treadmill help.

[calimonster]

Due to several reasons, my dogs and I are not able to take our regular daily walks. Cali needs excercise. I have a really nice treadmill that I don't use as much as I should. It's actually kinda funny that half the time cali goes to the basement with me, I turn around to find her standing on the treadmill. How do I get her used to walking on it safely? Do I need to build something to confine her to it or tie her to it? Both seem like they could be dangerous or cause her to dislike it. Or am I completely off base about using a motorized treadmill and should consider building a "carpet mill " instead? She is starting to get a little pudgy in the chest and her food intake is at a minimum now (her choice, she's just not a big eater)
thanks to all.

[dogs4jen]

When I started with ours, I just gave them lots of good treat and started it really slow. After a while I just started giving them most of their dinner while they were o. It, so that I wasn't feeding them any extra. I didn't make a box around the treadmill, I just figured that they would be more comfortable if they could jump off whenever they wanted. We just got an inexpensive human treadmill from Craig's List. It croaked a month or so ago and we are really missing it.

[suzanne]

I started my dogs out on the treadmill slowly, first using a harness and me standing over them at a slow speed so they could get the feel of the movement. Once they were comfortable with that I started offering food. After probably 3 days of just putting them on it slowly they were willing to get on by themselves without anything on. I use a giant serving spoon and dip it in peanut/almond butter or canned food and offer the spoon every few minutes. My dogs have been running on the treadmill for about 3 weeks now, they all get on by themselves and even try to push each other off to get on and eat the food. I never thought they would actually want to get on it, but they all want the free snacks.

I still would like a carpetmill as I think it builds better stamina since they self propel it, plus it's also easy to over-do it on the electric treadmill. I started with 5min intervals at 6-8mph, circulating through 3 dogs so everyone got a good break inbetween. Now my pitty is up to 15mins at 8.0, my other two mutts are still topped out at 10. I pretty much gauge their breathing/panting and if they start breaking stride will slow the machine down accordingly.

[dogs4jen]

I didn't have mine anywhere near that fast, 3 or so miles per hour, for twenty to thirty minutes, one dog at a time. The only downside is that it's really boring, just sitting there feeding them for an hour, and I don't get any exercise. I am hoping my husband can just replace the motor on mine.

[Adrianne]

If you can find/afford one I do like carpet mills. I have a Dogpacer and we used them at my work as well for day training dogs. I start every dog slowly with treats for investigating, treats for getting on, treats for staying on while I turn it on and then off. Rinse & repeat until you see confidence and wean the reward.

I prefer an x pen around the mill as a method to creatures barrier, IME it helps them focus and adds confidence, but it's not essential.

[dogs4jen]

Adrienne, people here have said carpetmills aren't good for dogs with joint issues, has that been your experience too? I would really like to get a carpetmill instead of fixing our human treadmill, but Roscoe has elbow dysphasia. I watched the video on dog treadmills on Bad Rap's website, and it didn't really look like the dog had to dig in that much, but of course I wouldn't want to make his elbows worse. The video on Bad Rap's site is great for people wanting more info on dog treadmills, with a good Iggy Pop song to boot!

[suzanne]

Adrienne, people here have said carpetmills aren't good for dogs with joint issues, has that been your experience too? I would really like to get a carpetmill instead of fixing our human treadmill, but Roscoe has elbow dysphasia. I watched the video on dog treadmills on Bad Rap's website, and it didn't really look like the dog had to dig in that much, but of course I wouldn't want to make his elbows worse. The video on Bad Rap's site is great for people wanting more info on dog treadmills, with a good Iggy Pop song to boot!

I imagine any sort of exercise with any kind of resistance would be harder on the elbows. However, I think if the carpet mill is fairly easily free rolling it might not be too big of a problem, especially once they get the thing moving? Another alternative might be a slat mill - they seem to move a bit more freely, but they are ridiculously expensive.

[Mooresmajestic]

I didn't have mine anywhere near that fast, 3 or so miles per hour, for twenty to thirty minutes, one dog at a time. The only downside is that it's really boring, just sitting there feeding them for an hour, and I don't get any exercise. I am hoping my husband can just replace the motor on mine.

My grampa placed his stationary bike next to the treadmill. He rode the bike while the dog ran on the treadmill.

From a conditioning viewpoint, you don't want the dog running. A nice strong trot (jog) over greater distance is best. Like in the above quoted text.

[MarMar]

I got a human treadmill for my dogs a while ago. My pittie mix is terrified of it, he'll go and stand on it now but not if it's on. My GSD will walk on it, but it's too short for her to trot comfortably (she has a very long stride, all legs you see So take that into consideration if you've got a leggy dog. I don't like seeing dogs being forced onto treadmills, and I HATE to see them tied to them. (I should clarify, that's only for electronic treadmills that move on their own). Here's a nice video:

[dogs4jen]

I looked up those Dogpacer treadmills Adrienne mentioned, and they have a longer walking/running surface, so that might be good for longer legged dogs.

[Adrianne]

Sorry, I would imagine any mill is harder on the joints but probably a carpet would be worse.

I like the dogpacer because it allows a full reach for a leggier dog, human belts can often stunt this.