[Nclmerz]

I have an 8 month pitbull mix puppy who is just full of energy. I would like to start going on short jogs with her in the morning and evening to help provide her with an outlet for some of her energy. However, I am having a lot of trouble figuring out how to train her to be good on jogs. I have been working on leash training with her over the past few months, and she has become pretty good with it, she tends to walk very nicely for most of the walk. However, as soon as I try to start a slow jog with her, she takes this as a cue that she doesn't have to be good anymore and begins to try to run full throttle. When I was leash training her, she didn't respond well to treats (often I would put a treat right in front of her for doing something good and she would ignore it), and the only way I was able to successfully train her was the stop walking until she stops pulling method.

I have tried this same method with jogging, but it just doesn't seem to be working. She gets too excited at the prospect of getting to run she completely forgets that she's not supposed to pull. Any suggestions on how to work on this would be very welcome!

 

[PipsMom]

I'd work until your dog is able to take treats out on the walk first (trying to build calm attention outside). If your dog can do that, then it will be easier to train her.

With my new rescue (I got her 6 months ago), I took her outside and waited and waited until she looked at me, then she got a super, duper special treat and we went into the van and drove home. We went home because she was nervous being outside. With a dog who loves being outside, you can then release her to explore. She used to be so scared she wouldn't take treats at all. Now she takes kibble outside.

 

[sullyrules]

There's a mantra that I have come to live by with my dogs, "K.I.S.S" keep it simple stupid . If it is possible to break down a behavior I want into smaller steps than i do it. In this case I would do exactly what you did to train her to walk on leash but do it in baby steps. Walk slightly faster than normal, she gets too excited stop, continue, repeat.

Work your way up to walking faster and faster until you are jogging!

 

[TheAdventureK9]

I wouldn't suggest running with a dog under the age of one. Repetitive jolting (like jogging) motion can cause some joint and bone problems later on in life. They can run around on their own but taking them out jogging isn't great for them. (I have an 7 month old aussie, I know how hard it is to tire out a hyper pup!)

You can practice a heel while jogging if your just going to jog for a few steps. So in four to six months you'll be all ready to start jogging! Start little and reward calm behavior. If that means doing 2-3 jogging steps before walking and rewarding then that's a start! Then when your pup masters being calm for 2-3 steps, do 3-4, then 4-5...work your way up slowly. Intermix very fast walking to slow walking so your pup gets used to changing pace and reward any calm behavior. If you pup gets wound up and jumps, don't give any attention, stop and ignore till pup sits and relaxes, then start again.

 

[sullyrules]

I wouldn't suggest running with a dog under the age of one. Repetitive jolting (like jogging) motion can cause some joint and bone problems later on in life. They can run around on their own but taking them out jogging isn't great for them. (I have an 7 month old aussie, I know how hard it is to tire out a hyper pup!)

You can practice a heel while jogging if your just going to jog for a few steps. So in four to six months you'll be all ready to start jogging! Start little and reward calm behavior. If that means doing 2-3 jogging steps before walking and rewarding then that's a start! Then when your pup masters being calm for 2-3 steps, do 3-4, then 4-5...work your way up slowly. Intermix very fast walking to slow walking so your pup gets used to changing pace and reward any calm behavior. If you pup gets wound up and jumps, don't give any attention, stop and ignore till pup sits and relaxes, then start again.

Jogging is only going to be detrimental to a pup if the surface you are running on is hard(pavement). As long as you are running on a soft surface(grass, dirt, etc) the pup will be fine.

The only caveats to that is for very large breed dogs(you want to wait for their growth plates to fuse) and ensuring that the runs are obscenely long without any breaks.

 

[TheAdventureK9]

@sullyrules

The growth plates don't fuse for medium size dogs until between 12-16 months I believe. Before then any repetitive activity is not suggested. This can be anything from jogging, jumping, throwing a ball to doing trick repetitively. As humans we tend to be very repetitive. If we are going to jog we go out and we jog for 30 minutes solid, then we tend to do it at least 3 times a week. Running and jumping on a consistent basis is to be avoided. Normally puppies will sprint and then lay down and rest or sniff this and that. So if you want to do that with jogging then go ahead, but typically we don't as humans, we have a set distance/time and just go.

We also typically run on concrete sidewalks, which isn't ideal either.

So if the OP wants to do very short jogging sessions with breaks on grass with their pup that should be fine. I'm just a huge worry wart for growing joints!

 

[busannie]

The advice you've been given on teaching her to jog beside you is good (as is the recommendation to wait a while longer before really doing any regular running with her!). An alternative that you may or may not want to consider is to just let her pull. I would get a harness so she learns that that is the "ok to pull" equipment, and use a 5' or so leash, with or without a skijor or canicross belt. Eventually, once she's gotten over her excitedness/gotten the worst of her energy out, she'll probably fall back to your side, and you can reward then if you want. Alternatively, you could do the same with a bike, as you can probably bike fast enough to keep up with her more easily, and it's hard for them to veer off to the side when moving forward at speed. Plus, in either case, you'll get more bang for your buck as far as physical fatigue vs with just regular jogging. Giving her more time to mature goes double for this sort of exercise, and it's even better if you can find some dirt trails to use, or train her to stay on the grass when possible.

I currently bike with 2 different dogs, and both like to go faster than usual when we first start out, particularly if we haven't been in a while. They both will slow down if asked, but I usually let them burn a little steam for a block or two when we start out, they're just excited and feeling good!