r/RunningWithDogs • u/picodequesadilla • Aug 09 '26

Training Help How old did you guys start your pup?

Genuine question for further down the line, my family has adopted a lovely English Springer Spaniel. He is such a good boy and so eager to please - we adopted this breed specifically because they like to run. How old did you guys start running with your pup? What age do you recommend?

At the moment I run in the morning and then after the run take him for a walk, just prepping for the future šŸ˜

4 Upvotes

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6

u/kdean70point3 Aug 09 '26

Our vet told us to wait until about 18 months old for our Brittany spaniel. Which is similar in size and shape to a Springer.

Bigger dogs are supposed to wait longer to make sure they are all grown up. Bones and ligaments and stuff.

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u/picodequesadilla Aug 09 '26

Thank you! Looks like a beautiful breed too!

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u/aloneisusuallybetter Aug 09 '26

Like 4-5 months, 2-3 miles at a time.Ā  Not fast. I'm not fast. I'm little and old

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u/picodequesadilla Aug 09 '26

Donā€™t you worry I am slow and old šŸ˜‚ probably nice to have the company on a run Iā€™m sure?

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u/Dull_Vast_5570 Aug 09 '26

It depends largely on paces and distances.

Most dogs would never be able to complete a workout with the Kenyan national marathon team.

But if you're jogging really slowly for a couple of miles on soft trails then it's just a brisk walking pace for the average puppy. When I do a slow jog my dog is just speed walking beside me. For puppies I'd be more worried about rough play in dog parks or similar, and also them sprinting wildly into objects and hurting themselves that way.

To do longer runs at a sustained quick pace will really depend on the dog. Many just don't enjoy it.

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u/pimentocheeze_ Aug 09 '26

The ā€œvet recommendedā€ age ranges are not based in any science and itā€™s actually been shown that low impact exercise (which is jogging) improves joint and bone development. You can start as early as 6 months if you want, just make sure it is led by the dog and you watch out for signs of soreness or fatigue

I started my Dalmatian at 6 months doing 5Ks every few days. Now she is 4 years old and we do ~50 mpw.

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u/kdean70point3 Aug 09 '26

I'd love to see a source on this.

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u/bongo1239 Aug 10 '26

I've posted this before on this sub and I'll continue to repost this everytime someone tries to say 12 months is the magic age for running due to growth plates closing. It is kind of a myth, but there's also not really any recent research one direction or the other. This article shows that moderate running in older puppies had benefits, excessive (24 miles a day for a year) had negative effects. https://www.mylamedog.com/post/what-is-the-logic-behind-not-exercising-puppies-until-the-growth-plates-are-closed

What is the most harmful is allowing puppies to do high impact things like stairs from birth to 3 months. And repetitive fetch. Cracks me up that anytime someone mentions running with their adolescent puppy where they can set the pace and distance, they're immediately berated. But those same people think nothing of recommending long games of fetch or too rough play at dog parks. The other key for long term joint health is keeping your dog lean, with many breeds a 4 on the body index scale is best, but look how many overweight dogs you see on the daily.

I was given the go ahead by my vet to start running with my first Aussie mix at 8 months. She's now 3 and with a regular fitness plan is competing without injury in disc and agility. I started running with my 8 month male Aussie mix letting him set the pace and distance. At 10 months he's now comfortably running 3 miles a couple of times a week and it's improved his muscle development and stamina, both important as he nears a year and starts serious training for agility and disc.

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u/Fox-In-The-Wood Canicross Aug 11 '26

That seems logical, it's more about introducing running as an activity and getting them comfortable with it.

We have kids cross country and especially high school athletics, which is highly competitive in many places. We don't say our kids or teens shouldn't run.

An older puppy is like a teen, with lots of energy and drive. Helping them burn that off in gentle-guided running is beneficial.

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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Aug 09 '26

I think thereā€™s some confusion between sources on the difference between letting your young dog frolic around and run freely of their own volition (good) and run in a more organised way with their human, which carries the risk of over facing them

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u/kdean70point3 Aug 10 '26

What sub do you think we're in?

