How much exercise is too much?

Has he had a heartworm test done recently? Particularly if he was an outside dog, that would be a concern in any dog that's showing exercise intolerance. It also would be a good idea to mention it to his vet and maybe have them listen to his heart to be sure no obvious heart problem is present. That doesn't sound like a lot of exercise to be causing that sort of fatigue, which is why it may be worth pursuing before increasing his activity level.

If he's been given a medical all-clear to exercise, you can increase gradually, as his tolerance builds. There's really no limit to the amount of exercise a dog can get, so long as they are conditioned properly for it and are willing (sled dogs may run hundreds of miles over consecutive days), but different dogs will have different levels of fitness, so you have to take that into account more than anything else. I would back off a little bit on the length of walks/runs, so as to only have him appearing fatigued at the very end of the walk, or not at all.

You will learn to tell when he's had enough, but one of the big signs of needing a break I look for in my dogs is: "spoon tongue", where the tongue starts to look more round at the end, and sometimes curls up- that means it's time to cool off right away. And in gauging whether we've overdone it on the exercise, or they have gotten an ok level, I expect my dogs to have stopped panting within 5 minutes of getting to a cool place and relaxing. If it takes longer than that, I know we need to scale the exercise back some, whether that's due to the heat/humidity, or just my dog's level of fitness compared to the level of exercise.

Here's a couple links showing/explaining "spoon tongue", the first has a pic, the second a better explanation as well as some other heat related cautions/signs.
What Panting Means (Not All Panting is the Same) |

https://circletailblog.wordpress.com/type/image/

Keep the weather in mind as well, particularly since he has a heavy coat. Humidity is actually more dangerous to dogs than heat alone, since they rely on evaporative cooling from panting to cool off and that mechanism doesn't work well in humid air. If you haven't had him groomed since you've had him, it would be a good idea to have him groomed (or do it yourself, but if you aren't experienced/don't have equipment to do it right, may be better to let a pro do it for best results) to get out any excess undercoat that might impair his ability to cool off. Wherever it's done, ideally they should have a force dryer and plenty of time to brush, as his coat will insulate against heat much better without a bunch of extra dead coat.

Sabina88 said:

I know what you mean about the current weather, were having similer weather here. It suprising how the sun can make 40-50 degree's feel like in the 60's.

If you want to run him first to get a bit of energy out maybe space the walk out 20-30 minutes after the run just to let him cool down a bit. Or try doing some mental activities instead of running before walking. Huskies are pretty smart cookies so adding some extra mental stimulation might help.

Also just a thought, I know it says in your profile your in ny, so maybe a walk in the city (not sure were you walked him) was a bit stressful for him since he's new to it?

I don't know exactly how much he ran before hand but I would maybe mention this to your vets to rule out any thing medical. Mostly because 2 blocks isn't a lot. Expecialy if this happens every time you do the run and walk thing and its been awhile.

Click to expand...

You make a really good point. I decided to split it up. So we run around some in the Am and then have a walk in the PM. And Ill start with a short walk and build up depending on how he is doing.

I also realized that I am so not exerting myself as much as the dogs during our free run time. I can stand still and they often run out and I call them back so I am probably getting way less exercise than they are so I shouldn't judge on how tired I am or not lol

I am in NY state not city I am actually way on the western edge of the state, south of Buffalo in a town right smack on lake Erie. It is a small town, I joke that we don't even have a walmart because technically it is in the town next to us!

Walks are still alittle bit stressful for him. It helps him being tired but he has some fear issues and he has been good about people walking not near us but if someone comes out of their house or car he starts barking...

He was checked out by a vet before coming to me and was all healthy. He was on heartworm meds as well. He did have lyme disease as a puppy. It is very tragic he came from a very bad BYB and he was completely like every inch covered in ticks, the vet said they never saw a case so bad. He was treated for it. And was given the all clear. But I wonder if that plays a role in anything. I will have to ask the vet. During his last exam though the vet said he needed to lose some weight and should be exercised.

You will learn to tell when he's had enough, but one of the big signs of needing a break I look for in my dogs is: "spoon tongue", where the tongue starts to look more round at the end, and sometimes curls up- that means it's time to cool off right away. And in gauging whether we've overdone it on the exercise, or they have gotten an ok level, I expect my dogs to have stopped panting within 5 minutes of getting to a cool place and relaxing. If it takes longer than that, I know we need to scale the exercise back some, whether that's due to the heat/humidity, or just my dog's level of fitness compared to the level of exercise.

Click to expand...

Thank you! That was very helpful. I'd say he was prob done panting after 5 mins and he didnt have the spoon tongue. So that makes me feel better.

His coat is so crazy lol I am brushing him everyday-every other day. I am getting a rake brush tomorrow to do a better job at getting the undercoat off. The dog has more brushes than I do lol

he didnt come from the best life. He really has gone from a very sedentary life. He lived most of his time in a bedroom, not even getting the whole house to run around in. He mostly slept all day. he got to go outside some but he lived in Texas & during the day it was so hot if he was outside he would just lay in the shade and sleep. There were some times when it was cooler or in the evenings & the kids would play chase with him in the yard or such but it was honestly just not much.

I think he just grew accustomed to that type of life style and being lazy. But I can see that he still has that drive and wants to be active. he gets so excited when we go out and he is just so happy running around like a puppy. But then he is like omg too much lol I think I just need to build it up slowly for him.

Well update: We have been doing playing/running around in the morning and then a walk in the evening. It has been going really well. He seems to be handling it much better.

But then yesterday we skipping our morning play sessions and I tried taking him for a walk in the evening and it was horrible. He was just all over the place, didn't listen, pulling non stop, barking at people, I think just over his threshold from not having the exercise in the morning.

Today his new harness arrived. I got the freedom no pull. And trying it out went horrible lol.

He has so much fur omg. Trying to get it on and adjusted took so many tries because I would think it was tight enough but then it wasn't. I get so worried putting harness/collars on that I will make them so tight.

20 steps from the front door all things went to hell. He pulled and flipped out by jumping backwards and somehow (seriously idk how) tangled himself and me all kinds of crazy up in the leashes. I had to unhook stuff to get untangled it was so bad.

Then he kept going off in circles and then tangling himself up more.

Honestly totally my fault. I was not in control of that situation at all.

I have since watched some videos on using the harness and I think I get what I was doing wrong.