Yo Playsia dont be Diss'n!!

[doctor-rock]

I have a question about how much exercise my 15 week old english mastiff should be getting. I take her for like 15 min walks around my house and to the park and she loves running around in the backyard. I keep reading how she shouldnt be running around much for at least the first year to make it easy on her joints and i do carry her up and down all our stairs and into the car cause im very scared about that but should i just stop her from flying around the backyard when i let her out?

Today she was straight bunny hopping to get around in the snow and i thought it must be so bad for her joints to be going through that, i had to scoop her up and bring her in.

 

[Smokeycat]

IMO letting them run around on soft surfaces is beneficial to their joint development by strengthening their muscles. What I tried to avoid was running on hard surfaces such as concrete. Also all walks when young should be relatively short and at their pace.

 

[DennasMom]

I just followed Denna's lead. What's the saying? "Don't walk a mastiff further than you can carry them home." ?? As for bunny hopping in snow - that sounds like nice soft landings to me - that should be great for muscle development with low-joint-impact. I'm sure she was tired after that! If she gets up slow the next day and/or limps a bit... then you know she over did it, and should rest up a few days before doing that again (maybe with an earlier scoop-up time).

 

[doctor-rock]

ok i feel better already, i was goin crazy trying to stop her from running and jumpin so much. so I'll definitely go easier with her on concrete when we go on walks we'll just stay in the park mostly.. I havent really seen her limp before and she still loves hopping through the snow so i guess its not hurting too bad there. Thanks guys!

and ya She gets so tired after hopping after my little sister in the snow for a while, a brick wall couldnt stop her from getting to her bed and passing out for an hour or 2 afterwards.