Hello to everyone.
Due to my accident 6 weeks ago I cannot exercise my rott how I would normally.

Please give me feedback on dog treadmills if anyone uses them.

Cheers Brent

I'm a big treadmill user. Fama ran on one almost every day for a whole year. Initial training can be a challenge with some dogs. they freak out at the floor moving. You just have to keep it very positive and upbeat. Start really slow, and for a very short time. Then just feel your way along, making sure it stays fun for the dog.

I usually start by rolling a ball up on the treadmill while it is stopped, and having the dog go up and get it. Then, start the treadmill slowly with the dog on a leash and encourage them to stay up there with the toy. Stop every 15 seconds or so and let them have the toy and play with it. Rinse and repeat extending duration or speed as you see fit. Just be careful not to scare the dog.

It should be said that running on a treadmill is not for young dogs. they need to have fully formed skeletal structures before doing long runs, on the treadmill or road.

Picture of Fama on the treadmill in Afghanistan

Thanks Mate

More interested in the quality and the different brands.

I hired a human treadmill but there a bit short. The dog treads for large breed are 6 feet running area extra large goes close to 7 feet.
I think the biggest human one is 5 feet.

The dog treads are very expensive.

LOL... my bad! I've only used the human ones.

To be honest, I'd see if you can pick up a second hand human one off craigslist. Most people just use human ones even with big dogs

Not sure how much difference it makes what brand treadmill to use. Consumer Reports Magazine or recommendations from any retailer can help compare the different brands. Ours is by Vision, for what it's worth. It's for humans and is highly suitable size-wize for our Malinois. Being able to raise the grade or angle of the bed is a nice feature if you want to have them work a little harder.

Otherwise, I'd pay closer attention to David's input because you're going to want to go about training your dog on it properly to make it a positive experience. Your training technique is going to be more important than the brand of treadmill to buy. We trained ours on it using marker training with treats instead of toys but the concept is the same. Little steps at a time to give them confidence and start with slow speeds. Some folks appear to tie the dog's leash to the treadmill and then let the dog run/walk alone. We stay beside our dog with the 18" leash to ensure she stays properly positioned and for safety. It's a great workout if you can't get outside.

I have a Jog A Dog brand treadmill. It is the large size. The tread is 6 feet & 18" wide. I like it. I had no problem with putting my dogs on it. I made no big deal about it..just asked them to get on & started it slowly. My dogs are introduced to getting on all kinds of things, even unsteady things, from young pups, so it was not big deal to them.

I will say that I would not put a young dog on it. Growth plates don't close on GSDs until about 2 years of age & I would not put a dog on it until this time. I don't know about other breeds,as w/l GSDs is all that I have. But I would suspect that it is about the same on any larger breed dog.

Most people treadmills are 5 ft. But they do make longer treaded ones..they are just more expensive & harder to find. If you have a smaller sized GSD or mal a 5 ft one is fine. I keep a short leash on my dog while on the treadmill & sit right with them. I personally, would never walk away & leave them on it. But that's just me.

I had one a while ago that I screwed pieces of plywood to to hold the dog from going off to the side on accident (or purpose) that way I didn't have to worry about it getting hurt. After that one burnt out, I haven't gotten another. Space is limited, so we go swim or just deal with manic dogs and practice patience.

The jog a dog has sides.

http://www.jogadog.com/

The Jog a Dog is actually cheaper than the top of the line human tread mills but certainly not cheap.

What about the dogs getting off the treadmill, I'm guessing you set the tread mill for a certain time so the tread slows to a stop?