Do you think a pup can do 5k?

Theres a sponsered 'bark in the park' next weekend. Its 5k long. Jinty and I already have hour long walks and shes still full of energy when we get back, but would 5k be too much?

Thankfully, I know the area, and can bail out if needed.

How will I know when shes 'had enough'?

Thanks for the advice!

How old is Jinty?

She'll be 14 weeks by then.

I would have thought 1 hour walks would be too much for a 14 week old JRT?

Same here.

I definately wouldn't do 5k with a 14 week pup, as said, 1 hour is probably too much at the moment! The general rule of thumb is 5 minutes per month, so that's 15-20 minutes at the moment. Off-lead slow walks, you could probably get away with a bit longer with lots of breaks, but you can have too much of a good thing and overexercising a pup can set them up for a lifetime of joint issues.

If you want to do the 5k, maybe see if a local rescue would appreciate a walker for a rescue dog to get it out in the public eye?

I would not be doing an hour with a pup under 14 weeks and certainly not 5k.

We dont walk for the hour, we go to a park 10 mins away, she has a sniff, a run, some training and a play and then back home. Takes an hour and shes still full of beans when we get back.

Im not sticking to '5 mins for each month of their life' because thats ****** stupid, she'd go nuts!

I had a friend who thought the same with her small breed dog, when he hit 10 months he had hip issues he was put down last week at the age of 3!

Just remember that she is a baby - her joints are developing and the more pressure you put on them the more chance she will damage them.

I always reckon with pups that whatever you are doing now - at 6 months you will need to double it and then at 9 months need to double it again and at this point be aiming to do what you can for their adult life.

Pups do not always know what is best for them, allowing them to continue as they like does not set you in good stead for the future. Your pup needs to learn how to relax, not to be exercised until she is too tired to go on. That is the way to a dog who cannot relax.