Our ~1 year old dog is turning out to be even more energetic than we thought. With daylight savings (or loss) we just don’t have enough time to get him the kind of exercise he needs. Even a 2 mile run is absolutely nothing to him.
A book my wife is reading, I think by that Caesar dog whsiperer dude, says dogs love treadmills. OK, so before I sink a couple grand into one, who has tried it?
Let me get this right. You are going to spend a couple of grand on a treadmill for your dog?
Don’t triathletes make alot of money? I’m not one of them but maybe he is.
Dude, dog-specific t-mills start at $1400. Crazy. But no, I would get one for people, and make my wife happy (she’s wanted one for awhile).
Keep in mind also, that the beast dog is creating much trouble and destruction with his idle energy…
It just sounded funny the way you posted it. One of my coworkers has a nice treadmill. She sits in a chair and smokes while her dog walks on the treadmill. Get the beast dog moving…LOL:)
We have hooked our dogs up to a treadmill (our human variety treadmill). We just made a way for the leash to hook across the front. Dogs are smart and learn very easily. We have a big yard and never “make” them run. My wife shows dogs and needed to train a few dogs to pace a a certain gait. Works fine!
I haven’t tried the treadmill - but Cesar swears by them. We make sure our greyhounds have a good 30 min of running around in our yard every day; we also have a very dominant male scottish terrier, who needs 30 - 45 min a day of ‘speedwork’ in order for him to stay calm.
At least build a story, on the other hand, that you are going to buy the treadmill for you and your wife - and have the dog’s exercise be a happy by-product of having the equipment in the house. My wife and I are totally dog-crazy (the dogs’ wardrobes are bigger than mine!), but I’m not sure we would buy such a massive and expensive piece of equipment for the dogs! (On reflection, my wife might, and I would acquiesce…)
I saw a piece on some show dog when the sports channel had some major dog show and the lady that owned one of the winners was older and couldn’t do the exercise with her dog. They showed her sitting next to a treadmill while her dog walked a few miles on it.
I’ve got this vision of a bowl of dog treats at the front of a treadmill and the only way the dog can get at them is to run on it.
Wonder if my cat would use one?
jaretj
You can use human treadmills for dogs, you don’t need a special dog treadmill. I don’t know that it would save you any time though, for safety reasons, you would have to supervise the dog very closely anyway.
Although it will help, more exercise may not be the total answer to destructive behavior. Your dog needs human interaction and mental stimulation too. Any young dog should be under supervision at all times or confined to a “dog proof area”. Once they mature a bit, they can be trusted more.
I have seen Cesar on the dog whisper use a treadmill to help a hyper dog burn off excess energy by running on a t-mill. If you get a treadmill put it next to your spinner and have the dog run while you pedal. Just make sure you are keeping an eye on the dog, as it can be dangerous and provide plenty of water before and after.
Build a fence, get another dog, and let them wear each other out while playing outside.
According to Cesear one of the benefits of the treadmill for dogs, is that it is also a mental workout for the dog to keep him/herself on the treadmill. So you excercise both the body and the mind.
Ed
check your local codes b/c in some places dog treadmills are illegal. I think one such place is detroit as they are used to prepare dogs for fighting.
check your local codes b/c in some places dog treadmills are illegal. I think one such place is detroit as they are used to prepare dogs for fighting.
Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com
I guess indoor training makes animals angry too. I really need a windtunnel for my birds to get exercise but a Google search turned up a $4 million price tag.
I love that video! The dog looks so happy 
According to Cesear one of the benefits of the treadmill for dogs, is that it is also a mental workout for the dog to keep him/herself on the treadmill. So you excercise both the body and the mind.
Like I said, it will help. It just isn’t the only answer.
A word of note on Cesar Milan. His is good and has talent, BUT he is not the all knowing Guru of dog problems. He is self taught dog behaviorist and a current fad with his carefully edited show. Remember he is more impressive because he controls what you see, which cases he takes on, and which ones make the TV show. All with careful editing.
I am not bashing him, he has some great natural talent, but he is only one person and a bit of a “one trick pony”. Not everything is solved by wearing the dog out until he is too tired to do anything “wrong”. Not all aggression is stopped by saying SH,SH,SH
.
Overall, I think his show is good because it gets people to realize its not the dog, but the way they treat their dog that causes problems. He does have a good handle on the typical spoiled dog and is quite good with most aggressive dog problems. And yes, the average pet dog does not get enough exercise.
He draws critcism from experts who have strong backgrounds of education, success and experience. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years now (pm me, I’ll send you my resume) dog training/management, especially with problem dogs/owners, is rarely solved in the 1/2 hour segments Cesar presents. Some of the thing he does are downright dangerous.
The most difficult thing about dog training/management is that every case is unique. Solving problems on a TV show or by internet discussion is not the best way to go about it. It takes talent and experience to “read” a dog. Cesar seems to have a good handle on this. There are as many ways to train dogs as there are dogs to train. Some effective, some not.
Sometimes dogs learn because of our methods, sometimes despite them.