Hi there Robert,
Your Veterinarian definitely does have a point. There are a wide range of skeletal deformities and problems that can be spurred on by excessively exercising puppies (particularly large breed ones) at a young age. Of course defining how much exercise is too much exercise is a completely different story and can be somewhat difficult. However, excessive exercise can lead to angular limb deformities, crutiate and tendon injuries as well as several other developmental limb problems. In order to minimise the chances of these conditions occuring in young breeds it is best to leash walk large breed dogs for their first 12 months of life to avoid heavy stresses on the growth plates at the end of their long bones and to lessen the chances of crutiate and tendon injury. It is also important to feed a diet with the proper ratio of calcium to phosphate. There are several good brands out there - but Hill's in particular make specific diets for large and small breed puppies which contain the perfect ratio of calcium to phosphorus as well as other minerals necessary for good skeletal maturation.
But yes, my personal recommendation would be to only allow on-leash activities until your dog reaches 12 months of age.
Hope this helps Robert,
Kind Regards,
Mark Edwards
Kingdom of Pets Team
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