On those nasty days where it's just not fun going outside, I will put Bailey, our 2 year old Mal, on a treadmill. She loves it. If she knows that's where I'm headed, she'll race ahead downstairs to our workout room and be sitting on it, ready to go by the time I get there. Normally, I will run her for about 15 minutes, varying the speed to keep things interesting. Our usual speed is about 3.5 mph but I'll give her some time at about 4.5 mph also. I then follow that up with about 5 minutes of obedience and about another 20 minutes of intense play to further wear her out. I realize this isn't the perfect exercise and we try to get out twice a day for long walks, usually rain or shine, regardless of the temperature. Lately, with last week's ice storm, it just wasn't fun getting out in that mess.

I'm just curious, for those of you who run your dogs on a treadmill, how fast do you go? I don't want to go too fast but I want to give her a good workout.

As a side note, I found you can actually teach old dogs new tricks. Since we taught Bailey to use the treadmill, our older dog, Tasha, always hangs around while we're working out so I put her on it also. once Bailey was finished. After a slow, cautious start, she trots on it like she's been doing it all her life. Go figure.

I run my dogs at an average of 6 mph. I let them start at around 7 mph, and then lower it after their initial burst of energy (about a half a mile or so, sometimes more) to 6 mph or for one 5.5 mph.

I also have the treadmill at an incline. On our model the everyday incline is 5 for one and 10 for the other, but I will raise it or lower it to vary the work out.

I let them rum for 2-3 miles every morning, and sometimes the same at night depending on the day and the schedule. It does not replace other exercise though... They go for bike rides, drag weight, swim, go for walks and train in addition. The treadmill is just to get in additional miles in every day, nothing more...

My 3.5 yr old Mal mix (foster) does well at ~4.5 mph, and we usually keep her on it for 20-30 minutes, but she will keep going if we let her.

We've had the treadmill for about six months.

My 9 yr old Pekingese mix loves the treadmill as well, ~2.2 to 2.6 mph is good for him.

My Dobe runs for a 2x 30min @ 4.5mph a day. To keep him challenged i change the incline through out the workout, also if he is exceptionally jazzed and almost running off the front of the treadmill i will increase the speed to 5.5-6mph but often times will pull that back to 4.5 after a few minutes so he can maintain the pace comfortably for the 30 minutes. I have had him on there comfortably for 45min once when i knew i was going to be gone for a little longer than usual. Just like with human exercise the idea is for it to be challenging but doable, and that will vary from dog to dog... there is no way my Rott could keep up that pace and duration.

Thanks for the repies, all. I guess I was being a little conservative with my speed and duration out of concern for safety. Also didn't want her to get too bored. Last night, I took Jessica's lead and cranked it up to about 6.5 then backed off to 5.5 mph. She seemed to handle it well so we did about 1.5 miles. Went great and did a better job of burning off some of her energy.

Like others have said, this by no means replaces our normal exercise. Last night was an ugly ice storm again, topped off by a little snow, with temps dipping to single digits. Normally, we walk or do roadwork for about 20-30 miles a week and lots of hard play and obedience. She loves the treadmill and I think it gives her a little confidence. Just wasn't sure how much she could safely handle.

Thanks all!