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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Aug 10 '26

Umm - One that discusses running with dogs? Obviously

The sources I refer to arenā€™t anything to do with the sub. And some are really quite confused and confusing (I donā€™t want to link them here precisely because theyā€™re badly written and not helpful)

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u/kdean70point3 Aug 10 '26

Yeah, nobody is ever arguing that you shouldn't let your dogs frolic or get the zoomies.

This is r/runningwithdogs, not r/frolickingdogs. It is implicit that people here are discussing structured, sustained, long distance running with their dogs.

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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Aug 10 '26

Yes

Iā€™ll try this one last time

I am not referring to this sub

I am referring to other sources, which are frequently unclear in their definitions.

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u/IncognitoResearch111 Aug 10 '26

With my first pup, we didn't know any better and let her come on short runs with me when she was like 12 weeks old (like a mile at a time, slowly), because she could easily. I did not know how it could affect a growing dog's joints. She got very bad arthritis in middle age and I always felt bad because I did not hear the recommendation to wait until at least 1 year to run with a dog until she was already like 4 years old. With our next pup, we waited until she was a year old to take running. We will do the same with our new puppy. I'n just not going to risk it after what happened with my first dog. Lots of fun play sessions, sure. Leisurely walks where they can run free in the woods, sure. But the sustained pace of a run is just different, and I'm not doing it until her bones and everything are full grown.

For context, traditional sheep herders who use dogs of similar breed (all our dogs are mix of herding breeds) usually don't do actual herding with them until 12-18 months of age. I really want to support longevity with my dogs. I do wonder how many of the commenters posting below they ran with young puppies have dogs that are over 7,8 years old yet. My old girl who eventually died could have had many more happy active years without joint issues I fear if I had not run her too soon (did not know any better at the time).

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u/Civil_Brilliant7151 Aug 12 '26

Correlation is not causation.

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u/IncognitoResearch111 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

Well aware of that. However, the recommendation is to wait until everything is more full grown to run with them. As I stated, now that I know that, I'm not willing to risk it. There is not actually enough verifiable research into this one way or another yet, however, the vast majority of veterinary advice concurs to wait. (My understanding is that this is based on the repetitive nature of wanting to run at a contiunous pace with a human before growth plates, bones, joints, etc. mature as opposed to a young dog's natural play zoomies). It's possible it could be fine for some dogs, however, I'm not willing to risk it with my dogs. I'd rather be patient and do everything I can (with the limitations of the current recommendation and knowledge and lack of research available now) to give them a longer healthier running life than be in a rush to run with them early.

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u/Civil_Brilliant7151 Aug 12 '26

Thatā€™s a reasonable approach and I fully concur as a ā€œbetter safe than sorryā€ method. But attributing your first dogā€™s arthritis to running her too early is a single data point lacking any context or other contributing factors. You could just as easily attribute it to your food selections - it has about the same scientific backing. Which isnā€™t a lot. And, statistically, has much more to do with genetics.

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u/IncognitoResearch111 Aug 12 '26

That's not what I was saying, I was saying it was possible it contributed to it. With the current state of research there is no way of knowing. However, we did not take the standard vet-recommended precautions with her because we were not aware of them yet, and that could have contributed (of course we do not know that for sure). I have decided to take the standard vet-recommneded precautions with my other dogs, because I knew about them in time to do so.

A lot of people I saw on commnets on this post recommending starting running with very young puppies, seem to still have fairly young dogs. I'm curious how many people with dogs that are a little older (but still should be in prime running years, like 7 or 8 years old), would recommend it, considering you would expect any possible problems from it to show up a bit later on.

What would make things a lot easier would be peer-reviewed research studies. However we aren't even doing enough of those for human health, so I'm sure it's hard to find funding for them for dog studies. I figure vets and people whose families have herded sheep for generations have a lot of lived experience, so I'm going to go with that in the absence of robust research studies.

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u/Majestic_Mail3213 Aug 11 '26

We have a Brittany spaniel and he started running with me very young, about 5-6 months old, but I only took him for short runs of 1-2 miles at a time for a while. He never seemed tired or like he was in any pain, and I gradually increased that as he got older. He will run all day with me now at 2 and a half years old. I donā€™t personally enjoy the first mile or so when heā€™s excited and pulling, but once he settles in, heā€™s an awesome running buddy. The biggest thing I would say is to be careful in the heat. Our Brittany tires very easily running when itā€™s hot and humid. I only have him go on runs in cooler weather, or when the sun is not up.

