PetZen DogTread Dog Treadmill, Up to 30-Pounds, Small

I purchased a used PetZen DogTread from a third-party on craigslist about six months ago. It was very easy to train my French Bulldog to use it.

The first week I didn''t turn it on at all. After the first week, I started to feed my dog on the platform. When she was used to jumping up on it, I made sure that she was on lead and started it up on the slowest speed. I gave her lots of treats and praises. Each day I increased the speed and time a little and continued with the treats. As I was training her, I played around with various speeds until I found that 2.5 mph was the best speed for her gait. The training took about a month all together.

My dog uses it about four or five days a week and stays on for about 45 minutes to one hour without a lead. I still use a treat to lure her on it, but once she starts, she stays on by herself. I now keep the treadmill in my garage along with a big fan for warmer days. I always warm her down slowly to the slowest speed before she dismounts. This is a truly wonderful device, and it has solved the problem of my inability (bad knee) to walk her.

I HIGHLY recommend the PetZen DogTread, and the small dog size doesn''t take up very much space. There is a youtube video of my Coco Chanel the French Bulldog on her PetZen Treadmill:

I bought this for my Italian (miniature) Greyhound, and after a few days training her on it, she decided she loved it! Now I just ask her if she wants to go for a walk and she runs over and jumps on the treadmill and waits for me to turn it on. Since I swim-laps daily at the gym (and obviously little Bella cannot join me), this has been a great solution for her excessive energy!

A few weeks after I got it, the treadmill started having errors and wouldn''t run properly. Since I purchased the treadmill through a third party, I thought the PetZen service department would give me a hard time when it came to repairing the treadmill. BUT I was quite wrong. I sent an email to customer service asking if there was a reset or something that would fix the problem. A service rep was on the phone calling me within 10 minutes and said that the issue was static-electricity in the bone control-console. He said he would put a new one in the mail the next mail delivery free of charge. I had it within 2 days and I haven''t had a problem since.

If you can afford the product, I would recommend it to anyone! It is great for me and my energetic dog!

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PetZen DogTread Motorized Exercise Treadmill

An absolute must for every dog owner. Excellent documentation and simplicity of assembly. Perfect for inclement weather days. Or for those cold winter days when it''s too cold or summer days when it''s too hot to exercise your pooch.

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I gave this treadmill a five star rating because I''m glad I bought it. I did, however, have some issues:

1. I thought the assembly instructions were awful, but it might have just been me. It took me forever to understand the first step. I ended up putting it together the way I thought it should have been put together, which wasn''t exactly according to the directions.

2. I had to go to an external site to find what kind of dogs should use a small treadmill, or what it was rated for. The maximum weight for this unit is 30 pounds, but that''s not the only criteria to use. According to the site I found, this unit is rated for Shelties (as well as for smaller breeds), but I think a Sheltie should actually be on the medium unit.

3. The packaging. Lord love a duck. There was a box, then a box within a box, within a box. You know those Russian nesting dolls? I think I ended up with four boxes. I still haven''t broken all of them down.

I would recommend that anyone considering buying a treadmill for their dog check out some Youtube videos. The way I got my Sheltie familiar with it was to put food on the belt, encourage him to jump on, and then feed him once he was there. Once he was familiar with the treadmill (one day), I started it slowly. He picked up the walking right away, although I still give him a piece of kibble every minute and constantly encourage him. He''s up to 15 minutes, twice a day.

Even with all its annoyances, I''m really glad I got this treadmill. It seems sturdy and powerful enough to last, my dog loves it, and he''s walking every day.

UPDATE: My Sheltie is up to 30 minutes a day, twice a day. For once, he''s getting the exercise he needs. Can''t wait until he gets weighed at the vet.

UPDATE #2 8/15/11 I regret to say that my darling dog needed a bigger treadmill. This treadmill is rated for dogs under 30 pounds. I honestly thought Flash was under 30 when I bought it. Oops, he was 38 pounds. I gave this one to the owners of a little terrier, and he''s having a wonderful time. My dog has gone on to a human treadmill, and is up to three sessions of 35 minutes each per day. He''s lost 5 pounds, too! But I''m so glad we had this one to start with.

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The product comes in the most difficult packaging ever. The machine is screwed onto a wooden board and the packing materials are way too extensive. They must have the Marquis de Sade as their manufacturing head because putting the thing together was torture! When I finally got it assembled, it didn''t work I got an error message when I tried to use it. I was able to get someone from the company on the phone they were extremely nice and very patient, but they couldn''t tell me what the error message meant. Instead, they sent me some new parts.

When I used the new parts the device starting working. Once you''ve put it together, it''s a good machine. Small, movable and pretty convenient. I don''t know much about other machines, so I can''t compare this to any others. The assembly still has me shaking my head, but the treadmill now works great and has been a huge help with our dog.

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