If the weather is as good where you are that may just be it!! My boy is completely out during the day with that kind of heat

The 5 mins rule is, IMO, misleading and unhelpful at best.
It depends what exactly your pups are doing during the walks.
5 mins/months is a ROUGH guide in term of 'forced' EXERCISE not walks/play and exercise should be defined as fast running/high jumping anything that can affect the bones or joints, it should also including lead walking on the pavement as the hard ground can hurt young joints..

If you are walking in the park, on the grass it is perfectly fine to let them discover their world and enjoy it as long as they seem happy with it!
It is normal for them to sleep during the day, pups need a lot of sleep and it is usual for dogs to go for a rest after food...
After its up to you to see if you think you are overtiring them but I doubt it. My boy went for about 30 to 40 mins twice a day almost from the time he was allowed outside, playing in the doggy park etc...

xx

thank you for this! i was really starting to worry we had exhausted them

there is maybe 2 min of walking on the pavement to get to the grass! we walk them accross the park and fields and they are really enjoying it! they loving exploring and sniffing everything! they are loving meeting the new dogs too! they love chasing each other and trying to get infront of each other hehe!

when they get in from their walk at night we have a cuddle and they pretty much go straight to sleep for the night

xx

I always walked that far with mine as pups, our youngeast is 10 months and i dont restrict hers at all now, i think it depends on the breed as well.

The tiredness could be the heat, we havnt as much sun today but i think its much warmer today than the bright sunny days we have had, have you tried leaving a fan on in the room when they are left.

Mine are walked on fields and in woods they were when they were pups too, if my springers had to have stuck to the 5min rule they would have gone crazy. . . . so would i. I did ask advice though as if ide have been told to stick to it they would have just crawl the walls but i was told they would let me know when they have had enough, they never did ide have never come home. if ide have waited for ever but sensible walking on soft level ground is fine.

You've been given good advice here. Young puppies tend to need a LOT of sleep, so don't be too worried. I've noticed mine has been sleepier in the hot weather, I guess it's tiring for them.

I think it depends on the breed how much you can walk them as pups. We have a choc lab and have been advised not to take on very long walks until they are at least 1 year as their bones are still developing and labs tend to have hip problems.

Taking into account that they are running about in the house and out in the garden, they are getting quite a bit of exercise at such a young age.

The advice we were given is to think of your puppy as a toddler, you wouldnt expect your toddler to run about the house all day and then take them for a long walk as this would just wear them out and kill their legs......treat your pup the same!

I took Logan for his kennel cough vaccine and identichip tonight and asked my vet what excercise regime we should follow, and she said what we are doing is fine which is half an hour at night and as you know we have a now 13 week old german shepherd. He also sleeps loads at the moment and hates this heat, he is really lethargic until about 9pm when it really cools down!! The smaller the breed the more excercise you can give apparently, because with big breeds they say not to over do it because it can affect their developing joints! I think what you are doing is fine and the tiredness is just the heat maybe?!

x x

Thank you so much everyone! puppies seemed a lot chirpier this morning as its cooled down a bit!

They are loving there walks at the minute and definitely dont seem to be tiering! we are still only going for 20-30 mins accross the fields/park.

I think your right haeveymolly, if we only took them for 10/15 mins they would drive us and themseleves crazy!!!!