Tread Mills ?

[BC Crazy]

Hi Guys,

I wasn't sure where to post this thread so sorry if in the wrong section & please move it.

I am in the market for a tread mill for exercising my 2 Border Collies for a 6 week period while I am 'out of action' &

then will use it very randomly if unable to walk them etc.

Do I need a dog specific one as they are $$$$ ???

I am currently looking at a portable human treadmill so it is easy to store. For around $3OO delivered which I thought was a pretty

good price. Having never used one myself or put a dog on one, is it easy to get them used to it ??

Any advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated :)

[ness]

My understanding is the dog specific ones are longer and wider then the human ones and if you use something to small the dog can't stride correctly.

[BC Crazy]

Oh, I was wondering that ness. The one I am looking at the belt is around 1 meter long & 40cm wide from memory.

I did notice the dog spec. ones are around 35cm longer.

Edited May 4, 2013 by BC Crazy

[Esky the husky]

I had a look on the dog specific treadmill websites for the dimensions suitable to my breed.

I found a second hand treadmill that matched my guidelines for $150. :)

[ness]

Bargain Esky. I have looked around a few times to use one for rehabbing Kenz but not come across anything suitable .

[BC Crazy]

Great mill shopping Esky. Hope I can be so lucky :)

[Sandra777]

You can buy human ones in a wide variety of lengths and widths (belt) so if you can figure out what you need you may well find one - probably not for trotting a GSD on, but for temporary/part time use of a BC, probably. We have one that's nearly 1m wide and just under 2.5m long so they're out there....

[mish13]

I have one of these http://www.fitfurlife-australia.com I got one second hand but even then it wasn't cheap. I mainly wanted it for my Newfoundland and as Ness said if its too short they wont be able to stride correctly.

It has been exactly what I wanted and as an added bonus I can adjust it to up hill or down to work different muscles.

It also has sides so the dogs cant jump off, I usually sit on a chair at the front of the treadmill holding the dogs lead. I NEVER move from this position just incase I need to pull the emergency cord if the dog trips or falls.

Edited May 4, 2013 by mish13

[Nekhbet]

Go to the greyhound forums and ask there, most people have them and you might grab a bargain. We used a human treadmill we picked up for $50, nice big one they just took a bti of training

Saying that I just got a proper greyhound treadmill ... $15 from the wrecking yard

[BC Crazy]

That was a great find Nekhbet & $15, bargin :)

I have a week or 2 to find one. I may have to fork out for a new one if not as fortunate as you.

[Stitch]

I got one from Target. It cost me $199.00 several years and it is fantastic.

I certainly got my monies worth out of it as it is used just about every day.

At the time of buying it I researched the attributes of the expensive 'dog' treadmills and decided, on comparison, that the human one would do just nicely.

Any electric treadmill is OK as long as it is not flimsy and its starting speed is less than 1kph.

Mine goes down to 0.8kph. IF it is too fast it is harder to get the dogs to learn to use it.

I used an old x-pen to wrap around the treadmill to give the impression that the treadmill had wire sides. It fooled the dogs and works perfectly.!!!

Edited May 6, 2013 by Stitch

[BC Crazy]

Yes I am swaying towards a human t.mill Stitch as money is tight atm after OH has been off work for almost 4 months after slicing his Archilles tendon

That's a good idea to put a pen around the sides. I have a couple of those I could use. So I have to factor in the starting speed also.

Thanks for that :)

[Vurd2BB]

Bumping an old thread,

But has anyone else found any more bargains?

I am after a treadmill for my GSD

[Starkehre]

We have a Fitfurlife Superior and since I now have experience treddying dogs, I would never attempt using a human treddy again for a large breed. BCs and similar sized dogs may be OK on a human one, though I still believe at a good trotting speed they would have stride restrictions.

With Rottweilers, GSD and anything close to that size or bigger, what you find when using a human treadmill is that if used often enough you will retrain their gait to a restricted stride that judges will even notice in the ring, particularly specialty ring. Shortened and lofted reach.

But not only is it about fitting the stride onto the deck, but allowing for room for error. The dog moves around as they gait. You can't have it so that they are just about to the run off the front or fall of the back with every stride, it makes them nervous and effects their movement. It takes a while to train a dog to obtain a good working trot on a treadmill, let alone if the equipment is not oozing stability and safety.

Even the Superior that we have doesn't give our male a lot of room for error, enough but you have to keep a close eye on him and continually assist him with position.

My bitches have a good amount of length on the deck, but I certainly would not put them on any less, unless I was using it for walking only. The deck is around 2 metres long (sorry don't have exact length measurement).

We have a really good quality human treddy that was more expensive than the Fitfurlife. It is big, has a long deck for a human treddy and designed to carry a very large man. We tried it a few years ago with the dogs and it just isn't long enough. Also access to the controls just doesn't work and the raised section in front of the deck disturbs the dogs too much.

Edited October 26, 2013 by dyzney

[Vurd2BB]

I was very keen on the fit fur life but i just can't get that cash together!

Are there other brand options ?

[mish13]

Dyzney would love to know what sort or settings you use on the fitfurlife? what speed and how long you have them on there?

[Starkehre]

Hi Mish, sure thing, more than happy to share.

Treadmill workout varies for each dog.

We currently only have 1 dog in full work. She is only 20 months, so still slightly limited. She is swimming 3/4 times per week and biking 1/2 times per week, so she is only using the treddy 1/2 per week. I would have her on it more often if the weather restricted other exercise.

This bitch does 30-35 minutes on the treddy in total. As she is cardio really fit at the moment I only do around 10 minutes of approx. 6.5kph trotting. The remainder of the time is warm up/warm down and mostly 3.5kph incline walking for rear muscle development. We are endeavouring to increase her drive and strength in the rear. We find the standard 10 setting for the incline is insufficient and have boosted the front of the machine by around 10cm.

My 10 and half year old bitch has recently had a sub-total coronoidectomy of the cornoid process and is in rehab stages. She is on the treddy 2/3 times p/w and only does a very slow walk (not permitted to walk at a pace where she shows any lameness) for only approx. 50mtrs at a time, so not much at all for her. Prolly around 2-2.5kph only. We are working slowly up to decline walking for her in efforts to increase her shoulder/elbow strength. Up until about a year ago she was doing 1km of walking/trotting up to 5.5kph.

Our 5 year old male just hops on for some additional exercise cause I have the girls on anyway. He sulks if he misses out :laugh: I only do around 20 mins with him, but he will trot around 7kmh cause he is a bigger dog. He is a bit weak all over, so I intermittently use incline/decline with him, but only at the walk.

I do find the dogs trot considerably slower on the treadmill than on the ground. I am yet to decide 100% if this is because the speedo is out or the dogs aren't as confident on the treddy as on real ground, though they appear fine. I think it may be a combo of both. On the bike we can do 10-13kmh, so significantly more. That said, the treddy workout is still good and the benefit of the incline/decline is a real advantage.

I also use T touch pads sometimes.

If there is anything more specific you want to know, please ask :)

Edited October 26, 2013 by dyzney