Hello Everyone!

I'm new to this forum, and I've read through a lot of the discussion threads and am so happy that I found such a great forum! I've been so tired of googling husky topics only to find people saying negative things about owning a husky as opposed to actually fixing the problem.

I have a 6 month old husky, his name is Rocky and I was reading the discussion thread about cycling with your husky and how you should wait until they are at least 1 year old before cycling with them as it is bad with their growth development. I'm more interested in training Rocky to jog with me, he had a big issue with pulling and tugging when he was walked with his collar but I bought a harness and I'm able to control him better so he's a lot more calm. However with the warmer weather coming up I wanted to try and train him to jog with me, do you think that he is still too young for a faster paced walk for an hour every day or would he be okay? He is about 30 lbs, I'm not sure if that makes a difference lol

I would think it's fine. Just because when I jog with mine they're simply walking a bit faster. I would never be able to run fast enough for them to actually be "running". I'll let other members chime in though. Maybe walking at a faster pace isn't good for their joints either

I would wait for sure. Let those joints finish growing. Even though it's just a slightly faster paced walk it's still very consistent pounding for an hour. The start / stop / pounce / turn / pivot of free-play is ok because it's not so consistent. Kinda like poking the same spot over and over and over, eventually it hurts. That structured of a fast pace for an hour will start to wear on the pup.

Ditto what Riley said.

Agree with Riley also. Better safe then sorry I wait at least a year, then advance slowly on the distances. Your pup will go as far as you will but he can't tell you about the damages until to late.

I agree with Riley too. Safety comes first

Wile not quite on topic, I faced this dilemma with my Saint Bernard pup. Keeping him away from the pack for a year was not an option. I had to take him on the runs. Like you, I've read the "over a year old" thing and always thought I would strictly adhere to that. Particularly with a giant breed pup. But I didn't. Not even close (by five months he was going out with the pack). Ended up that he climbed his first 14er around 8-9 months of age too.

I believe that done properly, you can in fact start training him to jog with you. Just don't expect to be out for an hour at this point, and don't expect to be covering a normal distance either. I wouldn't go more than 20-30 minutes at the far end, and only once a day.

I adjusted a lot of things to get him up to speed at that age. First is surfaces. I kept hard surface pace at a normal walk and only got up to a full run when on grass. Around here I am lucky enough to have nearly three miles straight of sidewalk flanked by grassy shoulders. Using the grass, we ran for two minutes and walked for three then stopped for peeing and smelling. I gradually added more time to the grass part until he had no problem keeping up with the others' endurance. Since he's 14 months old, we are JUST now starting to structure a real run in the mornings. It's working out great since he already has built up endurance.

I still don't run my dogs very far on concrete/pavement because I don't want to do that to myself let alone them.


Oh, and skip days when getting started.

Welcome Judy!
i have a few questions for you. you say its getting warmer so you want to jog with him, im not sure where you are at but what is warmer to you?
second, do you think Rocky needs to release energy and that's why you want to jog with him or is it because you want a running partner?

Eddy gives some good advice if you just cant wait 6 more months, i would try to hold out as long as you can but if you must please don't run him for an hr to start and don't run him on hard concrete or roadways. if you can wait and want to help tire him out take him to a dog park so he can freely run and stop when HE needs to, its much diff. then him running to please you like Len points out.
also what seems warm to you might be to warm for him to be running, i know Eddy says his pack does not run when its over 50 degrees out i think....to them that's to warm. but we have lots of people here that are in warmer areas and they run/bike their sibs in the early morning and late evening when its the coolest out.

thank you for the replies! I have never owned a larger breed dog so I'm getting used to Rocky's high energy. I appreciate all of the advice and will wait until he's older, I definitely want the best for him to keep him healthy and I don't want to harm him and his growing body thinking that I'm doing him a favor taking him out running everyday.

jbealer; I'm from the suburbs of chicago so right now I take him out every other day for 15 min cause it's really cold, spring is coming up so the temps start rising to 40/50 degrees so I figured I could take him out longer. I guess it's a little bit of both he has a lot of energy and I do want a running partner lol but I'm also going to sign him up for our local dog park so that he can socialize with other dogs and play around, cause right now he spends a lot of time outside and it's just too cold and running around inside he eventually goes by the door so he can play outside in the snow

Yay! Another IL forumite! Im in the Lake Villa its near Gurnee.

