Treadmill Training

[Lightplum]

Yay, Noah!

Mine all gather around it too now waiting for their turn while one is on it. We've weaned off the treats since they know the drill, but they get one (low fat of course ) when they're done. I sit beside them and watch TV...love this exercise regimen!

hahahaahaa I was thinking the same exact thing today!!!!!! Wow I love this type of workout!! Of course as soon as Noah hops off I should be hopping on...but we're taking it slow...no one clicker trained me

 

[tofu pup]

He is soo funny he sees me with the leash and gets all excited and automatically runs and hops on the treadmill and stands there waiting for me to put the leash on him.

This is awesome!

I can just picture his happy little face saying "Okay, Mom, I'm ready for my workout!"

Good boy, Noah!

 

[VallejoSheltie]

I know this thread is a bit old, however I have had success in training my pup to use the treadmill.
A couple of comments/tidbits I've learned.

1. I started mine off by leashing him to a table in the room, and letting him watch me walk on the treadmill. After a little while he started pulling at the leash to get to the treadmill, however I made him wait a couple of days to allow him to see me walking, jogging, hearing the buttons beep, etc. Our treadmill seems a bit loud, which is initially a deterrent.

2. Once he progressed from very slow to loping/running on the TM, we still continued to have a problem with him barking and attacking the front of the machine where the tread band comes out. Up until today, I've been giving him a tennis ball to carry in his mouth, which keeps him quite until he eventually drops it and goes back to attacking the monster inside the TM.

3. Had a stroke of common sense tonight, and decided to put a collar/leash on him. He immediately calmed down. When he started acting up, I simply pulled him off the machine and made him sit near it for a couple of minutes while it ran and ran, without him.... Seems to be working pretty good.

4. Also had a second stroke of common sense tonight. There is a reason why taking a dog on a walk can stimulate a BM. Running on the TM caused him to have one....
This time I happened to look up and seem him jogging along, only to kind of hunch over while still moving and little dark things bouncing off behind him along the TM...
Thankfully they were Grade A specimens, ripe and firm.

I had taken him out about an hour earlier to pee, and seemed distinctly uninterested in doing anything else.

On the flip side, he seems to love this thing, no treats needed!
And since I moved my work computer into the same room, I can keep an eye on him, exercise him, and do some actual work at the same time.

If you can't find the time to walk your dog every day or take him to the park several times a week, this is easily going to be the best $-$$ you can spend for your dog and probably your sanity. Check Craigslist and find someone giving one away.

 

[mellie]

Ahhhh, our treadmill bit the dust a while before we got Sally so never had the chance to try this. Our weather is usually doable, but this summer has been unbelieveably hot and we have been walking really late in the evening and not going as long as WE really need to...I think the noise factor of the TM might bug Sally too, but she could adjust. May have to get a TM for both of us. Really good ideas for helping her to learn to use it.

 

[VallejoSheltie]

We have an 8-10" fan on a timer by his crate which runs all night.
Not only does he seem to really like the cooling breeze, the noise seems to mask a lot of the little things that used to wake him up rather earlier than us (9:30-10 AM).

I think I'll try using that fan in the front of the TM to see if it calms him down at all when he's on it. I'm sure the breeze at least would be welcome.

I also just started using the automated exercise profiles on the machine today. One is a rolling hills profile where the speed and incline increase/descrease incrementally, with a distinct series of beeps just before they go up or down. He's picked up on the audio cues right away, and anytime I walk in the general direction of that room he runs over and jumps on the machine and gives me that begging look.
Its beyond funny. I think I'm going to actually post up on Youtube. Craigslist really does have lots of people looking to just give them away a lot of times in the FREE section.