8 month old dog, questions about exercise

[RainDrops]

Hello! I posted a while back about searching for a dog, and I'm happy to report that I have found one. Fern is nearly 8 months old, and she is a wonderful lovable dog who is mostly great with only a few behavioral issues that we're working on. I got her from a previous owner that was rehoming her, and I have all her history. She's from working parents who were health and hip tested. I'll probably ask more specific questions as we go, but there's one issue that really has me stuck.

I know you're supposed to be careful about too much exercise on joints of young dogs. I intend to wait to spay her until her growth plates have closed to give her the best chances of having a physically sound life. I don't want to exert her to the point that she will damage her joints, so I won't do any repetitive exercise like jogging or biking until she's ready. But she does need exercise and she clearly wants to be very active (though, thankfully, she is not at all hyper). She loves to play with other dogs, but she especially loves playing with other dogs that play very rough. And she is a very lean-bodied dog, so they often weigh more than she does. But with the chasing games they look pretty brutal, especially if they roll or body-block each other. And Fern isn't the best at limiting herself based on safety. We don't have a yard that's big enough for her to really get her zoom on, so is it safe for her to play in these ways? I know there's always a risk, and I don't want to be over protective and prevent her from being a dog. I just want to know the appropriate balance.

Also, I know concrete is bad for them to run on because it's a very hard surface. The place I work has a big wide concrete balcony on the 2nd floor that encircles the building, and she loves to go zooming around on it and play with her ball. She's free to take a break whenever she wants, but I don't know if I should try to keep her from running too much up there, especially since she'll sometimes skid when she runs to grab a toy with too much enthusiasm. Is it okay to let her play up there once a week or so? Or maybe leave the toys at home?

Sorry this is so long. My friends would say I'm overthinking things. I know the general rule of thumb is to let them exercise at their own pace, so they can choose when they need breaks. But I don't know if I trust her to do that. Last week she did something while playing that made her limp briefly, though there was no sign of it by the next day. I don't even know what occurred. I don't want to screw up her future abilities. We go on a longish walk if I can't take her somewhere to run, but I know she prefers getting to run, so I'm conflicted.

 

[ShellyF]

I think you are right to be thinking about the welfare of your pup but I also think our dogs guide us. Ours is five months and some days he seems to want to sniff one single Bush for 10 minutes and other days prance about like he has bees in his bum! 

My concern was always stairs as I had read that pups shouldn’t use them until 6-8 months old. I carried him as much as I could in his early weeks but as he got heavier I had to teach him. I focused on ensuring he went up and down gently but as his confidence grew he got faster and began jumping the last few steps. 

He zooms up and down them now like they aren’t there. Our vet says we are over worrying. 

[D'Elle]

Very beautiful dog you have there!

If it were my puppy I would not permit larger dogs to body-slam her. It is, for me, to great a risk for injury.  Hit the wrong way, or just landing on the ground wrong after being knocked off her feet, she could end up with popped ligaments or other serious injuries that would require surgery.  Better safe than sorry, is my feeling.

Maybe you can find (or even start) a border collie play group in your area? Border collies usually play very well together. As for the concrete, again I personally would not allow my young dog to run or play a whole lot on concrete because of the hardness of the surface and the damage it could do to the joints. Think of a young child running a lot on concrete. Probably not a great idea, as it puts too much strain on the feet and the joints in the legs. This is my take on it; others may have other points of view.

[RainDrops]

Thank you both for the replies. Unfortunately there really aren't many other border collies in our area. I think I've only seen two in the last two years I've lived here. There are more Australian shepherds, but she hasn't had the chance to play with any yet. I will try to evaluate the sort of play she's engaging in and try to redirect her if she's getting into rough play with larger dogs. Hopefully we'll meet some good same-weight playmates for her. It seems hit and miss with who she really likes.

And I'll see if I can discourage her from running on the concrete. It does seem like she's too reckless for her own good after all. Hopefully the small amount of play she's done up there hasn't compromised anything.

Thanks!

Emily

[Riika]

Welcome! 

A rule of thumb I see recommended on here are walks/jogs of 5 minutes per month of the dog’s age. So for 8 months, 40 minutes. 

More important for getting her to settle down and be relaxed and calm is mental exercise-obedience and trick training, nosework, etc. 

My super high drive 14 month old BC has two injuries and has been on crate rest since July, with no exercise the first 4 weeks and then walks, up to trots now. She has handled it a ton better than I ever would have imagined, and calms down a lot after good training session. 

[RainDrops]

On 9/24/2018 at 9:53 AM, Riika said:

Welcome! 

A rule of thumb I see recommended on here are walks/jogs of 5 minutes per month of the dog’s age. So for 8 months, 40 minutes. 

More important for getting her to settle down and be relaxed and calm is mental exercise-obedience and trick training, nosework, etc. 

My super high drive 14 month old BC has two injuries and has been on crate rest since July, with no exercise the first 4 weeks and then walks, up to trots now. She has handled it a ton better than I ever would have imagined, and calms down a lot after good training session. 

Thank you I will try to keep it something around that. We've been working a lot on training, and on being calm and relaxed in stimulating situations. I can't imagine no exercise for 4 weeks though! That sounds very difficult.