pup!


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