Stretching out an 8 month old - is it too hard on the growth plates?

[Jennifer Henion]

Not that stretched out yet, but doing four 150-175 yard marks in a row. She is doing great with it, but it dawned on me yesterday that perhaps that much running may be too much for her joints and growth plates? She runs very hard there and back. Sometimes hits the bumper so hard she tumbles wagon over handle.

Should I back off to just two marks or back off on distance.

[Illini Coot Killr]

Bump.

I'd like to hear some opinions on this.

[pmw]

My understanding has always been that free running does no harm presumably if the ground is not too uneven. Forced walking on a lead or running beside a bike, etc is not good.

[TxWings]

My understanding has always been that free running does no harm presumably if the ground is not too uneven. Forced walking on a lead or running beside a bike, etc is not good.

I have my 12wk old out for walks twice a day and doing some bumper work (6-10 25 yd retrieves). On the way back to the house, he pulls on the leash like crazy for the entire 1/4 mile walk. Could this be affecting him?

[Jay Brown]

jHenion, Please clarify ,for me, exactly what is your concern for your dog? Running for 150 to 175 yards several times in a training session is suppose to harm a 8 mo old puppy ? Did a vet, or a trainer tell you that could occur? Or did I misunderstand something ?

JB

[Schmemdog]

My understanding has always been that free running does no harm presumably if the ground is not too uneven. Forced walking on a lead or running beside a bike, etc is not good.

Sorry if I incorporate horses too much into my posts, but they're mammals too, and the big difference is usually more money involved in funding research. I also know more about them

Foals usually have this manifested as physitis, or inflammation of the growth plates and developing joints. The biggest cause is frequently over-nutrition, causing them to grow and develop too fast. It can also be caused by too much time on hard ground. So I'd think that as long as you're controlling the amount of protein in his diet and free exercising him on soft ground, you'll probably be ok. Additionally, physitis is treated by stall rest, so just keep an eye on your pup and make sure he's not sore. If he is, scale it back a bit.

[Jennifer Henion]

jHenion, Please clarify ,for me, exactly what is your concern for your dog? Running for 150 to 175 yards several times in a training session is suppose to harm a 8 mo old puppy ? Did a vet, or a trainer tell you that could occur? Or did I misunderstand something ?

JB

I'm in the dog boarding and daycare biz and have always heard and read that one should not run pups under 2 yrs of age too hard or it can damage the growing joints and bones. This caution has been expressed in terms of running as in jogging with your dog on pavement or in letting rough dogs body slam and run with each other too much as in doggie daycare. With this pup, I was so focused on developing her for competition and getting her used to longer retrieves that it didn't occur to me until this week that running four in a row equalling 1200 yards of back and forth, might be damaging. She is 8 months and not done growing. I have the ability to train her everyday and don't want to overdo as far as her body goes.

edit: so looking for advice and other folks experience good or bad

[MooseGooser]

I'm in the dog boarding and daycare biz and have always heard and read that one should not run pups under 2 yrs of age too hard or it can damage the growing joints and bones. This caution has been expressed in terms of running as in jogging with your dog on pavement or in letting rough dogs body slam and run with each other too much as in doggie daycare. With this pup, I was so focused on developing her for competition and getting her used to longer retrieves that it didn't occur to me until this week that running four in a row equalling 1200 yards of back and forth, might be damaging. She is 8 months and not done growing. I have the ability to train her everyday and don't want to overdo as far as her body goes.

edit: so looking for advice and other folks experience good or bad

Take into consideration the step of FTP. If your pile is 100 yrds away,, and you have a dozen bumpers,,, the dog runs 100 yrds out, and 100yrs back each time... So,, lets see,,, 100 yrds out,, 100yrds back,, thats 200 yrds... Take that times 12,,, and divide by the arc angle of the current moon,,, and ya get,,, by my math,,, about 2437 yrds.

Thats if ya only use a dozen bumpers!!

I's gonna go home and give Flinchie a cookie!!


Gooser

[Jennifer Henion]

So if what you're saying is I'm being silly, then good. That's what I was hoping. This pup runs so hard and over some variable terrain, it had me concerned. I hear so many joint pain and injury stories in my office, you would not believe. It gets me thinking too much.

thanks too to Schmemdog for your response.

Jennifer

Jennifer

[RJW]

Not that stretched out yet, but doing four 150-175 yard marks in a row. She is doing great with it, but it dawned on me yesterday that perhaps that much running may be too much for her joints and growth plates? She runs very hard there and back. Sometimes hits the bumper so hard she tumbles wagon over handle.

Should I back off to just two marks or back off on distance.

Jennifer take this for what it's worth. I came away from my last vet visit loaded with knowledge....Hahaha. Anyway, I just got done asking my vet a very similar question albeit my pup is only 17weeks at the moment. What she said are that these performance dogs are simply amazing and very resiliant. She informed me that if you don't do a forced run of 10 miles or have the dog jumping off of cliffs(she litterally used those as examples) that they will be fine, let them do what they enjoy as long as its not life threatening. She also made a comment that she knows the worry about the growth plates with a lot of folks but she has yet to see any with any type of that kind of trouble that wasn't caused by a severe injury or accident of some form or another. She also stated that this was her opinion and that is what she follows with her Goldens.