I've already posted elsewhere that I'm having a problem with my five month old puppy not wanting to walk on a leash, and my concern with him getting enough exercise. I got good feedback in this forum for this situation. My question is: how much exercise does an adult Berner need? I know this may be too general a question as all dogs are different.

I guess it depends on your dog's energy level and what his day-to-day life is like. If he's alone a lot throughout the day, I'd say he could probably benefit from a little extra exercise/people time when you are home.

Barney's my first dog, so I'm sort of playing it by ear with him. He's almost 4 months and gets a good 20 minute walk in the morning and about 25-30 minutes at night, plus additional playtime in the yard and indoors (maybe another hour or so). On puppy class days or days where he has a play date, the walks get a little shorter or we'll remove a play session.

In general, if he's restless or keyed up, he gets more play or longer walks. If he's dragging a bit, we ease up on him. It's pretty obvious when he's tired - he'll just lie down in the backyard instead of playing, his eyes get red, his front paw will shake a little bit, or he'll want to take a nap close to his bedtime.

Not sure how helpful that is, since he's still a pup - I imagine as he gets older, his play drive will decrease a little and it'll just be the walks with a little play time. I guess just watch your pup for signs that he's had enough

With any breed of dog especially large breeds like Berners is 5 minutes per month of age. IE: 4 months would equal 20 mins max in one day.

Some Berners when adult require more than others it all depends on the dog some are very energetic others less so but they all expend their energy within the first 5 minutes then slow down and pick up again so until he is adult I would personally stick with the 5 minute rule and when adult see how his energy levels are.

Wow, I've been exercising poor Barney too much then!

Does that 5 minutes include playtime?

No you can play with him in the garden. But be aware of how long you play for. Its the constant walking that isn't too good for them any large breed of dog. Even small ones should be exercised with caution when young. All the bones are growing over exercising can cause all sorts of problems.


Do you keep him off the stairs too ? It is wise if you possibly can. At least till 18 months old.

Heres a good article.

Strength training exercise is appropriate for an immature puppy body.
(Weight lifting is the classical strength exercise for a human.) When
a dog does strength training, it is his body that is the weight he
moves. Exercises where he moves over short distances are strength
training exercises Therefore, a pup gains strength by moving his own
body weight at his own speed. He seeks his own level of exercise.
Pups benefit from strength training activities such as fetching,
swimming short distances, playing with other pups, chasing games and
most other activities a pup normally does. For those who must take
their pups for walks, the European dog community has what I consider
to be an excellent rule of thumb for young puppies - five minutes of
normal walking for each month a pup is old. So, a two month old pup
could be walked for ten minutes. This will gradually and safely
contribute to age appropriate endurance.

Endurance exercises are those in which a dog makes repetitive
movements over a period of time. Long controlled walks, jogging with
an owner or running next to a bicycle are endurance exercises. It is
important to note that dogs should not be exercised on hard surfaces
such as concrete and asphalt. Humans have special shoes designed to
absorb the impact of their weight when exercising on hard surfaces,
canines do not! Running and hard playing on sand often contributes to
injury of the cruciate ligaments. Encouraging serious endurance
exercise is not in the anatomical best interests of a dog under 14
months of age.

Canine of all ages benefit from exercise. It is the amount and kind
of exercise given at the appropriate age level of anatomical
development which is of significance in maintaining a healthy,
physically fit and sound dog. It is helpful to compare a growing pup
to a child. A six month old pup is commensurate in age to a seven year
old human. Would you ask that child to run a 10K race or lift
weights? Common sense must guide you!

That's very helpful, Lynn, thank you!

We keep him off the staircase, but he will go down the stairs leaving the house (four steps out front and one step out back).

Where do you think a dog park or play date would fit in? Both are on grass, so the impact wouldn't be the same as going for a walk. He does seem to reach a point where he slows down when playing with other pups, and that's usually when we call it a day.

We are struggling a bit with the unstructured exercise, because Barney seems to have little interest in fetching or most toys - we've basically just been doing training games with him in the backyard (like "puppy ping pong" getting him to come when called back and forth between us).

With him being crated during the day, I worry we're not giving him enough stimulation with just two 10 minute walks a day and a few training/play sessions in the backyard or house. The walks are nice, though, because even though they're 10 minute walks, we're gone for closer to 1/2 an hour because we run into so many people and dogs that we stop to talk to!

I would say you are doing just fine I think the 5 minute rule thing is appropriate if you are going to be walking without any stops but if you like us use to do stop most of the time to greet people and other dogs they are getting a fair bit of rest in between.

The garden games sound good too. I don't think you will find many berners fetch Ollie never did if he ever chased and caught a ball it was then a tug of war to get him to leave it.

On the field we would throwa ball for him and he would run after it and go straingt past it especially if there were more interesting things to to do like sniffing interesting things.

Lynn, thanks for taking the time to provide some excellent feedback. I took Dylan for a 25 minute walk today. It's about seventy degrees here with low humidity and breezy. After a while, he found a shady spot and had a little rest. After his rest we were able to continue walking. I've learned to just let him move along at his own pace. It makes our walks much more enjoyable for both of us. On the days he doesn't feel like walking, we just go home. It took me awhile to learn that he knows what he needs.

More than welcome. Pleased you have all found the information helpful and interesting.

wow i found that informative. I just have to add one thing. if worried about impact on joints, swimming is awesome therapy and exercise. the water keeps the weight off the joints. this is how I exercise storm in the summer, he swims every day and it helps him.