I eventually want to jog/run with Raven but I'm definitly waiting till she's a year.

judalina wrote:

thank you for the replies! I have never owned a larger breed dog so I'm getting used to Rocky's high energy. I appreciate all of the advice and will wait until he's older, I definitely want the best for him to keep him healthy and I don't want to harm him and his growing body thinking that I'm doing him a favor taking him out running everyday.

jbealer; I'm from the suburbs of chicago so right now I take him out every other day for 15 min cause it's really cold, spring is coming up so the temps start rising to 40/50 degrees so I figured I could take him out longer. I guess it's a little bit of both he has a lot of energy and I do want a running partner lol but I'm also going to sign him up for our local dog park so that he can socialize with other dogs and play around, cause right now he spends a lot of time outside and it's just too cold and running around inside he eventually goes by the door so he can play outside in the snow

Sorry to say this but u need to buy some winter gear and get out with him EVERYDAY! 15min everyother day is not keeping his energy at bay, signing him up to go out and play is a great idea! Were in denver and it is cold here but we have to take S&J out twice a day or they let us know it not ok! Huskies love this cold and would stay out all day if we let them

jbealer wrote:

judalina wrote:

thank you for the replies! I have never owned a larger breed dog so I'm getting used to Rocky's high energy. I appreciate all of the advice and will wait until he's older, I definitely want the best for him to keep him healthy and I don't want to harm him and his growing body thinking that I'm doing him a favor taking him out running everyday.

jbealer; I'm from the suburbs of chicago so right now I take him out every other day for 15 min cause it's really cold, spring is coming up so the temps start rising to 40/50 degrees so I figured I could take him out longer. I guess it's a little bit of both he has a lot of energy and I do want a running partner lol but I'm also going to sign him up for our local dog park so that he can socialize with other dogs and play around, cause right now he spends a lot of time outside and it's just too cold and running around inside he eventually goes by the door so he can play outside in the snow

Sorry to say this but u need to buy some winter gear and get out with him EVERYDAY! 15min everyother day is not keeping his energy at bay, signing him up to go out and play is a great idea! Were in denver and it is cold here but we have to take S&J out twice a day or they let us know it not ok! Huskies love this cold and would stay out all day if we let them

I figured that, i'll probably have to just double layer it from now on, we've had a funny winter this year and some weeks its been 40 degrees out and those days we're out and about for a while. The dog park is something I'll be signing him up for for sure so he can get enough exercise and socialize with other dogs

Sometimes I wish Appa recognized cold and rain the way I do, but I just have to bundle up and go, otherwise he is MISERABLE in the house.

Hoping people are still reading this thread! So I'm wondering what you folks think of doing a 'couch to 10k' designed for humans, for your husky. My pup is 10 months old next week, and I'll wait until he's 12 months old (perhaps even 14-15 as he was born in July, which can get pretty hot and humid and I don't want him starting to run in bad heat/humidity). We have been doing a lot of walking together (over the course of a day we now are up to doing 12-20k ... it's not 'fitness walking but walk, sniff, investigate, walk some more, do a little bit of a light jog for 30 seconds once every 10 minutes or so just to get him used to me running with him).

I run 12-20k 4-5 times a week (and ride my bike twice a weeks so those would be 'rest days' for him as we'd only walk about 8-10k. I'd like to be able to take him on every run that I do, which would give him two 'rest days' per week, once he's up to running the full distance (i.e. fully trained and fit for it).

So to get him to the point of being fully trained, I thought of starting with a human couch to 10k. Thoughts on that?

Around here we tend to wait on structured running until a year. At a year you can go for it. A couch to 5/10k is a great way to go about it. I see no issue taking that approach. My husband has done it and I know my aging dogs would have no issue with it. The thing with doing long distance running often with dogs is making sure your dog will structurally hold up to it and starting them on joint supplements and a high quality diet young while those joints are still growing and in good shape. Fish oil/vitamin E and a high quality food will go a long way. As he grows make sure to have his hips checked that they are forming properly and you don't have a touch of hip dysplasia.

Awesome. Thanks so much for your reply. I've often heard people say with larger breeds that one should even wait until they're 18 months old for structured running. But it sounds like most folks here have been okay starting them at 12 months. Very good to know. He's already taking glucosamine and vitamin E. I'm trying to transition him away from raw food (I fail to see adequate peer reviewed research supporting a raw food diet for modern dogs, and I've seen no breed specific studies to support the raw food claims. Anecdotes are just that). Also, we're going to be traveling a lot on long walks, hikes, fast packing, and backpacking. I can't keep the food frozen and barely refrigerated. So I will be feeding him.a high quality dry food.

Huskies are not considered a large breed dog. They shouldn't be large dogs. Large huskies are out of standard and sub-quality. If getting a dog of questionable background and quality coming from parents that are over sized it doesn't hurt to adhere to large breed milestones and any dog regardless of quality should be checked thoroughly for structure before embarking on large vigorous distances.

