re: People that run with their dog....

When running, my lab's head is always a little in front of me. As soon as she falls a little behind, it's time to let her rest. Most I've done is about 2.5 miles with her. Not that she couldn't do more, but I don't run with her all that often. Yesterday I worked with her doing 150 yard retrieves for about 30 minutes, then ran a mile. She didn't really seem all that tired after. Granted it was the perfect temperature outside.

The problem I have/see is that a human running and a dog running have different strides. You may think you are wearing out your dog when they are just barely trotting. Running with a dog is more of a social and pyschological thing than exercise. You can get more exercise in the shortere time span without the dog. The dog can also get more exercise without being slowed down by human. Of course its SOME exercise at the same time but now I walk my dog on warmup, come back to house, leave Fido, thrn I run. When I get back is when we play fetch a lot. My dog also chases a laser light, which is the greatest thing Ive ever used for exercising a dog.

With the exception of sled dogs, most dog breeds are optimized for short bursts of speed, not running long distances. I wouldn't go more than a mile or two at most if you're at anything more than a brisk walk.

ETA: also, be very, very careful in hot weather. Dogs don't dissipate heat well.

I have yet to make my weimeraner tired. When he was about 6 months old, I was jogging with him and turned on my street - had about 100 yards to my house. I decided I was going to beat him home, so I sprinted and got ahead of him. I was feeling proud and glanced back to see he had the leash wrapped around one of legs and was running on 3 legs. I untangled him and took off and smoked me.

I limit my Doberman to about 8 miles per run. He can keep up well but the paw pads will get raw with too much running, especially on concrete or asphalt. The heat is a major limiter too. No more than about 2 miles at a time in the summer.