Hello everyone,

I am getting a husky in two weeks. She'll be 14 weeks old by then, which means there will be two weeks until she has had all her immunizations. I know that I shouldn't take her out for walks until that time. So, how should I exercise her? We don't have a backyard. Should I exercise her inside the house? If yes, how?

Also, do you think 14 weeks is a bit late to socialize the puppy easily?


Thank you,

Welcome to the forum and how exciting for you!! You can certainly do exercise in house, leash training and starting on commands will tire her out. At her age 15 minute walks would be the max anyways, so doing a little leash training and working on sit and lay down, etc, as well as getting used to the leash and how you walk and talk with her will do wonders. Doing this several times a day, will break up her boredom, get used to training and still get her exercise in will be fine. 14 weeks is not too old, people socializing and finding a "safe" dog can help start the socialization process. Training and socialization is a never ending process, imho.....Good luck and can't wait to see your bundle of joy!!

MiyasMomma wrote:

Welcome to the forum and how exciting for you!! You can certainly do exercise in house, leash training and starting on commands will tire her out. At her age 15 minute walks would be the max anyways, so doing a little leash training and working on sit and lay down, etc, as well as getting used to the leash and how you walk and talk with her will do wonders. Doing this several times a day, will break up her boredom, get used to training and still get her exercise in will be fine. 14 weeks is not too old, people socializing and finding a "safe" dog can help start the socialization process. Training and socialization is a never ending process, imho.....Good luck and can't wait to see your bundle of joy!!

Thank you so much for your help!!

Also remember that the 15 min walking rule does not apply to every dog, some puppies need longer walks and playtimes and that is fine do not feel like you must obey all these time rules. Along with training, start potty training trust me its so important and start crate training if that is something you want for your puppy it helps a lot with potty training! Good luck with your puppy!!

CoraTheHusky wrote:

Also remember that the 15 min walking rule does not apply to every dog, some puppies need longer walks and playtimes and that is fine do not feel like you must obey all these time rules. Along with training, start potty training trust me its so important and start crate training if that is something you want for your puppy it helps a lot with potty training! Good luck with your puppy!!

The rule, 5 minutes of structure walk per month of age, is meant to prevent excess stress on developing joints and thus preserve joint function well into old age. Play time is fine, steady walks should be limited.

amymeme wrote:

CoraTheHusky wrote:

Also remember that the 15 min walking rule does not apply to every dog, some puppies need longer walks and playtimes and that is fine do not feel like you must obey all these time rules. Along with training, start potty training trust me its so important and start crate training if that is something you want for your puppy it helps a lot with potty training! Good luck with your puppy!!

The rule, 5 minutes of structure walk per month of age, is meant to prevent excess stress on developing joints and thus preserve joint function well into old age.  Play time is fine, steady walks should be limited.

Thank you, I am very aware that over exercise can create stress on developing joints as my family friends arefull of vets the rule does not work for every puppy some dogs need more steady walk time, to the original poster you as the owner should make your own choices and feel out your own puppy!

Cora, I will politely disagree with you on the 5 minute rule. Medium to large sized dogs need the protection of their joints and bones, as Amy said. Most people tend to walk their dogs on pavement or sidewalks and that is very harsh on their developing bones and joints. By all means, many dogs may not have expelled all of their energy after a 15 minute walk, that's when training and playing comes in, since most play time occurs on the grass, which is indeed softer and gives more cushion to their developing bones and joints. I would always err on the side of caution where puppies are concerned, there is nothing more sad than to see an older dog with hip problems, because they were over worked when they were puppies. When Miya was a puppy I followed those rules, it doesn't mean you can only walk your pup 15 minutes a day. I must have walked her 8 or more times a day. It's a rule that needs to be followed per walk, not per day.

i too agree with the 5 minute rule, my brother thought i was just being paranoid but i to wanted to make sure his joints were protected until he was ready for more strenuous walks and hiking. so he would suffer later in life from problems that could have been prevented early or at least delayed.

As for socialization, I would suggest a puppy class, a place where puppies the same age can play and a trainer is in there telling you how to watch body language and noises the dogs will make in play! and no its no too late

This is apropos of nothing but I find it amusing at times that people who live in urban areas (Houston, NYC, LA, Toronto) make recommendations based on their local.  Those of us who live in more remote locations don't have those niceties available to us.  For example the nearest Petco to me is 300 miles in one direction and 500 in the other.  My preferred vet is an 80 mile drive, my emergency vet is only 25.

Two things really do help us provide an intelligent answer:
Some idea of where you are and
Looking at the location before we provide an answer that may not apply.

I realize that some may not be comfortable providing more than a state or a city / state but nothing comes across more "funny" than suggesting someone in the Balkans drop in at their local Petco .....

ETA: Since there was no advice given in this post, I fond it even odder that someone pegged me with a negative treat ... c'est la vie

Thank you all for your help