I’m often asked this question as new dog owners are understandably worried about inadvertently contributing to a joint problem or making their dogs lame. But how much is too much? And can you really “over exercise” a young dog?

I once had an owner of a rather large 9-month-old German Shepherd ask me if they could let him walk up the 3 steps into their house yet. It turned out they had been carrying him up the steps ever since they had had him. His breeder had told them to not let him go up or down stairs until he was fully grown. At nearly 40kg it was starting to become quite a chore!

Not letting a young dog tackle stairs and only exercising a dog for 10 minutes a day per month of age are the two most common pieces of generic advice that you will hear. While on the one hand they are not terrible pieces of advice, is there any actual science behind them?

Historical scientific literature linked rapid growth in large breed dogs with an increased risk of joint damage and some forms of exercise such as excessive chasing of balls or sticks as a risk factor for elbow or hip dysplasia. However, these studies didn’t answer the question as to exactly how much is too much and at what age?

Let your puppy explore the world
A recent Norwegian study followed 500 large breed dogs over 10 years to evaluate lifestyle factors on the influence of hip dysplasia. It highlighted some interesting findings. In particular, activity in the first three months of life appeared to be the most critical in terms of influencing hip dysplasia. Although using stairs during this period did have a negative impact if used daily, puppies that had more daily exercise in those first three months had a lower risk of hip dysplasia than those who were less active! The study suggested that inactivity could be just as harmful as the wrong sort of exercise in the first few months.

My general advice to new puppy owners is to try to keep the majority of daily exercise to soft ground – i.e. parks and fields. Avoid excessive pavement pounding in the first 6 months and remember that exercise for puppies is about exploring the world, socialisation, having fun and burning off some of that canine energy. Too little exercise is a big contributing factor to boredom, frustration and destructive behaviour in the house.

So, stop carrying your 6 month old Labrador up the stairs, get down to the park, let your puppy explore the world and just enjoy being outside with your dog!