best surface to walk and run for a rottweiler puppy

by Girish
(Kalyan, Maharashtra, India)

slippery marble surfaces indeed cause lot of problems for the rottweiler or any big breed puppy causing damage to their paws and bone structures.

and I had read a suggestion that making walk them on asphalt road, or concrete surfaces too not recommended at puppy stage ??


can you please provide the most desirable surfaces for a rottweiler pup at different ages - like grass or carpets ? walking on interlock tiles or concrete flooring on parking?

What suits them best to develop good paws and bones ?





Hi Girish
This is a good question. The answer is a bit complicated though, and Rottweiler owners just need to be aware of the possible bone, joint or ligament problems that can occur in large breed pups who are exercised too vigorously or on the wrong type of surface while they're still growing.

I'm not a veterinarian or an expert as such, so this is just what I've learned over the years and from personal experience.

Concrete and asphalt are fine for walking at any age (although you don't want to walk a growing pup too far at first). It's the 'high-impact' type exercise such as running, jogging or jumping on this type of surface that causes the problems and that's what you need to avoid. In fact Rottweiler pups shouldn't jump down steps, out of trucks and so on at all until they're at least 18 months old.

Grass is fine, but try to make sure that you only exercise your Rottweiler pup (and indeed an adult Rottie too) on level ground that doesn't have 'pot-holes' or very uneven surface. Rottweilers are prone to tearing the ligaments in their knees, particularly on the rear legs and stepping in a hole, or twisting/slipping on uneven ground is a prime cause of this type of injury.

Indoors, carpeting is best. If you have a lot of smooth tile flooring I'd recommend putting down carpet 'runners' (with a non-slip backing so that the pup doesn't slide all over the place on the carpet itself), or some other kind of surface that has good traction. Rubber mats etc. also work well.

Hope this helps :o)