hi there,
had a question about my bernese running.. i have an 8 month old boy who is 85lbs. i take him on 1-2, hour long walks a day.. hes in good shape, but when we go to the beach and or out to parks; if i let him off the leash he loves to sprint with my other dog after balls or frisbess. he tires out pretty quickly, and once he does he walks around and sniffs or lays down and watches. but i just wanted to know if its ok to let him run like that.. dont want to cause him any harm to hips and joints by not stepping in and limiting his excersise. hes a big goof!
what do your dogs act like off leash. is this normal bener characteristics?

Another poster on this forum told me that a good rule of thumb with puppies and exercise is 5 minutes per month of age per day. So with your boy being 8 months, he should be getting around 40 minutes per day maximum.

I'm guessing that in addition to the walks, that little bit of running tuckers him out pretty fast and that's why he doesn't have energy to play much afterwards - they're definitely not Jack Russells! LOL!

We took our puppy (4.5 months) for two shorter walks last night (about 15 minutes total) and then to a dog park last night after dinner. When he was off the leash, he stuck pretty close by us, but did trot a bit ahead to explore. He wouldn't get very far (maybe 3 feet) before stopping to wait for us. When we got to the open area for dog socialization, he ran a little bit, but honestly he's just not much of a runner! Part of it could be the age, because he's still pretty gangly and runs like Phoebe on Friends

On the walk back from the open area, he was noticeably tired - he walked a lot slower and laid down the minute we were in the car.

I think its fine but you better go the vet to have a look. The dog may have other problems that's why he gets tired easily.

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Bernese Mountain dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an emptiness we don't even know we have.