I think the other possible issue with giving a young dog a lot of exercise is that they get very fit, and require more and more exercise to wear them out so you are creating a rod for your own back as you will be needing to do more and more with the dog to tire it.

My 15 month old still has 20 minutes am and 45 minutes pm max on the majority of walks. She is fit and has great muscle tone (commented on at shows etc), and is happy to snooze as soon as she gets back from her walks. She is a medium/large breed.

Yup, this happened with Max when he was younger - we did lots with him (though observed the 5 min rule when he was younger) and it resulted in him climbing the walls and being very destructive if he didn't have 3 or 4 hours of free-running on the beach a day

My boys are nicely seasonal actually! In the Winter, they would mostly rather be inside by the fire (but do enjoy walking as long as it is not raining/too cold/too windy etc). In Spring and Summer, their energy levels rise and we are back to doing 3 or 4 hours of beach play/walking a day.

Would agree, my neighbours took their dog out 4 times a day without fail, things changed where she could only go out once or twice and thats when the trouble started.

Just spoke to my vet (a Springer owner herself). She feels that the 5 minute rule should be a guideline, but that there is no harm in adapting it to your breed, within reason.

So, we were wrong to take him out once a day for an hour and a half, but we are fine to take him on 2x 40 mins or 4x 20mins at this age.

I think you raise a very valid point though airdalekate and personally really appreciate you bringing it up. I'll make a note of that.

Someone once said that a Springer only needs as much exercise as you give it. I think this may be true (within reason of course).

1 hour 20 minutes is still too long for a 4 month old baby in my opinion.

HE may appear fine on the outside, but his joints may be telling him otherwise. 0-6 months is the most crucial time for physical development. A 4 month old pup is going to be covering a lot of mileage off lead, especially a Springer, and while a moderate amount is healthy, an excessive amount is not. 1 hour 20 minutes is excessive for a puppy of that age IMO.

But at 4 months old, our Boxers would happy run riot in the garden for 2 hours at a time.... or round the house... yet we only formally walked them according to the 5 min rule.

Surely a 10 minute walk to the park and approx 20 mins of sniffing, running, playing and a 10 min walk back; twice a day should be fine?

When he's home, he sleeps, when he's out, he runs about. There is no in between with him. He doesn't play in the garden at all, never has done, just finds it disinteresting, despite our efforts to get him to think it's the best thing in the world. I honestly do not think that he is being over exercised if you weigh it all up into a "daily" thing.
I like the way Pita worded it to be honest, we all have our opinion on it, which is absolutely fine and it is a personal decision to make in the end.
I trust my vets advice, especially as she is well known and experienced in the Springer world.
Anyway, with his little ear infection he's not up for anything at the mo' bless him.

Hi Matt this is taken from the health section of the British Samoyed Club site, I think you are wise to err on the side of caution when you have a breed susceptible to joint problems.
So for a puppy lots of play /short walks where your puppy can see lots of different things/people/and stimulating games like hide and seek with items and people to use up some of that energy without putting too much stress on growing joints.

I would start building her up gently..from a jog at around 9-10 months.. by 12 months they are usually ready to compete in sled dog rallies..so she should be fine ..

You could compete in canicross with her..

Seiko was a samoyed..but a bit of a pretend sled dog..he didn't see the fun in pulling a rig at all LOL

Selkie is 12 yrs old. I didn't know anything about this 5 min rule when she was a puppy and she had as much exercise as she wanted when she was a puppy. She is now suffering from slightly wobbly back legs, but only in the last year or so and 12 is a ripe old age for a Samoyed, so I don't think the exercise did her too much harm.

If I were to do it again though I don't see that keeping the exercise down can do any harm, so why not er on the side of caution anyway. I have kept Kismet's exercise routine more in keeping with the age guidelines but used common sense when she wanted more to burn off that puppy energy with exercises that were less strain. Find a treat, learn a trick sort of things that burned off the mental energy... I guess we'll know in 11 yrs if it made a difference

But surely we have gone off the main point here... 15 week old Samoyed CUTE! Photos please!