Is the Petsite Treadmill worth it? In this post I will share my experience with the Petsite Treadmill for my 60 pound, high-energy dog.
I have a high energy dog. Seriously, in all four years that I’ve had her she’s never been tired and we have done 18 mile hikes, we’ve spent 8 hours working on the farm together and she comes home and still wants to play tug of war. This pup has ENERGY!
I started looking into a dog treadmill after a couple of Cesar Millan episodes. I noticed that other trainers on youtube were using treadmills and recommending this exercise regiment to clients with high energy dogs and dogs with behavior issues. Plus, winters get COLD, and I don’t have time to give my dog an hour of tug of war a day (and neither does my shoulder want to!)
So, I did a little research and asked for the Petsite Treadmill for Christmas.
Petsite Treadmill Review
Where to buy the Petsite Treadmill
There are a few places you can purchase the Petsite Treadmill. My go to for anything is Amazon, plus this dog treadmill is currently listed cheapest there. If you decide to use Amazon, like I do, just be careful you buy from the Petsite Store which currently has 172 ratings at 4.5 stars. Another seller also offers the same treadmill, but only has 13 reviews and only four stars.
Petsite Treadmill for Dogs
Leash Bar and Blinders
Besides size, one of the biggest factors that separate a dog treadmill from a person treadmill are the side blinders and the top leash bar. Even though it has a leash bar.
I feel that the blinders and leash bar are just fine and work well for my dogs height. Though my dog is a little bigger than most dogs who use this treadmill.
Disclaimers:
**Never leave your dog unattended while using any treadmill**
Petsite Treadmill Manual
Here is a copy of the scanned petsite treadmill manual. I found the assembly instructions were not very clear, but luckily it was pretty straight forward so I didn’t have too much trouble. All the tools needed to put it together were included, including watch batteries for the remote control. The only assembly was putting the bars together and plugging the screen in which you can see on page five in the manual.
How to Train Your Dog to Use a Treadmill
One of th easiest ways to train your dog to use the treadmill is to have the treadmill on between 0.5-1.0 mph and teach the dog to step on the treadmill as it’s moving.
It is helpful if your dog already understands how to respond to leash pressure. Use treats and lots of positive reinforcement to encourage the dog to get up on the treadmill.
Dimensions
When assembled the treadmill is 40.5″ tall from the floor to the top of the leash bar, by about 4 feet long. It’s about 21 inches wide. I love how compact it is.
Plus, the wheels on the front make it easy to move around the house if needed and since it’s only 49 pounds I can easily move it myself with the help of the wheels.
I do love how compact it is! It fits right in the corner for now! The front has wheels under it so it’s easy to move around the room. We stuck the treadmill in the corner for now until Razz learns she can’t run off the front.
Cheap Dog Treadmill
LCD Screen
The LCD screen provides a lot of control and data including speed, time elapsed, distance and calories. Speed ranges from 0.5mph-7.5mph in 0.1mph increments.
The blue button on the right side is “mode”. There are 12 built in training programs to take your dog through a comprehensive workout. I haven’t used this one with my dog yet, but I’ve toggled through all twelve and will likely use the in the future.
Wireless Remote
This is kind of a cool feature I was not expecting when I ordered my treadmill!
At this point I don’t trust my dog to leave her, but I’m sure in the future as we both become more comfortable this will be nice to have! The remote allows adjustment of the duration and pace/program.
Batteries are included.
Red Safety Clip
The most essential part of any pet treadmill is the red clip. This red clip will promptly stop the treadmill if the magnet is pulled from the screen in case of an emergency.
It will get a little dirty…
These pictures were taken about three days after getting my treadmill all set up. My dog was extremely nervous about getting on the treadmill so we had to us a lot of treats in training her to be comfortable with it… which means there was some drool. It cleans up fine with an all purpose cleaner and a paper towel though.
This is also why we got her her own treadmill, rather than sharing a human treadmill.
Petsite Treadmill for Large Dogs
So this is the only really negative thing I have to say about the Petsite treadmill. I probably should have gotten my dog a longer treadmill. I was very focused on price and side bars that I didn’t think about how much more room she needs to get up to stride. Luckily, she fits just fine at the walk and trot, and we really don’t need to do much more than walk and trot on the treadmill anyway. I think if she were any longer/bigger we’d need to go up in size.
Below I have pictures of both my dogs on it for reference. Cooper isn’t really able to find his stride on the treadmill naturally because it is too short for him, but Razz is able to walk and trot on the treadmill comfortably.
At this time, Petsite doesn’t offer a treadmill bigger than this one.
Petsite Treadmill Error
Issues
I’ve been using this treadmill for about 3 months 5-10 minutes a day for my dog and so far I haven’t had any issues with it. There was definitely a learning curve with training my dog to use it, but once we did some research and I started her on it differently we’ve had much more success.
The only thing I would like to see would be a front bar to help assure that my dog doesn’t try to jump off the front. However, this was really only a fear I had at first. Now that my dog is more comfortable and is starting to enjoy her time on the treadmill she hasn’t tried to jump off the front of it.
Dog Endorsed has a great article reviewing nine other treadmills, including the Petsite Treadmill!
Petsite Dog Treadmill Review:
Overall, if your dog is under 60 pounds, the Petsite Treadmill is a great starter treadmill to help get your dogs energy under control. If you have a little more money to spend I might go for a self-propelled treadmill from FirePaw or for a treadmill like the GoPet which is longer and has a front bar, but the Petsite Treadmill is a great model for the price and does the job!
This post was all about the Petsite Treadmill.
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