Is it bad that my 14 week old puppy is trying to run/jump off 18 inch ledges?

I have a welsh corgi puppy named Ruby that hangs out in our backyard that is very mellow most of the time.. some light running and playing. Unfortunately, we live right near a walkway where many dogs and people walk by our backyard and she is easily distracted as she has not been properly socialized yet. There is a patch of dirt that is about 15 feet long which she runs laps around when someone comes by - at some point she tries to jump off the ledge in the hopes to catch this distraction, but I am concerned about her long term bone structure if she keeps doing this at such a young age.

Any help? Here's a picture so you can see how cute she is!

0 members like this

Attachments:

IMG00512-20110427-0922.jpg, 129 KB

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jane on May 24, 2011 at 12:21pm

She is adorable! A few jumps here and there probably won't hurt her, but if she's doing it all the time I might be concerned. Could you put up some temporary fencing or something like that maybe?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Wolff on May 24, 2011 at 1:17pm

I think it's growth-plate injury to the front legs that is the big concern in the first year. Leaping to or from slippery smooth floors is another; you want to discourage that or provide non-skid surfaces like throw rugs on wood floors.