Treadmill Dog

When I first got Willie I read Cesar Millan’s book on how to communicate with dogs. One of the things Cesar recommended was to give your dog a lot of exercise and walk him two times a day and if you couldn’t do that to get a treadmill and train him to walk on that. I have no problem walking Willie in the morning since I have a non-negotiable agreement with myself to walk several miles every morning. However, in the evening it is often impossible as I am at work or it’s too dark. So I got Willie a people treadmill. He was afraid of it and he only got as far as  jumping on it and then immediately jumping off. So I sold it. But I didn’t give up. Somewhere I learned  that there was such a thing as a dog treadmill, smaller than a people treadmill. I looked into it and bought one for Willie and placed it in the living room. Then I found a dog trainer who had a treadmill and took Willie for a lesson. The trainer simply took Willie to the treadmill with his leash on and had him stand on it without it moving. Then she gradually tuned the speed up from very slow to normal walking speed. She did this so gradually and with Willie getting on and off the treadmill frequently that Willie felt safe. I took Willie home and told him to get on his treadmill by saying “treadmill” and he walked onto it. I turned it on and Willie walked. Now Willie likes his treadmill and goes on it without a leash. You can see him walking on YouTube under “Willie the adorable treadmill dog”.