Hello.

I have a short question: When did you start taking walks with your Berner.

My breeder wants me to wait untill my dog is 1 year old.

B.R Johan

When we got Truman at 10 weeks, we would carry him in a backpack (head popped out of the top of course) to the park down the street and let him wander around and to also get him used to a collar/leash. He is now 7 months and we walk him on lead to the park, as at 79 lbs it would be a bit impossible to carry him in a backpack. We don't take him for long or strenous walks, but enough to get him out and about. Hope this helps.

Yeah same here Winston turned a year in June and we have been walking him for a long time. Not too sure why they would say 1 year. Winston loves to pull when we walk him tho so now we use a gentle leader and its night/day. He quit pulling and now just kind of trots along

We were told when we got our dog to walk her for five minutes for every month so when she was 3 months old her longest walk for the day was 15 mins, when she was 6 months old she was walking for 30 mins etc. We did this and never had any problems! Hope this helps :-)

I've been walking Barney since he was about 10 weeks old, but kept a really close eye on what he was exposed to, since he wasn't completely done with his vaccines until later. And no parks or dog parks until he was fully vaccinated either.

Originally, I just took him for less than 5 minutes - just down the block and back. Since one of the other posters told me about the 5 minutes per month of age rule, that's what we've been following, too.

Honestly, I think if I'd waited a year to get Barney even STARTED on walking, I'd have been dragged behind him more than walking beside him They're such large dogs, and they seem to be prone to pulling. It's an adjustment for them to get used to walking on a lead to begin with, doing it with a practically fully-grown, 100+ pounds dog would be difficult and potentially frustrating.

Same here, we were told by our breeder no more than down the street and back until she was a year old. But we started walking Bailey at 5 moths and have also been using the 5 mins pre month rule. Bailey is SO full of energy that I can't possibly imagine what she'd be like without any outlet.

5 minutes per month of age....per day? that seems very little... I have been doing more, but that's why I'm here to learn!

How about an adult BMD?

The reason your breeder has suggested this is due to concern re: joint damage and dysplasia. Large breed dogs are highly susceptible to joint damage from repetitive motion. Repetitive motion means a constant and consistent pace.

So to say "taking walks" should warrant some definition. These are working dogs and need a ton of exercise and the best for their health is building muscle - but it is all about building muscle properly.

Optimal exercise means free exercise, without leash. Running around, romping and leaping on their own free will is recommended. Leash walks whereby the puppy is walking at your pace is the definition of harmful repetitive motion. If on a leash, and your puppy is stopping and sniffing, and trotting, then walking, then stopping and sniffing more....no problem. As long as your puppy is moving at his own pace, on his own volition and can stop whenever desired - you are encouraged to get him out and exercised.

Avoid running down stairs, body slamming or wrestling with other large dogs, and repetitive motion at a human's pace - these are the keys to joint development.

Leash training should start between 3-4 months of age and exercise is essential so just be careful to develop your puppy optimally.

Good luck!

Thanks for that really good explanation BernerRescue.
The advice I had from the breeder was also not to give much exercise for the first year.

However, I had just lost a 10 year old Labrador, and while he was pure happiness and love, he was a mad crazy puller until the day before he left. The only way to exercise him was to cycle or let him off loose in the Mountains of Switzerland when we visit every year. The thing with our Lab is that we listened to the vet about vaccinations etc and we didn't socialise him as a result.

With this BMD, at 10 weeks old, we took him straight to the center of Antwerp city, in the middle of Christmas shoppers, other dogs, trams, buses, mayhem. It took all of 10 minutes to get him leash trained, and we strolled through the cobbled streets for... about an hour (not constant walking, more just walking a bit, looking in shops, sitting and eating a frangipane... getting groped by strangers (dog not me).

At home, I have been walking him about 20 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day (this has been built up gradually) and I will now stop that because of what I have read here. It was going so well I thought I was doing good. In any case, he's a beautiful walker =) and very socialised.

For me, I'm scared of having a dog that I can't walk, when I would so love to. I mean, I'd love to do about 2 hours a day if/when he's up to it.

In the mountains, we did 3 or 4 hours with our Lab up and down a mountain, and a couple of smaller 45m walks to the lake etc. He was fit as a fiddle, looked like a puppy until his last day (cancer).