GoldenCollie Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Well today the sun was shining here in Scotland, so i decided to take my dogs out somewhere really nice for a long walk. I was thinking about places to go, then decided to take Meg on her first little hike! I really enjoy hiking and hillwalking, and have been taking my Labrador out with me to the hills sinse he was about 6/7 months old. We have climbed many a mountain together, including the highest in the U.K, Ben Nevis! So, we set off with all our gear. Water, food, safty gear etc. Now, this particular hike we done today isn't big and isn't long, but i always like being prepared and safe. I'm really lucky that i live in the rural countryside anyway, so the hills are very close to us. We can see them from our windows, so they are only about a 15 minute drive away from us. The hill we done was Craig Owl, if anyone knows it. It's around 450m high, so quite easy for me and my labrador, but i wanted to see how meg found it. I made sure we went at a nice pace for her, and we had plenty of breaks, where i made sure they drunk water and gave them a few treats etc. When we first set off, i thought maybe we would only get half way up or so and maybe she'd look tired so we'd have to come back down, but HELL NO! lol She was loving every second of it!!!!!! She was having so much fun and was keeping up without absolutely no problems! Infact, it was me struggling to keep up with her! We had a brilliant hike, and the weather stayed really nice for us. When we got to the top, the rain started! How typical! lol.. But it soon stopped and we had a really nice slow walk back down. Poor meg, she didn't want to get back in the car! In total, we were out for about 2 and a 1/2 hours. an hour hiking up, and about an hour coming down, as coming down, we were taking it nice and slow, and then add on 15 minutes for breaks going up and another 15 for breaks coming down. Do you think this is to much for a 16 week old BC ? I don't plan to take her hiking everyday!, and like i say, she managed it without absolutely no problems! I was planning on maybe doing this with her every 2 weeks. So about every fortnight, i would take her hiking with my Lab and I, and we would be doing about 2/3 hours each time. I wouldn't do anymore than that with her. The bigger, longer and steeper hikes, i would do only with my Labrador until Meg is older. Do you think this is okay for her? Anyway, Heres some pictures we took. I didn't take as many as i would have liked, but she's so fast and its terribly hard to get a 16 week old puppy to stay still for a picture! Especially when she's having so much fun on the hills! hehe On our way up.. Heading for the top, which is the masts in the background! Meg, getting warmed up for her first hike up there! Almost at the top! A quick water break and we're off again! At the top. At the top, just about to start hiking back down. I'm really looking forward to when she's older to do the bigger hikes with me and my Lab. Jill, Leo & Meg xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 What a beautiful landscape! You pups (especially Meg) look very pleased with the hike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pammyd Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Aww looks lovely Where abouts is that?I dont think that is too much for the pup at all, when my palls got Teesh he was on a hill farm with his mum and sisters raceing up hills like that on their own just for play We have been taking Teesh to some of the mountain biking places in the borders. Glentress is fab for the bikes but the walks wernt so good. when it was quiet he ran nicely with his dad, problem being he dosent pay any attention to other bikes at all so untill he gets out the way he cant get a really good run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 You just watch out ...I wanted a dog as a hiking companion first and foremost, and ended up with a perfect one...and now I find myself heading OUT of the mountains and towards the sheep on many weekends . We do hike a lot together (pictures are in the album in my siggy) and I wouldn't go back to walking alone for all the money in the world . Having someone along to whom every mouse hole and every track on the ground is a reason for great joy makes such a difference! Love the landscape...it looks windy! And there's LOTS of space to run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenCollie Posted March 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 pammyd - It's the sidlaw range. Not far from Dundee sandra s. your album is lovely! I really enjoyed looking through some of the pictures. I have loads of pictures of the Lab and I doing our hikes which i would love to put in an album like yours. Can i make an album on here just like yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjean Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Beautiful! I would love to visit Scotland... someday. We have a saying in my house about our BCs - You can wear them out but you can't wear them down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Gorgeous, just gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 sandra s. your album is lovely! I really enjoyed looking through some of the pictures. I have loads of pictures of