It rained yesterday and all night, and forecasted to rain all day. What to do? Fortunately last year, I bought a used treadmill just for days like these. Kate and Tam, the Border collies have been on the treadmill, so do not need to be trained on it.

I put Tam on first. She does the treadmill just like a typical dog would on the Cesar Milan show. She puts her head down, concentrates, and migrates. She stays on the treadmill until I come in to turn it off and walk her off.

Kate was next. She has always been a miss socialite, so her typical way to do the treadmill is with her head up, looking from side to side, tail medium and waging. She never has gotten into the grove and 'migrated' on the treadmill. She has no trouble staying on it until I come for her, she just does not 'get in the groove'!

This is the day for Decker to learn how to use the treadmill. I had had him on it previously for about 30 seconds, just to see how he would react. He was fine that first time. This time, he went through a slight learning curve, then accepted it. He didn't freak out or jump off or act scared in any way. For him, it was a new concept to learn.

At first, he kept putting his front paws above the top of the belt, this made only his back feet move. I chuckled at it. He did that twice, then with guiding with the leash, he settled into a brisk walk. I stayed with him his entire 'trip'.

After about 10 minutes, I sped him up to encourage him to break into a trot. Eventually he did, and I let him stay in that gate for a couple of minutes, then slowed the treadmill down until he was walking again. Then three more minutes at the walk for a cool down.

All-in-all, Decker walked on the treadmill quite well, even for a beginner. He may have trusted me, so accepted it, but what ever the reason, he seemed to enjoy it. When he stopped, he was excited and wiggley.