How To Exercise Your Puppy | The Truth About Dogs and Exercise

Today Uncle Stonnie is talking about puppy training, exercise and why he thinks the trend towards restricted puppy exercise and socialization opportunities are harmful and unnatural in terms of proper canine physical and mental development.

In this video we present our perspective concerning the importance of exercise as it relates to raising and managing a happy, healthy, well socialized, canine companion.

There are some very dangerous trends in dog training, and Stonnie does his best to present his opposition to them in a fair and balanced manner.
While Stonnie is talking, be sure to keep an eye on all the different dogs and what they are doing in the background, that's the really important stuff!

A good dog trainer knows his job is really about helping dog owners remove impediments that stand in the way of taking their dogs out to explore the world and find out all the awesome things life has to offer.

Learning by doing is always the best option!

#stonnie #puppies #puppytraining

[MSDOGS]

20+ years ago I got a golden retriever to get my behind off the sofa and get some exercise. I was 45 at the time and it sure helped get me moving. A lab mix(avatar) was next and we had daily walks on the golf course and park trails nearby. He passed at 13 and really slowed down his last couple of years so our walks became shorter and slower. Now I have a 4 month old english lab and we're back to moving again. Twice a day walks with some obedience training. I'm 67 now and this will probably be my last dog but hopefully we will both live many more years with lots of hikes and walks along the way. Headed out with my buddy as soon as I send this post.

[dariuspringle]

When the world locked down, my Lab and I went into the woods two or three times a day every day for 14 months. We had our own small challenges course that was 2 miles long. We stumbled into everything you said here, I am a better person because of my relationship with my dog now. Thanks to Uncle Stonnie, this has been put into words.

[judysterrett-pegg]

Watching Stonnie each week is like going to church, gets you refocused for the week ahead! Thanks Stonnie :)

[julierocketqueen]

My puppy (8.5 month old cavapoo) is growing up into such a well-behaved dog and I owe it all to you Stonnie! We start every morning with a 4-5 mile walk around uptown (we live in Charlotte NC), and she loves to jump on every retaining wall & picnic table we pass. She knows I get excited so she literally looks for “small challenges” to impress me by conquering. After seeing the video last summer when you crawled through the culvert, I’ve been trying to find unusual places to have extra adventures. Walking her is the highlight of my day. When the walk is over, she’s usually down for the rest of the day, she just wants to lounge around on the couch with us or run errands, with almost no bad behaviors at all🐶💜

[lauradav]

June of 2014 we rescued a puppy. Tibbs was a 4 month old Anatolian shepherd. The 7 years we had Tibby were life changing. He taught me that a tired dog is a happy dog. I had never seen such goofy smiles from a beautiful boy. I wish I could post photos here of him enjoying his exercise. He was a natural athlete, obviously an excellent guard dog, and a great friend. ❤️❤️

Next Saturday we are going to a farm in Tennessee to pick up our next ASD, his name is Hank the Tank or Hank the Cowdog (after our favorite childrens books) and I’ve been watching your videos to prepare. Thanks for the encouragement. I cannot wait for this puppy to come home.

[hbishop]

100% agree!!!!

My English chubby passed away in January at age 15. She walked a couple miles with me and swam in the river at our local park most days until her last year, when the walks had to shorten due to her debility. I heard until the end "that's the happiest dog I've ever seen!" every single walk. I want to believe it was her love of hanging with me but she literally bounced and I swear she smiled too every time we got to her favorite park!

[Vhplac]

We did something impulsive after our Doberman past away and got two puppies at the same time! A male Dobe and a female Rottweiler.
It wasn't planned, life just happened!
I did loads of research and was in panic mode because I have never trained two at the same time!
Very happy I found your videos and to my surprise, the husband got into your way of training!
This is the first time he is actively involved in training our dogs!!!
After one year, we have a small challenges course in our backyard, two well mannered, happy, young dogs and a husband who lost a lot of mid 40s weight taking the puppies on walks and adventures in the woods and trails!
So... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
For well balanced, happy, healthy dogs and a well balanced, happy, healthy husband who has more energy now than the past 15years!

