Me and Wesley went on our first run and just got back

30 minutes from start to finish, and was able to jog about half of that and power walk the rest, after 2 years since I last ran Im very pleased with myself, maintained a lot more fitness than I though I would have, even though Ive gained 2 stone in that time.

It was great even though I have a killer headache and got a stitch

Re-Hydrating now and Wesley is playing with my empty water bottle.

We used the extendable lead and ferplast harness (which I think are the best ever harnesses by far!) Have seen joging leads at my pet shop and wondered what people thought of them? Are they much easier? I know they fasten around your wrist which would be much better than having to hold something but Wesley tends to weave left and right across my path and I fear I may end up flat on my face!

Sorry for the ramble just feeling very proud of myself right now And Wesley pup, he was very good

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Well done on the jog, I'm terrible at it... I really need to get fitter!

However I don't think you are supposed to jog with young dogs as it can damage their joints and bone development ? I hear some people saying to wait until they are fully grown (like 18months-2years) before they are allowed to run full out for any length of time. I could be wrong though and it might depend on the breed , I will wait until someone who knows more on the topic comes along!

I use a waist belt, elasticated line to absorb shock and a 'non stop freemotion harness' designed for running / skijoring etc, all of which are excellent. I can give you more info if you want any!

I am pleased that you enjoyed your run; my only concern is that Wesley is a little young to be running with you on a lead I would have thought. I have always been told 12 months minimum and did wait, but Kilo is a large breed. I do know that the minimum age of a dog to enter a 5k race is 12 months, 18 months for distances above that.

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I spoke to loads of folk - vet, canine hydrotherapist, canine physiotherapist and Kilo's breeder and was told 12 months BUT short distances only (up to about 5km) until he was 18 months old.

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Yeah, I think it was one of your threads on running I was thinking about but I wasn't sure if it was only the larger breeds it was a problem with.

I believe it is all dogs, but couldn't swear to that as I only did in depth research into large breeds.

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Well we usually walk about 45 minutes a day, that includes 15 minutes off lead down the country path and in the field which I dont count as exercise as hes doing what he wants, usually sniffing something gross!

We jogged about 15 minutes maximum and he was way ahead of me the whole time! and he was off lead for the last 10 minutes of it. I used to extendable lead so he wasnt being dragged along, and there was a lot of me stopping jogging on the spot. He is shattered now though, asleep on the sofa! We wont be doing it everyday, neither of us could handle it at the moment, prob once every now and then until he's older now I know the recommendations all in all he did much better than me!

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Please don't think I was trying to accuse you of anything or of dragging him along...just wasn't sure if you knew about the recommendations; I have no doubt he loved it - Kilo has really taken to running and the feeling of running together is awesome!! It's up to us all what we do with our pups, just thought I'd mention it in case you didn't know .

If you want to see the line / belt / harness I use or anything I will gladly show you...hope you didn't take my post as patronising, it really wasn't meant to be .

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I didnt think that at all and was glad for the advice.

Ive just done some online research and will wait until he's at least 1 year old until we go jogging again. Everywhere says NEVER take a young dog running and now I feel awful. But luckily it was only a short one and hopefully he'll be ok. Gives me 6 months to get my fitness up and we can start from there

Id love to see some pics of what you use for running, tried googling but found nothing.

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Don't feel awful, it won't have done any harm whatsoever I wouldn't have thought as a one off! He probably had a great time .

I use this harness: Non-Stop Freemotion Harness

It looks like this on:

I am really pleased with it; it doesn't seem to bother or restrict Kilo in any way...but took me four days of several clicker sessions a day and loads of chicken to get it on in the first place as Kilo was scared of it . Now, he loves running so much he shoves his head into the harness as soon as it comes out .

I use this belt: CaniX Euro Lite Waist Belt which I also really like; it doesn't move out of place at all and can't ride up. I don't know I'm wearing it unless there is tension on the line.

This is the line: CaniX line for 1 dog It is great as it absorbs any shocks and has two handles; one near to the belt and one close to the harness attachment point so that you can have closer control when passing people etc.

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