Rocco and the Treadmill

Some of the rescues and trainers I have worked with have used treadmills to exercise their dogs. Unfortunately, we live in a teeny tiny apartment with four animals so moving a treadmill in was never an option. 

Lucky for us the house we are staying at has a treadmill.
Rocco first tried it out last week while we were here.

I started off by gently introducing him to the idea of the treadmill. I lead him onto it and praised him, give him treats. I also brought him in the room when the treadmill was turned on, encouraged him, gave him treats etc. He is a
confident dog who isn't bothered by very many things so really we had it easy. With a lot of dogs I would expect this process to be slow and gradual over a few hours, days or weeks. However, he was more than ready to go after less than an hour.

I also attached two leashes to the treadmill to keep him in place. He has two correction collars on, both of which are far too big for him. When he is moving at a good speed the collars are loose. If he is lagging behind they tighten a little and remind him to move faster. If they are too tight I slow down the treadmill a lot and speed it up more slowly. It took a few tried to get the leads attached in the perfect position.

 After he was okay with the idea of standing on the treadmill I leashed him in and turned it on. I pretended to walk next to him and encouraged him to keep going "Lets go", "good work", "keep going". The more excited I sounded the faster he walked and the more he got into it.

The first time we tried out the treadmill I kept it on low for 5 minutes and then I let him off. I praised and praised him.
NOTE: The following videos are all less than a minute long. They do not represent the amount of time Rocco spent on a treadmill.

The second time on the treadmill we started out slow and then increased to a medium speed where he was walking quickly. This time he stayed on for closer to 15 minutes. At the end of this he was not panting and was eager to get back on later in the day

The next time we went on the treadmill we did the usual warm up. I started him slow and then began to increase the elevation and speed as time went on. I made sure not to do it too quickly as to make him nervous about the change. This time we got up to a pretty good pace. He trotted along for nearly 30 minutes before I slowed him down for a cool off. 

 

The fourth time we did the treadmill Rocco ran it for 45 minutes. As with the other times, I started him off slow and increased elevation and speed as time went on. In the end he got up to a pretty fast trot. I didn't leave it at this speed for more than a few minutes because he does seem a little nervous about keeping up the pace, though I hope in time he will comfortable with the higher speed. After about 40 minutes into this run he began panting which he had not done with the other runs so this made me very happy

. 

 I always provide

Rocco with a few minutes of "cool down" before turning off the treadmill so his muscles and brain can slow down without an abrupt stop. I also encourage stretching, but I can only do so much about that.

Running on a treadmill made him very tired. Although he exercised for less time than he would on an average day, I think the speed at which he trotted and the level of mental energy he had to use on the treadmill contributed to his exhaustion.

**It is not recommended that you leave pets unsupervised while using a treadmill**