Has any one trained their Doolde for the treadmill?

[Gabriele Kennedy]

With the huge amounts of thunderstorms this past month and bad weather in New England's winter I have been wondering about treadmill training. I see it all the time on Ceaser's Show but it makes me a bit nervous. How do you know if the dog enjoys it or when he is had enough or going the correct speed?

Chili is a very long legged doodle ( 73 lbs - very thin ) so he really needs to run fast to feel happy. When we have to keep him in for weather ( rain is okay but lightening is dangerous) he bounces off the walls

[Adina P]

Here are some past discussions that touch on this:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/too-cold-for-walks-any

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/has-any-tried-treadmills-for

[Lynda Kamrath]

I had never thought about my doodles on a treadmill. Actually, I can't even spend time on a treadmill or a stationary bike. My husband has set them up for me but I just can't seem to get around to doing that. I prefer to ride my mountain bike with the dogs (Hondo has been riding with us since he was a puppy) or do swim jogging at the local junior college. I swam laps in the morning for three years before I retired. I'm like Chili - I need some exercise to be happy. And my dogs sit on the couch and look out the window just waiting for an invitation to go for a walk or a ride.

[Katie and Murphy]

Yes!! Murphy is all leg, about 70 lbs., and he's an inch shorter than his 100 lb. lady Mastiff best friend. In order to get rid of all his excess energy, he treads every day, once in the morning and once in the evening. That's on top of running repeatedly up and down the stairs, tons of mental activities (which are more exhausting for him), and his regular two mile walks.

Everyone I know is blown away when they see him do it, because apparently no one else in the area has taught their dog to walk on the treadmill. (I don't think it's that weird...I got the idea off the TV.) I don't remember if I was nervous when I started...I was probably more relieved. I live on the outskirts of Washington D.C., where dog parks are scarce and my yard borders a very, very busy road. Murphy was almost a year when I got him and had spent all that time running around the breeder's farm. When I brought him home (and even until the beginning of this summer) he'd run and not come back. I was so scared he'd get hit by traffic, and with his black coat...well, he wears an orange collar whenever he's outdoors, now.

Currently, he and I are in the middle of Serious Outdoor Training, so he probably doesn't need to tread as much as he did before. I've kept him on his "regular" routine anyways, due to the fact that if I go off schedule (even for a day), he starts misbehaving.

If/When you first start off with Chili, you'll want to put the incline at 2.0 (or the lowest incline your treadmill will go) and keep the speed slow. Whatever his natural walking-pace is, is the pace you're aiming for. Once Chili becomes used to the treadmill, you can increase the speed just a bit, though I'd recommend keeping it on the same pace, and just upping the incline. Murphy started off at a speed of 2.3 with an incline of 2.0, and over time, I've increased the speed to 2.5 and he walks on an incline of 3.5.

I've never let Murphy run at a full-blown speed, but every once in a while, he needs a good jog. (The humidity down here makes it impossible to walk him during the summer-- he overheats and lies down on the sidewalk and refuses to walk the rest of the way home.) For a jog, I'll have him go at 3.2 for ten minutes, before bringing him back down to a walk. Once he gets used to the treadmill, I don't think you'll need to jog your pup. I put Murphy on anywhere from a half hour to an hour each time, depending on his energy level. During the winter and summer, when he has so much excess energy to burn, he goes on for a good solid hour. It may sound like a long time (and trust me, I hear about it ALL the time), but if you spend an hour walking him anyways, what's the difference? Murphy is used to walking uphill, so an incline isn't torture for him; it's The Usual.

[Katie and Murphy]

(continued)

When it comes to the dog liking the treadmill, I don't think it's something Murph dislikes. It's exercise, he needs it, and he gets a cookie and breakfast/dinner afterwards, so he's rewarded every time. He's never left alone and I never used it as a form of punishment, so he doesn't have any scary or bad associations with the machine. He just does his thing while I do mine, and he's encouraged the entire time. He's free to hop off the treadmill anytime he wants, and he did just that at the beginning of training. I don't know why he stopped hopping off, but now it's just a routine for me to put him on it, and take it off when his time's up. Me and Murph, our lives are ruled by routine. :)

I really hope you give it a try! It'd be nice to know another Doodle and owner who use the treadmill. Not only that, but it really does help. Murphy was a wildman before, and the extra exercise has really mellowed him out. Outdoor training is possible now that he's not tearing around the great outdoors, and he's stopped inhaling his food and has started actually chewing it. Treading also helped/helps with bad habits. Murphy has virtually stopped mouthing, and it's very seldom that he uses the cats as his personal chew toys. Granted, he still steals anything and everything he can manage to get his mouth on, but it's easier to give a command and have him follow it. All in all, I just feel as though treading has been positive for my pup. I don't know if everyone else will have the same results, but it's definitely worth trying.

Good luck!

[Gabriele Kennedy]

Thank you so much for the reply
I have been watching the dog whispher train pups on a treadmill and wanting to try it

You mentioned " he just does his thing while I do mine" is that just hanging out in the same room or do you have a 2nd treadmill next to the one he uses so you are both jogging side by side?
I saw that once at a firehouse station/

[2r03s7272mau8]

Hi there. Not sure if this is still an active topic or not, but I trained my Emma to a treadmill last year. She was about a year and a half year old, and she took to it quite quickly. I've progressed her to the point that I can put her on there for about 45 minutes - supervised, of course. We started out with me holding her in place with a chest harness, and now no longer need any type of assistance.

I think if you know Chili and his limits, you'll grow comfortable using the treadmill with him, and you will learn to read his body language to gauge when he's had enough. Emma will just hop off if she's had enough, though she hardly does. I keep her pace at about the same pace as when we walk outside, though it's actually probably a bit slower on the treadmill than when we are outside. Keep in mind, too, that treadmill work should supplement other exercise, like playing outside in the snow. It shouldn't be his only source of exercise.

If you want to see, she's on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ugLF-vKlk

Hope that helps.