what do you all do to exercise your puppy? It seems every day Nikko is getting more and more energy, which is one reason I think he is biting/chewing on things he isnt supposed to too much. I take him outside for 5-10 min quite a few times a day, and I try and play with him with his ball and squeak toys for a few minutes here and there. I need to tire him out more haha :p

A walk typically does the trick with Lucian. Rule of thumb for puppies is 5 minutes of walking per month of age, and no running them until they are a year old. I take Lucian for 15 minute walks right now, and it tuckers him right out. The weather has been horrible, so I didn't take him for a few days, and it showed, lol. He was a pain in the butt. Took him for one Tuesday evening, and he was passed out at my feet. My brother in law took him for one last night, and same thing, passed out on the floor.

Great advice on the walking, Christina! One other thing that you should be doing is mental stimulation. Bear in mind that a pup that young is like an ADD kid hopped up on sugar so you'll only be able to work with him for a couple minutes at a time, but mental stimulation will tire him out as well, if not better than walking. I'd say start working on the basic commands like sit and down if you haven't already

My Nikko seems to always want to go on walks! From the time I got him I would take him on 4 – 15 minute walks per day and this tired him out for the most part, but sometimes he would still run around the house like crazy! I would get him plenty of toys that will provide him enough mental stimulation.

Yukon, on the other hand would rather just hang out on the couch if it weren’t for Nikko wanting to play with him all the time.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Great advice on the walking, Christina! One other thing that you should be doing is mental stimulation. Bear in mind that a pup that young is like an ADD kid hopped up on sugar so you'll only be able to work with him for a couple minutes at a time, but mental stimulation will tire him out as well, if not better than walking. I'd say start working on the basic commands like sit and down if you haven't already

Don't I know about the ADD kid hopped up on sugar! Lol. Lucian was horrible when I first got him. He wouldn't concentrate for even a second. I would try and train him, he would start off fine, then give up trying to figure out what I wanted, and start jumping, pawing at me, and barking. He would try everything to get the treat, lol. He's gotten a lot better in the past month though.

When we first had Ghost, I could *maybe* get 2 minutes of training out of her per session. She's awesome now though (but has had a little lapse outside since it got cold) and had her CGC well before she turned 1.

Food toys, interactive toys, and the like provide mental stimulation. I used to run around the backyard and Kale would chase me around; when he was tired he would collapse and start panting, I'd call him inside, would NOT let him sleep until we had played with squeaky toys, done a couple training sessions, and done a mental activity. Then I would let him nap, and he would usually be down for most of the afternoon while I was in class (I was able to bring him to my college classes-vet tech training). Then he would have zoomies later on in the evening, a few more training sessions, a few games, dinner, then I would start winding him down for the night and we would do quiet activities like chewing on a tasty treat or belly rubs It's like having a toddler; you need to keep them awake for as long as they can handle until you put them down for a nap.

For now, since I have been studying for my midterms,

I just take one of his toys, sit down, and rotate it around my body (orbit) and he would chase it around in circles for a while. I figured it'd be easier than me running back and forth in my apartment. He gets pretty tired quick. A good 5 minute session does it for Tyrion

when i take him outside he doesn't walk THAT much, he walks a few feet, does his business and then plops down to chew on pinecones haha. He doesnt listen at all when on a leash outside, so its hard for me to lead him and get him walking