What Age Can Dogs Start Running With You?

When you welcome a young puppy to your household, you may subconsciously start making plans to walk it around the neighborhood or through your favorite park. It’s especially true when you lead an active lifestyle, and want your pup to be a part of your everyday activities.

But before you put a running leash on your dog, it’s important to know if they can even sustain a jog with you. It’s because young puppies need some time and development before enjoying more strenuous activities on a daily basis. If you put more stress on them than they can handle, it can have adverse effects on their health.

To help you ensure that you are prioritizing your dog’s health above anything else, here’s a lowdown on what age your pup can start running with you.

You Should Wait For a Few Months Before Attempting a Run

Different dog breeds have different cycles of development. But it’s a general understanding that dogs shouldn’t start more stressful activities until they are eight to nine months of age.

As defined above, this relates to the puppies’ developing bones and joints that need some time before they can handle physically demanding exercises. This includes running through larger areas for longer periods of time.

This especially holds true for larger breeds. Due to their bigger size, these dogs mature at a slower pace and need a longer duration to develop their bone structure. This calls for an extended timeline for participating in physically demanding activities.

With this in mind, it’s critical that you fulfill a general timeline of eight to nine months for puppies of smaller breeds, and wait even longer to put on a running leash on larger breeds. General advice may suggest that six months is a sufficient age for a pup to start running. However, this recommendation only applies to specific small breeds. That is why, it's better for you to be safe than sorry about your approach. 

What Type of Precautions Do You Need?

Apart from understanding the general timeline, the distinction between smaller and larger breeds also brings about certain precautions to the table. As such, you should never put your pup’s health on the line with general assumptions and only follow specific advice according to their own pace of development.

This means that you should always consult your vet about sound advice to start running with your dog. This makes sure that you are paying the utmost attention to your pup’s specific development, and taking decisions that suits its health the most. Even when you need to wait a little longer than the general timeline, it ensures that you are not putting your puppy’s health in danger.

You should also make sure to approach running in a careful way. From introducing the running leash to gradually increasing the pace of your walk, you should get your pup to your pace of running in a slow and cautious manner. This ensures that your dog’s health is not being put at risk at any point in time. 

By having this information in mind, you can rest assured in the knowledge that your desire to run with your dog isn’t putting it in jeopardy. As a result, you can enjoy spending your time with your adorable bundle of happiness without any worries.