02/09/2026
Of late I have had a lot of people ask how often asked how long should I walk my pup. So I thought I would start to share my thoughts. Now you may have heard the guideline of “five minutes of exercise per month of age.” It was introduced with good intentions—to help prevent growing puppies from being over-exercised.
This remains a helpful starting point, particularly because puppies can look almost fully grown while their bones, joints and growth plates are still developing. However, age alone doesn’t tell us everything. Breed, size, development, lifestyle and the type of activity all matter.
Ten minutes spent slowly walking, sniffing and exploring is very different from ten minutes of repetitive ball chasing, jumping or running on hard surfaces. Rather than focusing only on the clock, consider how your puppy is using their growing body.
Puppies still need to move, play, explore different surfaces and develop strength and coordination. We don’t need to wrap them in cotton wool—we simply need to be mindful of repetitive, high-impact or forced exercise where they cannot choose to slow down or stop.
It’s also easy to mistake an overtired puppy for one needing more exercise. Zooming, biting, jumping and seemingly “bonkers” behaviour can be signs that your puppy is overstimulated and needs sleep—not another walk.
Exercise is only one part of your puppy’s day. Training, visitors, unfamiliar places, other dogs, new sounds and everyday experiences all require mental and emotional energy too.
Watch the puppy in front of you. Build activity gradually, include gentle walks, sniffing, exploring and short training sessions—and make quality sleep part of the routine.
A worthwhile walk doesn’t need to leave your puppy exhausted. Sometimes a gentle sniff around the world followed by a good sleep is exactly what their growing body and busy brain need.
