Clean Run - June 2013 - 46

What Type of Exercise
Is “Natural” for Your Puppy?
Because your puppy is not in his natural
environment, perhaps we should try
to correlate the appropriate amount
and type of exercise by considering
Natural Puppy
Puppies play with siblings
using lateral and medial
movements; i.e., forelimbs
and hind limbs moving away
from the body and toward
the body.
what he would be doing and how he
would be doing it if he were left to
grow to maturity within his pack situation.
For example, in a pack, a puppy
would not go hunting until he was mature
and had gently learned the skills
from the parents; therefore, is it prob-
Domestic Puppy
Puppies generally walks in a straight
line on a lead.
able that he would be going for long
walks before maturity?
In the table that follows we have
listed some suggestions of diff erences
between natural puppy and domestic
puppy and the possible implications.
Possible Implications
By moving primarily on only one
“plane,” i.e., forward or backward,
the muscles that support the forelimbs
and hind limbs are not “fi red.”
In other words, these muscles—
vital for stability—are not trained
to work. For a canine athlete,
stability is absolutely vital for the
longevity of a working career.
Puppies in the litter exercise
by running, walking, pouncing,
walking... charging.
Puppies go for walks on the lead
with a pace and gait dictated by us.
Perhaps we always walk in one direction
around a fi eld or always at
the same camber.
Puppies climb over
each other.
Puppies walk on the fl at.
By walking in one position and
generally on one side at one pace,
the puppy is not given an opportunity
to develop his own pace and
learn to change pace. A lack of variation
restricts natural development.
We are not saying that your puppy
should be encouraged to climb,
but climbing over soft puppies and
mothers helps their neural pathway
development; i.e., spatial awareness
and, again, balance, and stability.
Puppies learn to hunt using
their noses within their
habitat. They learn life skills,
realizing their psychological
needs and aiding their physiological
development.
Puppies may play for 10-15
minute bursts and then rest,
building up to maybe 30
minutes as they mature.
The following are suggestions for possible
exercises to do with your puppy
(e.g., a medium-size breed at age 6
months of age). But, all must be done
in moderation—no more than 5 minutes
at a time with a sound puppy.
46
For lively excitable puppies, physical
exercise is used to exhaust or tire
them and psychological exercise
is not always exploited to facilitate
this. Is the expression, “Thank goodness
by puppy is ‘shattered,’” a good
one?
We exercise for longer periods of
time and we exercise the puppy
within our time table, not his.
It is said that 30 minutes of scenting
exercise is the stimulatory equivalent
of a 5-hour walk. Scenting exercise
is fun without being impactful.
It can also help develop hindquarter
engagement.
Excessive stresses can damage soft
tissue which will eff ect joint and
bone development.
l While walking your puppy on leash,
encourage him to walk laterally
by walking slowly around a tree or
a lamp post, twice clockwise and
twice counter-clockwise. This gentle
exercise will assist stability through
the shoulders and hindquarters.
l While on a walk, allow your puppy
time just to amble, sniff , and run at
his own pace, in his own time—no
intervention from anything, especially
the throwing of balls, etc.
Also walk with a change of pace,
enough to break your puppy’s
Clean Run |
June 13
Clean Run - June 2013

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