St. Bernard and joints

Hi. I have recently read that with larger dogs it is not good to over exercise them when they are pups due to their joints and bones growing. I was wondering if this is true because we are going to get a st. bernard mix very soon and do not want to harm her in any way. I was wondering what "over exercising" is and what to avoid. Thanks, Jessica

Yes, definitely true.

Don't let the puppy go up and down stairs yet. And be very careful re exercise - check with the breeder and/or a vet. But once your pup has had the vaccs and is out and about, I think the general rule is to increase it by five or ten mins per month - someone please correct me if this is wrong!

Also, be very careful if you are allowing your pup to play with bigger, older dogs. I personally would not allow a young pup to indulge in rough and tumble with older dogs. I watch people do this at a local park and it makes me shudder.

Yes, you are right, large breed dogs need to have special exercise regimes when puppies to protect their growing joints to save problems in later life. Lynn on here is an expert with these St. Bernards and I'm sure she'll be along to advise you.

With all my gsd puppies they were never allowed to climb stairs, jump anything, get on the furniture even until 18 months old. Exercise was always free running on soft ground, and never more than 20 mins, even if that meant going out 6 times a day, it's the overtiring bit that causes problems. You want free running to build up muscle, which in turn will protect the joints. You also have to be careful with the food imo, my vet was always banging on about slowing down the growth, which a special large breed puppy food will do (allegedly!).

Enjoy your new puppy, just be careful and sensible with him and you should be fine.

5 mins exercise for each month of age.

5 mins per month. So at 6 months half an hour daily. No rough housing with other dogs. Be careful with stairs, steps and getting in and out of the car. My Bernese has come off the sofa awkwardly I stupidly put his quilt on there to hoover and he snuck up without me knowing and next thing I know he was limping. We now have suspected cruciate ligament damage and have an appointment at the end of the month at the RVC to see for sure. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks he will improve and not need any medical intervention.

He was allowed on the sofa if we were up there too and we helped him down. I could kick myself as I have up till then be so careful. Of course he could of found a small pot hole but it doesn't make it any easier. He is now on restricted exercise although slowly improving.

I have a 5-year-old lab/greyhound. I am wondering how to keep the pup and him from rough housing or do I just watch them closely? Also, when is it ok to let the dog exercise more than the 5 min./month alotted time limit? I read at 15 months it is ok. Just wondering. Thanks, Jessica

My last puppy (my current 3yr old now) first came home, she was always allowed to play with my older 55kg gsd, BUT, he was a very gentle dog, all he ever did was lie down and let her do all the playing on and around him As she grew bigger and bigger, it was almost as if he "knew" he could run around a bit with her, but, it was never, ever rough and I always stopped it if it got out of hand when mine was playing with any other puppies. You've got to let them play imo, but again, just be sensible about it, always supervise play. If your other dog is pretty calm and not a loonie, then just like my other dog, he should know how to behave with a youngster.

I don't know when the cut off point is for that 5 min ruling, I didn't stick rigidly to mine, I do the same walks, 20 mins/30 mins/40 mins/one hour and I believe that free running for 30 mins/40 mins with stops for a bit of training never did my dogs any harm. It wasn't until she was 2 years old that I knew I could do just about everything, including fun agility, I would never risk it before that with a large breed, but different people have different ideas, and like I said before, it's the "tiring" that causes the major problems, or weak muscles that haven't been built up that can't hold the growing joints properly.

I was also meant to add but it was late and I had just had Dillons food delivery arrrive plus my brain goes into shut down after 7pm that when walking them out after their jabs soft grassy ground is best and free but supervised exercise not pavements if at all possible is best as pavement pounding is a bit like aerobics to us it shocks through the the young joints it gradually needs to be built up and when you do start pavement walking and collar and lead training short gentle walks. The supervised exercise on soft grassy ground allows to them to rest if and when they need too. Forcing exercise is not a good thing in a large or giant breed.

Your new pup can play with your older dog but supervised and I am sure your older dog will need time out as your pup grows. I would say for a saint mix the 15 months s about right they are much bigger dogs than Bernese and we say after a year roughly maybe a bit longer but still monitor the dogs energy levels and still watch those joints.

This links has some brief information re: exercise.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/saintbernard.htm

Also remember he has Golden retriever in him so you may get the energy level of that breed but the build of the Saint or vice versa.

Thank you so much for the info. I have never had a st. bernard mix before and the exercise thing is new to me but makes sense.

The breeder you are getting the pup from should also be offering lots of advice. That being said, I don't actually think many breeders would choose to cross these two breeds - no offence intended!