How to Teach Your Dog to Run on the Treadmill

This article will give you tips on how to exercise your dog indoors by using a treadmill. This is great for those winter months when it's unbearable to walk or jog outside in the snow and ice.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. In order to start your pup on the treadmill, you will first want to get them familiarized with it. Some ways to do this are to have them play in the area where the treadmill is while you're exercising on it. This way, they are already used to the noise of it.

2. It's usually better to have two people do the training simultaneously because you will be using treats. One person will kneel at the front of the treadmill with a treat and the other person will be straddling the treadmill itself. Place the dog on the treadmill belt and start the speed at around 1.0-1.5. Make sure that you are holding onto the dog as they walk and that the kneeling person is giving praise while allowing the dog to visibly see the treat.

3. Once you have the dog walking successfully for about a minute, stop the treadmill and give them the snack. Repeat these steps until you have your dog walking for longer periods of time. It may take a couple of days of this repetition or it may take weeks depending on the dog.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to have patience.
• Remember that this type of activity should not be used everyday - a dog needs their daily walks outside as well.
• Make sure that you lay some newpaper or a doggie pad at the end of the treadmill. Sometime exercise causes dogs to have a bowel movement and you don't want this to be all over your floor.
• Never attach a dog's leash to the treadmill!
• Always supervise when the dog is on the treadmill!