Betty is tiny but she walks for more than 20 minutes if for a moment she looked tired I would pick her up but she just wants to be with Mollie and dashes around on her long lead to keep up with her. I have always tended to see what they want themselves rather than stick to anything rigid.

My biggest problem with the five minute rule is that by the time I'd actually made it somewhere worth walking, I would have been well over the time limit. When Bradley was small enough I carried him to the park, but there's only so long you can carry a Bulldog for!

I don't over do his walks, but I try and keep him on soft ground when I can and I walk fairly slowly with him and let him take breaks if he wants to.

When the Terriers were young, they did have longer walks, because otherwise they'd be bouncing off the walls - literally in the case of one of them .

For me the question of exercise is all about using common sense.
If you are walking with a small child and its legs get tired the child will asked to be carried, a puppy won't it will go on walking until it drops.
That is the big difference between 'on lead walking' and a puppy exercising itself by running around the house and garden. When doing the latter the puppy will lay down anywhere and fall asleep when it has had enough. Chloe used to flop down in the flower beds .

I don't time myself rigorously with a stop watch when walking a puppy but I do more or less stick to the five minute rule and with older puppies go for more than one walk a day.
I think short frequent walks are best for a puppy.

Whilst I agree I have to get in the car to get somewhere safe to walk so several times a day is really uneconomical and utterly ungreen.

Bandit would be out with me for up to 8 hours a day from 7 weeks old. Obviously he had plenty of opportunity to rest because I was just moving around the yard or going in and out of fields.

He would trot along with me if I was doing something particularly interesting or he'd go and help Bob rat on the muck heap but in between times he'd settle himself down for a nap.

Overtime the naps decreased and he started to get more involved. At first he'd nap for 45 minutes and be awake for 15 and he'd spend the breakfast and lunch breaks fast asleep on my chest. If I had to cross the largest field I used to take him with me in the wheelbarrow but that was more so that he didn't get under the horses feet. Now though he will spend the full 8 hours on his feet stopping for a rest at breakfast and lunch. He only lays down if it's sunny and I'm mucking out, the rest of the time he's moving around getting his nose in just about everything!

I never worried about his joints and he's perfectly fit and healthy, not to mention very well socialised.

That's a good point too, taking them walking really is one of the best ways to ensure they are friendly and fearless. Betty pretty much loves everyone and all dogs because she has come with us on all walks at first in my arms and after vacs joining Mollie on the ground. I will pick her up if she wants but she wriggles to get down and loves her walks.

Hi It is very difficult to say,a puppy is so full of bounce,and is always doing something,As I go to Bed in the afternoon the puppy then goes for a nap as well,so does the older dog.I feel that the pup gets enough exercise,but I have to watch her because she is highly strung,and she can suddenly lose weightif you change her routine and she will then become stressed crystalgirl