Winter schedule - anyone use a treadmill??

[EddieF]

I'm having trouble finding an effective way to exercise Winnie (4 month old Wirehaired Vizsla) with these short days. I let her out, get ready for work and then I'm gone early. She plays with our JRT in the morning while my wife is getting ready for work, then we have a dog walker who comes mid-day for a bit. When I get home I do stuff with her but with the short days I'm finding all it takes is one errand on the way home and it's too dark to go for a walk or play fetch in the yard.

We have a treadmill our Jack Russell used to use when he was oozing with puppy energy last winter. We didn't use it a lot but he doesn't mind it. Last night we tried to get Winnie on it, and she did pretty good. Just a brisk walking pace, and we didn't overdo it, just a trial to see if she could do it. I think with some practice she'll be able to get some worthwhile exercise on it.

It feels like a cop out. Lord knows I need exercise myself, but in the winter it's not going to get easier to find blocks of time every day to adequately exercise her. Does anyone else here use a treadmill to supplement more natural and fun exercise as needed??

[ezzy333]

I don't try to exercise the pups a lot till they get older. I like to let the joints and bones develop before putting a lot of stress and wear on them. Some playing around the house and yard plus a walk in a low cover field when possible is all I do with them.

Ezzy

[Karen]

When Courage was a pup he was an absoulte ball of energy (hadn't seen anything like it before, and 8 years later and 50+ foster dogs I STILL haven't). He's a natural retreiver I'd play fetch for 20 minutes before work, have a dog walker come in mid-day to take him for a walk, 20 minute fetch session when I got home from work, again between dinner & dishes, again around 8:00 p.m., and then I'd sit at the far side of the livingroom and toss a tennis ball into the corner all evening long while watching TV.

On the weekends I'd spend tons of time outside doing yard work and he'd hang out with me. That would keep him relatively calm through Tuesday.

Also, one of his favorite toys was a laser pointer. He'd chase that thing around the yard after dark like crazy. All of these activities were done for short periods of time.

Blaze, as an adult, was trained to run on a treadmill, but I don't find it nearly as effective in building muscle & stamina and keeping him in shape as a good run in the field. It's an alternative when the weather is bad though.

[EddieF]

I like that laser pointer idea! I'll have to try that.

Yeah I'm not trying to build muscle or anything, just take a little energy off the top. The weekend she gets a lot and it does seem to keep her calm till midweek. I'll find my own pace with her, it just takes a while to get a routine going, and once I got a routine set, the time changed and so did our routine.

[MOOSE]

NOW is the perfect time to start to teach your pup to use the treadmill! I wish we had had one when our guys were pups. They are now scared to death of the thing and havn't gotten them over it. Short spurts would be great to start your pup with and then that mind stimulation will tire them out too!

[Greg Jennings]

It's dark when leave the house and it's dark when I leave work. It's wet and sloppy. What little time I have is devoted to the kids. So, a treadmill is what I'm doing.

I built side walls of thin plywood with a 2x4 frame. I put the dog in his roading harness, then get him going. I trot him at 3.5 to 5 mph at a steep incline for 30 mins to an hour. It takes the edge off.

[remmy]

Greg, how does it compare to roading or free running in the fields? I was thinking about trying it.

[Kube]

I work second shift. I get home at 1:00AM, and I just got in from almost 30 minutes of playing fetch in the yard. My dog can find the bumper in the dark. She either marks the sound or sometimes she has to snif for it. I figure those are both good things to practice. Yeah, my neighbors love me.

I do like the treadmill idea though. If I ever find one really cheap I'll probably try it.

[Greg Jennings]

Greg, how does it compare to roading or free running in the fields? I was thinking about trying it.

It's like grabbing a PBJ sandwich on the run when you want a real meat-and-two, sit-down meal. You're not starving, but it isn't very satisfying and you know you can't do it for the long term.

My advice is that if you have a reasonable way to road off foot or or ATV or to free run off ATV, to pass on the treadmill.

If you have a situation like mine, or you're using it on days when weather or whatever keeps you from getting out, then I'd say it would be a good idea.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of my rig and post it.

PS: I really like roading off foot. Roading harness, 6' jaeger lead or half a check cord, hiking boots with good socks and take that dog hiking. Human and dog are both much better for it.

[scout_on_38s]

I play fetch in the yard after dark. They can see much better than we can and if they lose sight of it my pup puts here nose to the ground. I'll also take a wing out and drop it randomly and have her find "dead bird" in the dark.

[MTO4Life]

My dog is the queen of doing her business during exercise. Even if she does a #1 and #2 before, once she's running, she'll go again. How can you prevent them from doing it, or will they hold it as you are in the house? Just wondering...

[Greg Jennings]

Three things:

1. I put mine on the stake out before we run. He gets his business done then.
2. I try to run him for shorter times at higher inclines.
3. I put a disposable towel behind the treadmill and keep the 409 handy.

[KFhunter]

I put my pup on the treadmill before I had found this thread lol, I was thinking about the movie "I am legend"

She didn't run at all at first, just had the brakes on and skidded her paws across the treadmill as I held her, then we started having her run forward to grab a treat and she started getting the hang of it. I think a few more episodes and she'd have been a treadmill running fool.

I was worried about getting her paw sucked in the belt at the rear of the treadmill though so I quit doing it, man I'd hate to have to dig a mangled leg/ear or worse out the back of a treadmill.

[Bandito]

Also, one of his favorite toys was a laser pointer. He'd chase that thing around the yard after dark like crazy. All of these activities were done for short periods of time.

I know this is an old thread but I was doing some searching and ran across this.

It would seem that a laser pointer would cause a dog to be too dependent on its eyes. Or not?

[Neil]

The ones for humans are too short for a dog, get one lengthened or get a jog-a-pup (do a Google)

All are dangerous, never leave the dog unattended,

Neil