[bekahgurnett]

Anyone else interested in a walk through video or series of what he does with a dog from the day it arrives to the day it leaves, or even just a day in the life sort of thing. If so LIKE or REWRITE a comment saying the same thing.

[MB-lfrm]

Stonnie, I'm glad you bring up journaling (as you often do). I wish I had started that when my puppy was 12 weeks old. She is 16 wks old now,  and now I have started keeping a journal; it is helpful and useful. For one thing, it keeps me from getting discouraged. I can see the real progress; and I feel more confident. Today she only jumped on two people; and didn't nip at anyone's trouser cuffs. Progress !

[jamieabele]

Some of us with physical disability select a dog that won’t overwhelm us with their physical needs. But we can also be creative about our exercise programs.

[TheGallopGal]

Can I just say how validating what you’re saying is to me? We have 3 small children and I’ve been doing this with THEM since they were born. So when we got our golden puppy 2 weeks ago, we just incorporated him into our already established routine of adventures. And he adds to the fun tremendously!

[robinyannis]

I took a one year old GSD in my very tiny appartement. She was very reactive on leash and barked all day in her previous house, she shewed up everything she could reach. I started her day with a 6 mile walk. She would only start to calm down during the walk close to two hours in. Then two more 2 hour walks with some time at the dog park and fetch games. She never barked, wasn’t reactive anymore and hasn’t chewed up anything. She is a working line dog that needed exercise and training. When the previous owners wanted her back I trained them to handle her properly. They were gonna put in the effort. Two weeks later they put her up for adoption again because she was reactive again and did not stop barking. So I took her back in. She is very happy now. And no she doesn’t need more exercise now then before.

[nancyinthegarden]

I agree with you n your logic. I find that people r the problem. They don’t want to do the work with children or their pets. It’s not overnight success. It’s consistency. Repetitive teaching, coaching, on the spot training and correction with love patience responsibilities. I love your straightforward reasoning. It’s not complicated just continuous behavior modification. Thank you

[Two_Buck]

That is a great point about professionals saying don't exercise your dog too much. Someone once told me that about my Doberman. I told her how much I exercised him and how I loved it. She basically made a comment that I was building up his stamina and it wasn't good because then he would be too demanding. I just rolled my eyes. He was an amazing well mannered dog that enjoyed life and I enjoyed him.

[michellekeyes]

Yes! Promote mental and physical exercise! Great for us and our dogs!!

[luisarnal]

Silver tongued dog trainer! Stonnie, your videos are great for imparting your knowledge and experience. They have substantially increased my level of knowledge in caring for my roommate’s 5 month old (as of current)doggo argentino puppy. Plz make a follow up video for people who don’t like to walk/and or exercise dogs.

[justduckyt]

Please note you dont have to match your dogs athleticism. I watched you when we trained our gsd. Ty your advice was spot on. We did alot of walking. He was long-lived n happy. Now we've adopted a young aus cattle dog. She is super energetic and I'm disabled. We do 3 or more intense fetch or frisbee sessions a day & play find it games inside. She is happy, fit & brilliant. The kind of well trained dog u wanna show off.🙂

[gardengal]

I needed this wisdom! Was just now on a FB group the was shaming members that allow their puppies to do more than 5 min or exercise/month of age. That would mean my 4 month Aussie would get only 20 minutes of exercise a day! She is crazy athletic and runs, climbs, and jumps along, with training, about 5 x a day for about 30 min each. If I didn’t allow her to she would be a nervous wreck and I would be chewed to pieces 🤣 She usually takes two 2 hour naps along with sleeping 8 hrs at night. Again, thanks for the encouragement!

[michellekeyes]

As a trainer I completely agree! Thanks for the wisdom you share! You rock! Love your videos!!

[sam-ib]

Stonnie really cares about the dogs health and well being, its so refreshing to see. I'm glad I found this channel. If I was in America I'd be booking this guy as my trainer 100% . Great information as always .