Hi All!
I'm wondering if anyone has experience running (jogging, really) with a Berner or similar-sized dog? Sammy is now 1.5, and really, he just wants to be with me everywhere I go, and I'm hoping to get back into running after some time away. He's got a lot of energy, and ideally I'd eventually be able to take him along with me on some of my outdoor adventures, particularly hiking. He doesn't have great endurance, though, and I'm sure that's partially due to his lack of training, but perhaps also just a characteristic of the breed. I'm wondering if it's safe for him to jog a bit- we've twice gone for very slow jogs of about 3/4 mile in length, and by the end he's definitely dragging, but I'd love to keep doing it if it isn't hurting him. I think he enjoys it, and he jogs along right next to me, and it gets him a lot of exercise. So I'm curious to know what you all think, and if it is ok to jog with him, and he begins to improve in his endurance, where is the point where you'd say a longer run is too long? Oh yeah, he weighs around 85 pounds, which seems to be as big as he's going to get. It's a healthy weight for his size. And when he was a little guy, we had some troubles with pano, but no orthopedic problems of any kind for at least the past six months.
Thanks!