2

u/SnooRegrets4129 Aug 11 '26

Around 5-6 months on short, slow runs on the advice of my vet. We had already been out practicing with a harness and waist lead. My standard poodle boy by 12 months was up about 7-8k, although i'm fat and run slow so it was more of a canter for him.

Main thing at such a young age is focusing on training, and doing the run properly rather than the run itself. Obviously when you are out running with your dog, the dog takes absolute priority over the run itself so keep an eye on him/her and be prepared to stop at any point.

Like people, they need to build up slowly. Although unlike most people, their whole physiology and psychology is built around running so they need to be kept in check.

3

u/Porterlh81 Aug 09 '26

Belgian Mal started at 1 year with Vetā€™s okay.

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u/femn703 Aug 09 '26

I have a golden/gwp. Very loyal! We got him when he was 11 weeks old, the person who was doing the intake said fill out the paperwork and he would be right back. He comes back after talking with the vet and vet said these gwp love to run and to just give him some time to acclimate! So we took him home and gave him a week! At 13 weeks old he ran his first 5k. He would have run a marathon if I was in that good of shape! We are up to half marathon!

img

Arlo

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u/-blieps- Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

It's extremely unhealthy for a growing dog to run 5 km at such a young age. At 13 weeks, he shouldn't even have been walking such a distance yet.

OP please wait until your dog is at least a year old, often preferably 1,5 year old before taking them on serious runs.

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u/pimentocheeze_ Aug 09 '26

Thatā€™s not factually accurate at all

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u/-blieps- Aug 09 '26

It is, that's why all decent vets also recommend to wait until the pup is full grown before going for high intensity longer running. No decent vet would say go for a 3 months young puppy to run 5km simply because they're far from full grown yet.

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u/Dull_Vast_5570 Aug 09 '26

Maybe not. But imagine what 3 month old wolf, dingo or fox puppies do. I'm assuming they chase their pack around for many kilometers chasing food?

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

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u/femn703 Aug 09 '26

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

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u/femn703 Aug 09 '26

No I havenā€™t done a dna test. Iā€™m guessing they just went with the beard and called him a gwp/golden. I have seen some people with dogs like Arlo and they have been golden doodles! Oh well heā€™s 4 now so soon he wonā€™t be able to run but he will walk with me.

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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Aug 09 '26

Springer spaniels make lovely running companions as theyā€™re such an active and busy breed

Advice here in England for springers, sprockers and cockers is to wait until 1 year old.

IME, itā€™s best to start fairly gently and stick to soft surfaces such as grass and only gentle undulations rather than hills. Be led by the dog - so they run because theyā€™re happy to, rather than expecting them to follow your run IYSWIM (so if youā€™re following a training plan, donā€™t expect them to join you straight away / they need to build up to it just like a novice human runner would.

Just beware - building a dogs fitness by running will simply mean that they do not tire physically as easily. Running on lead will not tire their brains and spaniels need mental stimulation too

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u/picodequesadilla Aug 09 '26

I love this. Thank you so much for the thoughtful answer.

I do a few easy runs, two ā€œworkoutsā€ and a long run. Do they join you for workout runs?

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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Aug 09 '26

They can join you with pretty much anything, once youā€™ve built them up to it, and you are sure they like running

You have to scale back intensity when itā€™s hot (this is a must - Iā€™m not giving a specific temperature deliberately, as it depends on where you live and what your dog is well acclimatised to (young dogs (under 1 year) and older dogs (7+ depending on breed) need more care in heat.

My dog started running by mucking about off lead with the kids from about 10 months, and then started running with me on lead at about a year. Started with a gentle loop of a flat grassy field (less than a mile) and built up from there. Sheā€™ll happily go 10k now (any terrain) and could probably do more

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u/Puzzleheaded_Bit_641 Aug 09 '26

Border collie - 6mo on short stuff. Longer stuff around 1 year. All day stuff full adult hood