the Lab and I doing our hikes which i would love to put in an album like yours. Can i make an album on here just like yours? The album is part of the place where I have my email adress (sorry to be so unclear, I don't even know the German word for that kind of place! ) . There are some photo sharing sites on the internet that allow you to make your albums public (to a forum for example), but I didn't find one that I liked so I stuck with this... If you look around the web for a while, you'll probably find a photo sharing place that has that function where you can post a link to your album and let people in. Good luck!! I sure love to see pictures of "mountain dogs" from other parts of the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Oop Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Lovely pictures. Looks like you had a wonderful day for a hike -- and the dogs look like they had a great time. Very beautiful landscape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haleigh Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Wow, thats beautiful! I'm stuck to Devils Lake and the Shawnee Forest. I'm stuck in the middle. Very beautful, but I wish I could hilke up there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenCollie Posted March 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Thanks everyone Next weekend i hope to take them on another hike, someplace different. Although myself and my lab have done most places, so it won't be to new to us - But i'm sure meg will love it!! And hopefully it will tire her out again! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moss Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Nice pics Personally I would say that is too much exercise for a young pup Puppies bones are very soft and easily damaged, it is imperative that they are allowed to develop physically unhindered by a regime of over-exercise. Over exercising a puppy will lead at best to an unattractive leggy appearance where the adult may have long spindly legs and poor bone and at worst can lead to a crippled dog with poor hips, shoulders and elbows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenCollie Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Can i ask how much you would suggest? Remember, i only give her these long hillwalks once every fornight. I'm not taking her out for that length of time everyday or anything like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moss Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Can i ask how much you would suggest? Remember, i only give her these long hillwalks once every fornight. I'm not taking her out for that length of time everyday or anything like that! The rule of thumb is 5 mins per month of age. ie: Meg is 16 weeks (?) so should be getting around 20 mins exercise. I would do loads of playing and bits of training with her to keep her stimulated and occupied and also socialisation is really important at this age. Try to introduce her to as many different sights and sounds as possible - without getting her stressed Are you hoping to work her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenCollie Posted March 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 The rule of thumb is 5 mins per month of age. ie: Meg is 16 weeks (?) so should be getting around 20 mins exercise. This is interesting When i first found these boards, i asked about exercise amount for a BC pup. My lab as a pup was very content with whatever i gave him, but meg on the other hand seems to have a temper tantrum if i don't giver he quite a decent amount. When i came on here and asked, i remember being told by 1 or 2 members to "wear her out" and and to up the exercise. Others also suggested mental stimulation, training etc... But in all honesty, it's not really tiring her out much. I do LOADS of training and mental stuff with her throughout the day but it just never tires her little head out and I socilise her more than any dog i know! Puppy partys, socilisation classes, dog walking with other people and with other puppies, going to different parks, metting new people, meeting other animals, horses, sheep, cows etc etc.. You name it, we do it!! Depite all this, she always still goes crazy in the house. Dashing about the room at about 100mph bouncing from sofa to sofa, lunging at my lap, snapping at him and generally just pis*ing him off! She chews my plaster on the walls, skirting boards and pulls up the carpet. I do have a crate for her, but i can't be putting her in there all the time, and i can't always be around 24 hours of the day to supervise her either. The thing is, when she does get long walks etc, she doesn't do nearly as much of these things. If she's out for a long, decent walk, she will generally come home and settle down. She's getting much much better at doing this now after a long walk. Only giving her 20 minutes everyday really worries me. She's currently on 2 x 30 minutes walks and 1 x 45 mins/1hour walk everyday, so basically clocking up to about 2 hours.. Sometimes less though, depending what i have on that day. Any less than this and the hyper and loony behaviour begins indoors, no matter how much training i do with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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