He's half malamute as well. He's a week shy of 10 months and is now 65 pounds. So I would guess he'll end up 70 pounds. I am definitely going to check with my vet before running him. I'd be extremely happy if, at 70lbs he's considered medium sized and therefore can run at 12 months.

Do you have suggestions on good quality foods for a husky who will be running about 70k per week? I am open to hearing arguments about raw food and cooked meat (and any particular suupplement brands/types).

Orijen and Acana are the usual higher end foods of choice around here. Orijen is usually too rich for a non-working dog, but if you are putting on a lot of miles it can be a benefit to choose it over Acana. Merrick and Wellness have been well liked as well. I've always liked Instinct for my cat, though she was less than thrilled by it and now gets Only Natural Pet. There are so many high quality brands out there now but I haven't had time to go through and see which ones are just bandwagon brands vs. legit quality brands.

I do feed partial raw and have always gone by The Raw Feeding Community (https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/). Any science journals used in their research they cite on their website in their articles about particular raw feeding topics. My mind has always gone to the proof is in the pudding when it comes to raw, much like CBD. Until people yell loud enough that they want the studies, the people who have the money (kibble producers) aren't going to spend that money to research something that may hurt their business. There are independent groups ponying up to have the official studies done on raw feeding now, but we will have to wait a bit for the results to fully publish as I think they just started last year. Until people started just going for it CBD and medical cannabis was never going to get any shot at a real study. Regardless of the results studies are done by those with the funds and when those with the funds fear the results could hinder their bottom line it doesn't make sense to spend the money on having it done. Mine do very well on raw. I have a dog with allergies and the raw helped tremendously. I saw the change, so feel confident in my choice to feed partial raw. I feed partial due to cost and time. When we go on hikes and I don't have a freezer or fridge I feed freeze dried raw. For those who can afford to feed a high end kibble all the time you may not see the results, or those whose dogs don't have medical road blocks such as allergies. My mix does well on whatever you feed him. He's an easy dog. It wouldn't be necessary to feed him raw. You have to go with your budget, your understanding, time availability, and your comfort. Many dogs do well on kibble and will do so for many years. I believe where the most difference is noticed from a raw dog to a medium grade kibble dog is in the late stages of life. But raw dogs do have spectacular teeth if fed raw correctly. Correctly being the key term.

Way late into this but why not bike with your dog? As a kid i did marathon biking with my rhodesian ridgeback. We did 25 miles 4 days a week and 100 every other sunday and she kept up just fine though usually needed a break about 40 miles in. Seems like an inshape husky could also do that. And of my current dogs, squirt could easily keep up with my horse on 16 hour long trail rides and shes not in shape but shes the Energizer bunny.

Thanks so much for these replies, TwisterII and Lostmaniac. I think I'll try to get him on high quality Kibble (we have well thought of stuff here called Performatrin Ultra). It makes travelling with the pup so much easier. I take him everywhere with me and usually walk or public transit it so feeding needs to be pretty easy. So far no allergies. But I'll keep the raw in mind should anything arise.

As for biking with my dog: I do plan to see if he'll take to mountain biking. I read somewhere that huskies are not pups you should take off leash (they apparently tend to run away for good), so I'm a bit nervous about that. My dad says that it should be possible to train him to stay with us while we're mtbing. But the reality is that trail running is my main 'training thing.' So I want to have him be able to do this with me nearly every day.

They make all these fun contraptions to safely tether your dog to a bike. I used a 3 ft leash with a bungee and a very good heel which youll need to establish if you want a running partner anyway. And yes Huskies are not good off leash dogs but i think ridgebacks are worse off leash and thats because its a sight hound thing

Ahh, okay. So essentially learning to train them as one would train a sled dog? I've seen two different styles of racing with dogs on mountain bikes and it looks amazing but also a little freaky. My area - southern Ontario - has trails with short steep hills, twisty singletrack, and roots and rocks. Do you think he could be trained for this or is that kind of terrain too technical? The thing is you often cannot ride at speed on the mtb here as you have to finesse around all the technical things. Would it be better to have him out on flatter less technical terrain?

Until he gets to where he knows how to pay attention to you and the bike while running you want to keep less technical but flat doesnt matter as much. I did marathon biking so mostly pavement which has its own set of things to work out. I also did downhill but thats a dog free sport

Cool. Last fall my friend and I ended up meeting up with a group of folks on trails just to the North of us. They had a dog who ran off leash and stuck with us without running off (typical xc type trails. It was amazing. I'd love to get Kodi to that point but dont know if that'll ever be possible. I want to have him with me all the time.