When to run with your young dog

Had to start out with a cute picture of miss stella:)

I get the question often, when can i run with my young dog?  What age is too young?  Why is the recommendation 12 months?  You have probably heard the saying don't do any repetitive motion with our dogs till the growth plates are closed.  What does that mean and why are the growth plates so important?

picture courtesy of Fit Fur Fun Canine conditioning

Growth plates are just soft areas at the end of bones that contain rapidly dividing cells.  These areas are where the bone lengthens.  At puberty, when the hormones start kicking in, these plates will thin and eventually close.  This is why it is important to take a baseline x ray if you think that running or dog sports would be in your dog's future to compare to the later x ray for closure status.  The vet can measure the thickness of the growth plate from the baseline to the newer x ray and advise you.  Typically in dog agility, our rule of thumb was to wait till the dog was at least a year old before we started weave pole practice and full height jumps.  The idea was that most dogs have gone through puberty at 1 year of age so even if you didn't x ray, you should be okay.

oh mr. cooper!

So what can we do in the mean time with our puppies to keep them out of trouble yet engage their brains and their bodies?

https://www.avidogzink.com/wp-content/uploads/puppy_exercise_guidelines_poster.pdf

Chris Zink, who is a world renowned veterinarian and canine sports consultant came up with this wonderful poster to help puppy owners know what to do and when.  One should note, this is not just a recommendation built on an opinion, this is years of  taking into account referred journal articles,  clients seen in practice, and case studies.  Chris also has several books out about the athletic dog including books about conditioning, rehab post injury, and coaching the canine athlete.  I don't want to sound like a salesman here, but in the agility world, she is our guiding light and she needs to be for other sports such as running with your dogs, because her wisdom can save you a lot of heart ache later!  Chris suggests that you wait until the growth plates are closed before pursuing endurance.  Well, what is endurance?  I am having trouble finding exactly what that means mileage wise. Dr. Zink  does say in her poster once the growth plates are closed (and she recommends 14 months to be sure if you don't want to X-ray), you can do 20 minutes of solid trotting every other day, which mileage wise could be way different for each of us depending on our pace.  She also warns that spaying and neutering your dogs early can cause a delay in the growth plate closure, so waiting even longer might be a good idea, since hormones do come into play with growth plate closure.   She does have many great ideas for what she calls adventure walks or hikes that are loose leash or on a long line.  She even gives you specific skills such as uneven terrain, short wading sessions, and hills to guide you through your hikes.

Hubba hubba Hubble!

I do keep finding articles that suggest no more than 10 minutes of directed exercise per month of age, but I can not find the science that is rooted in this number.  Technically, this would mean Boom would be able do to 100 minutes of directed exercise at this point, and I feel like that is way more than his body could actually handle in a sustained activity like running.  I did find an article about aerobic capacity, but it is based on studies in human children, not puppies.   Jane Killion (third link provided) states that "Puppies don’t have the cardiovascular system for endurance.  Furthermore, until they mature,  they're probably not able build much endurance no matter how much they exercise.  In human children, sustained exercise only increases aerobic capacity by up to 10%.  In adults, that kind of exercise can increase aerobic capacity by up to 30%.  Long walks and exercise sessions increase risk of injury  and yield few benefits for puppies, so endurance training is better left until the puppies have grown up."  

7 months old and looking good!

Here are the links to a few of the articles that I and some of my agility friends found that had useful information:

https://vetfolio-vetstreet.s3.amazonaws.com/mmah/48/37155337d24e34963af2fc8e4cdce3/filePV0709_Von-Pfeil_P1.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0G2avWbv5VYhz2lrMUmfXyiEV1kycF2TIhZ-a5n497zKANhzXfae7jrBI

https://www.dailydogdiscoveries.com/puppy-growth-plates/?fbclid=IwAR0G2avWbv5VYhz2lrMUmfXyiEV1kycF2TIhZ-a5n497zKANhzXfae7jrBI


https://www.puppyculture.com/new-appropriate-exercise.html?fbclid=IwAR1WRml3VAC8zpwLFLdCLSzk1TLbEw_N4PU5Sa43qPuSC6e7J6FWuEcKq_4

photo courtesy of Fit Fur Fun

What I have noted in reading several articles is that there is a huge agreement that the safest thing to do for our running puppies is to have an X-ray to get a baseline on growth plate size and then at sexual maturity or at 1 year of age, get another X-ray to confirm that growth plates are closed.  In the paper titled The Epiphyseal Plate: Physiology, Anatomy, and Trauma (the first clickable link in the list) you can see a two tables, Table 1 and Table 2 that give you a time line for when certain bones start growth and should end growth.  Most end growth at 12 months but there is a note at the bottom of the tibial tubercle that this may take 15-18 months for giant breed dogs.

Brim 7 months old

I think the take away from delving into the research is that yes, it truly is up to you as the dog owner to make the decision, but make it wisely based on science and not intuition.  Science says the safest bet is to wait till the dogs are at least 12 months or older due to the still growing and sealing of the growth plates.   If you induce trauma to those growth plates before they are closed, you can risk fractures, uneven bone growth, and arthritis to affected areas, all of which can affect your dog's quality of life for the rest of his or her life. 

Apollo learning loose leash manners

There are so many other things we can do with our puppies while we wait that cause no damage, so why risk it?  I know in our area alone, there are trick classes, nose work classes, clicker training classes, canine fitness classes, as well as foundation agility classes that you can take that work on body proprioception and skills off of the agility equipment that will help you later.  I think we as humans tend to want to rush this whole process and the best idea in my honest opinion would be to wait.  I waited to start Stella until she was 24 months old,  due to her early spay, and she has been running for 6 years now.   As for Boom, he is now almost 11 months old and we do daily walks to my son's school, which is about three quarters of a mile round trip, and has lots of starting, stopping, and sniffing both due to the child and the dog:)  We also play a little fetch in the back yard with the big dogs, as well as his favorite game of tag with our cat.  I am incorporating very short run/walks of a mile or less 2 to 3 times a week just to get him use to running with Stella, with a 4 minute run, 1 minute walk interval.  We also do trick training and I pay close attention to all of my running dogs nutrition as well.   Read the articles, make an informed decision, and have fun with your puppies!!!!

Mister on the run!