# Walking - how far?



## DeeZee

Our previous dog was a Husky, huge and willing to just go and go and go. We now have Goliath, a 12 week old Chi puppy, and we are working on leash training and walking. He's terrified of the outdoors, hates the leash, and won't wear any clothing, but we're forging on so that he can be with us on all our adventures too. 

My question is - how far can he walk? We're not walking far now, far less than a km, but he's becoming increasing better at not trying to bolt right back to the house. But before I push the distance too much, I'm wondering where I should set my expectations for such a young puppy and for a chi. 

Any ideas?


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## ~LS~

A Chihuahua is a dog as much as a Husky, and every dog benefits from exercise.
He will walk as much as you want. But you have to build his endurance, little by
little. Chanel is now 7 months and can spend all day walking & running, she gets 
about 4-5 hours per day of on leash walking, this is divided between 4 daily walks.
She loves hiking and running, even the winter snow and slush doesn't slow her down.
So imo if your dog is healthy, and has no issues, he will be a great adventure partner.
After all our dogs are a reflection of us, if you are active and you dedicate your
time to his needs and slowly work up his endurance, he will be active as well. With
patience and positive reinforcement he will learn to accept the leash and even a
sweater or jacket if you wish.


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## ~LS~

Forgot to say, WELCOME to the forum!


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## svdreamer

Start slowly. Let him tell you if he's had enough and don't overdo it at first. He's still a baby. I wouldn't push it really hard until his bones and joints have matured more. You don't want him to hurt himself.


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## Barneys_Mom99

I agree with everyone - build up to longer distances. You will be learning to notice his signals during this time too. It sounds like you are taking the time he needs to develop. 

As far as the terrified part - are you learning what he does like and trying to incorporate that into the walking adventures? For example: Barney loves being hand-fed a kibble, so I carry a change purse with kibbles and offer them a few times a day when I'm training. Sometimes I'll just call him to come into a different room and reward with the kibble. On walks, I'll do this as well and it seems to make him happy and comfortable to see that our routines continue no matter where we are.

Welcome to the forums !


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## DeeZee

Good to hear - it was my intent just to go a bit further a little at a time, and to keep working on the other things. Of course, the broken toe I got yesterday won't help matters <grin>

As far as what he likes, once he gets outside, nothing else matters. No treats, no praise, nothing. He turns his nose to the house and tries to bolt back and refuses to acknowledge anything more. We do the same with the treats and calling him, but when we're outside, he won't even look at a treat LOL!

He is taking more interest in the scenery though, so that is helping. The balance I need is taking him far enough but not too far so that I have to carry him back because I misjudged, so I'm probably more than conservative at the moment.


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## 20887

Both of mine will happily walk for 1-1.5 hours straight. They always like to nap right after, but it is no problem for them. We started out on short walks and worked up to the longer ones.


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## Chi-Love

I once read that when they're pups, it's 5 minutes per month old they are.

3 months = 15 minutes

I don't know if this is correct or not, but apparently it's reccomended.


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## DeeZee

Hmm.. interesting .. seems to take him the first 10 to decide that the leash won't kill him and that he might just be ok walking by my side. We spend a lot of time standing waiting for him to make his decision  He does ok once he finally decides that it's not so bad to walk and he does GREAT when he knows we're headed back home <grin>. He is quite determined to have his way but also extremely smart. He refused to walk up the stairs (our main level is up one flight) but I thought he could do it. I coaxed him with treats, lots of praise, and a good chunk of time and after just one session of this, he now walks up them like a champ.


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## DeeZee

We managed a light tshirt today so we know we can do it ... and this is the longing look back towards home (we live just around that corner)


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## Gilly

Awwwwww isn't he just ADORABLE!!!!  Love his colouring 

As he's still very much a baby I would just take him on shorter walks as his bones, joints & muscles will still be developing. But once he's fully grown he will probably walk you off your feet!!!   

What about tiny pieces of cooked sausage as a training treat? They worked wonders for all my previous dogs as a reward for good behaviour on walks & training.


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## svdreamer

He's a cutie. And a lot of my babies were like that when learning to walk, espescially if they were never taken outside and socialized as small puppies. May I suggest using a harness to walk him? Chis necks are nortoriously delicate and a collar can damage them if he spooks, takes off and hits the end of it.


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## ~LS~

Oh wow, he's really precious! Glad you are making progress.
Pam is right about a harness being the best choice for walking.
A harness takes the pressure off of the throat, and it'll help protect his trachea.
If you get the "step in" kind, it goes on well over clothing.
And you must post more pictures of him, I want to see his little face!


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## DeeZee

Ah, you can't see well - this is a harness but the tshirt covers the back part of it and at that moment the leash was riding higher on him because of my stance to get the photo. He resisted the more expensive fancy one we bought so we found this very lightweight one that he will tolerate. Much like the clothing, he will tolerate a lightweight tshirt but nothing heavier (oh the dramatics!). Hopefully I'll be able move up to a step in type at some point with him but this one does keep most of the pressure on the chest instead of at the neck. He refused to even get up with the other harness!

He was hand raised (living room, very active with family) with his mother, father and brother, and I think the parents' owners did take him outside a good bit with his family but I don't know about a leash. He developed the aversion with us, I think, but I think it's more about the leash than being outside. I have a feeling that once it warms up, he'll be a lot more willing to be outside. Today was much colder and he was very vocal about it!


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## OzChi

I'm a big believer in walking too - a tired dog is a well behaved dog!

I have 2 puppies, a 6 month old and a 4 month old. Both started at around 12 weeks. My boy was always quite keen on walking but my little girl literally had to be dragged to begin with. I started with 2 x up and down my driveway twice daily then up and down the street, then round the block etc. Yesterday we walked for about 45 mins straight which is the 4 month old's longest walk to date. I'm sure Goliath will love walkies once he realizes that there's nothing to be scared of out in the big wide world. Just take it slow with him, sounds like you've got the right idea.


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## KrystalLeigh

He's so cute!! It took ours a long time to get used to walking too. At first, she was terrified of car sounds in the distance, etc. I agree about the amount of walking though. Once he builds up to it, I'm sure his endurance will surprise you. You'll be taking short walks at first anyway to get him used to the leash and everything else that comes along with walking. I was really worried when I took Odie on a long walk when she was about 7 months old. At the end of the walk, she was picking up speed! She can outlast me, for sure.


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## Gilly

I never knew that about chi necks so thanks for mentioning it - I'll get my chi a harness once he/she comes home  I'll keep the fancy bling collar for her id disc and attach the lead to her harness  

My whippet used to wear a harness in the car and as soon as she saw it she would try to PUSH her head & legs through to get it on even faster.....to her it meant ''Going in the car....going to the beach!!!''


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