Friday, September 25, 2009

what the *toot* *toot*

I read a question on my American dog forum today....

I know you are not supposed to force run a lab before age 2 or so. What is everyone's advice about picking up the pace of the walk to a run for 100 yds or so and then resuming the brisk walk? My boy is 13 months old. I strongly suspect he has a good bit of growing left to do as his Dad was significantly larger. I DEFINITELY don't want to put excess strain on his growing joints, but we could both definitely benefit from a little sprint now and then. Your thoughts?

we are talking about the long term health of the dogs here. Yes, it is a decision each owner will have to make balancing both sides of the issue but it is important they KNOW the health issues it can cause.

I definitely see your point, I guess the difference for me is that when they are running free, it's under their control how hard, how fast, and when to stop but when they are on lead it's not and the fear is you may push them to do more than their bodies can handle.

I dunno .. I never run with my dogs even when their growth plates are closed, so don't have any advice on way or the other.

Is this the reason why my boy looks like this evertime we reach our running stretch? Lately, he literally lies down and refuses to budge at the starting point.



I thought maybe the road was hot or something. Each time, I stick my hand on the road to check the temperature before we start. All this while, I thought he was just plain lazy.

Have i advanced his hip dysplasia? *gulp*

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