Part I: Training for treadmill!

Sucess!
Brought the treadmill home this morning by 11 AM...set it up in our garage (this is human style but it works) and cleaned up. Electric type with mileage, heartrate and goes up to 10 MPH.
Ok, so started out with letting the dogs out in the garage. They sniffed it but it was "Old Hat" in about 2 minutes. So I turned it on and let it run on low speed while they could investigate...they ignored it.
Turned machine off, coaxed Lily over to it (used leash to help with coaxing but did not drag and let her have her space) put treats up the tread and encouraged her to step on it...
She got on and ate the treats. Lots and lots of praise and about 1/2 a lb of sliced cheese later I started it on slow...like ultra turtle slow.
At first it confused her as to why the floor was moving and she jumped forward (I stood in front of it) but then figured out she could walk with it. Sucess! Tons and tons of cut up pieces of cheese and within about 5 minute she was walking right along on it...did this for about 2-3 minutes with lots of treats and ended session!
Smokey, on the other hand, will get on it coaxed with treats but if you turn it on even ultra slow he gets confused and jumps off...I think he'll take more time but eventually he'll figure it out...so we left it with getting on it and being treated and lots of praise, then getting off again. We'll try this for a couple of days and then try to get it back onto ultra turtle slow - but may have to block the sides to keep him from stepping off...we'll see!

Yay! Congratualtions on getting Lily to walk on it, that went quicker than I would've expected! Wonder how The Dog Whisperer trains dogs to use the treadmill?

He floods them and ties them to it!

Sounds like ACampbell could teach him a few things on how to do it the RIGHT way! You made it fun rather than frightening, way to go!

Coulda guessed.

I'm not sure he advertises that. Did you hear about the dog his staff almost killed on the treadmill? You really have to be careful with these things. I know several people who have almost killed dogs on them. I think you have to have a rule that you stay in the room with the treadmill or that you never tie the dog to it. I trained my dog that he had to stay on it so that I didn't worry about this. I do think a tie will help them to feel more secure, though, bc it will prevent them from falling off the back side when they aren't paying attention. But be careful!

I did tie her for stability to the top handle bar - with a quick release knot...tested that if she pulled on it at all it comes loose - it's just enough tension for her to feel the leash and keep going.
We used it again this morning, lots of treats and she likes it...she runs right along on a loose leash (so it ended up being there for looks more than anything)

Smokey still won't do it, he's not thrilled with the moving floor.

It will be a couple of days before I can use it again, hubby was "fixing" it by tightening the belt on the motor since it was slipping a bit and managed to break a plastic piece so I had to order a new one. He had good intentions though, and really got a kick out of watching Lily walk on a treadmill.

I definitely stay right there with her while she's doing it, especially since it's in my garage - so I put up a lawn chair for somewhere for me to sit and feed her treats at the front of it works good!

I may have to adjust methods for Smokey, including putting rails up on the sides or something, I'm not sure yet...when I figure it out I'll post more.

As a side note, putting a soft "landing" at the end of it is as good idea...I put some carpet behind it in the event she slips off the back she doesn't hit the cement flooring...just a thought.

She does seem to like it, she is really food motivated so that helps...you can see the light turn on when she hears me cutting up liver and cheese treats and she'll run out to the garage...I love how dogs think with their stomachs.