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How far and how fast can I run with my dog (malinois cross)?
I want to take up running again (I used to run and stopped when I moved house because of time and stress). This time I want to start running with my dog as a partner. She is a three year old mongrel, medium sized and probably a Belgian Malinois cross (she looks like a Malinois, acts like a Malinois, and is crazy like a Malinois) so that also explains why I want to run her - I need to give her some more exercise as well as training!
I am taking her for a check up at the vets tonight, but generally how far can a Mal run? I uised to run distance, and I would love to run the Rome-Olbia Man/Dog marathon in a few years with her (I live in Italy). Do you think she can do it? I know I have to build up slow.
6 Answers
- 4Her4LifeLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
Two concerns with running with a dog - (1) joint health, ask the vet particularly about symptoms of hip or elbow dysplasia as running can ruin iffy joints (but not fully developed sound ones) and (2) wear on the pads, they will build up callous over time.
To that end, I would run whenever possible on shock-absorbing, non-abrasive surfaces like packed earth or grass (a trail through the woods or a bark-chip path through a part is lovely) and watch how much running you do on asphalt or concrete until you have more confidence in the dog's joint health and can start to see a harder pad callous developing.
My Malinois (my avatar) and I currently log 5-10 miles of him running next to my bike each week, plus at least two couple-mile runs and often a hike. He could do 5-10x that if I had the time! Just work up slowly and be sure to check feet after each run and take extra caution when the weather warms up again!
- Anonymous8 years ago
As the first answerer said, the dog has much more speed then you, and almost constant stamina so I guess you can run for as long as you'd like and as fast as you'd like, your dog is always going to want to run more.
Dogs are built for long distances running and stamina. Wolfs in the wild, which are direct ancestors of the dog can run after prey at full trot or run for hours, even days, until they literally run the prey into exhaustion.
- ?Lv 78 years ago
A Border Collie working as a sheepdog clocked up 70 miles in one day at peak fitness, so your dog will do whatever you do!. Theres a sport called Canicross, they have some info online and I'm sure you'd both enjoy it.
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