What is the 10 minute rule for puppies?
Lonnie Lockman
2025-06-11 17:02:08
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Puppies need less ‘formal’ exercise than fully grown dogs. You’ll know your dog best, and the amount of exercise a dog can manage will vary between breeds and dogs, but a good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes of formal exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppy is fully grown. This means 15 minutes (up to twice a day) when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old and so on. As they become older, they’ll be able to cope with larger amounts of exercise. Taking them for long walks while they’re young can overtire them.
Hortense Konopelski
2025-05-30 07:32:51
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The 10 minute rule for puppies is that 10 minutes is all it takes, 10 minutes a day. Try to train before you feed your puppy, because your dog will be hungry and will work for food. With your pea size ground beef balls, the puppy will find you, and start coming to you outside, he or she will learn your ten minute routine. Take your dog outside and off or on leash let your puppy get a whiff of what you have in your hand. You can take a half a pea size morsel and don’t let him or her have it till they smell. It doesn’t matter what is going on, who is around you, but try to train if at all possible outside so when done training then you exercise and play with your dog.
Jacinto Breitenberg
2025-05-22 14:06:51
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The rules around limiting puppy exercise are based on the idea that their growth plates are not yet closed. Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths out there – one common one is the “5-minute rule.” The 5-minute rule states that a puppy should only exercise for 5 minutes per month of their age – so, for example, a 4-month-old puppy should only exercise for 20 minutes. There is no evidence to suggest that simple exercise will damage your puppy’s growth plates. Damage to growth plates is caused by trauma – this could include landing from a large height, being hit by a car or being crashed into by another dog.
It is true that some forms of exercise can contribute to joint problems – studies have shown that climbing stairs can contribute to hip dysplasia in very young puppies and that jarring, high-impact exercise such as running after a ball or stick can also contribute to joint issues such as osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). However, as long as our pups are otherwise healthy, we don’t need to check our watches religiously to make sure we don’t overshoot our walk by 5 minutes a month too soon and we don’t need to panic when our pups would rather run around and play than sit quietly and rest!
The biggest risk factors for growth and joint problems are: Hip/Elbow dysplasia Genetic disposition for conditions such as OCD Excess weight High impact exercise such as jumping from heights or sudden turns Trauma from accidents. So, it is wise to avoid letting your puppy jump up and down from heights and best to leave high-impact games like “fetch” until later in life (if ever!).
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