Walking On The Treamill?

[Midnight87]

anyone know how to teach a dog to walk on the treadmill?? on some days I can't take the dogs out or even let them run out in the backyard cause its raining or I have too many things to do.. i have a treadmill at home and am wondering if anyone knew how to train a dog to walk on the treadmill... my two whippets usually don't mind the lazy day but faith the kelpie x needs the exercise and i feel guilty that on some days she doesn't get enough.. any tips anyone?

could i teach it to her now? or should i wait till she's better at basic obedience... she knows sit and is learning to hold that and today she's learning down/drop

Edited August 7, 2009 by Midnight87

[Tay.]

I used to walk my golden on the tredmill. then my mum got angry at me

What I did was put his food bowl on just in front of the tredmill mat. He's really food obsessed so if followed the food :p

Your dog might be too smart though, just go around to get the food

i'm not actually sure if its safe for a dog to walk on a tredmill, unless your talking bout a dog version. Might want to find that out first ;)

[Paulp]

I taught mine to walk on the treadmill by luring them on and off with the treadmill off to start with so they got used to hopping on and off. Then I got them on the treadmill and with a bit of food in front of their nose and a tight leash, started it up slowly then stop it. Lots of praise and lots of treats. Do this repeatedly until they are comfortable with it starting to move under their feet and then work on longer bouts of walking and building the pace.. A big dog is unlikely to be comfortable with more than a walk on a standard treadmill as thier stride length is too long. A small dog will usually be happy to run eventually.

[Dogs4Fun]

Be VERY careful if you do this. If they slip, they can get some devistating injuries in a second.

[Aidan]

Just a small concern about treadmills where used to excess, because they pull the legs back they don't exercise the muscles at the back of the legs and hips as much as the muscles at the front of the legs and hips. This could lead to a range of problems from inefficient body mechanics, to joint pain.

As a powerlifter, I know how painful muscle imbalances can be when you overdevelop muscles on one side of a joint relative to the other.

I doubt this is a problem vets will ever see a lot of, but I have been hearing about people (mostly Cesar Millan fans in big cities) who run their dogs on the treadmill for an hour every day, but never take them outside for a walk.

[Grey]

Cesar made it pretty clear (to me anyway haha) during his seminar that although you can teach your dog to walk on a treadmill it is in no way a substitute for taking your dog outside for a walk - it is a last resort to tide them over till you can take them out and interact

i am still to take my girl to my mum's to get her on there to try out his technique for introducing them.. i will let you know heheh

[magicmine]

I have a treadmill i use for my staffords. I first taught them slowly on a walk and with food and kept talking to them and praising them. They love it and now when i say up they just hop onto it and i start it . they have no lead or collar on them but i am with them and i only do them for 5 minutes each. To long is bad for them i reckon. I only put them on it when i cant walk them outside.