TREADMILL, ELECTRIC MILL OR BIKE RUN

Each are different tools. Each can do what the other does just not as effective/efficient as the other.

With the majority of these dogs working off lead it just about impossible. The odds say if something can go wrong then it will go wrong......so mills become the safest option going forward.

The object of the tools mentioned is to mimic the dog running on the ground. By far the most effective work a dog can do is propelling himself at max rate, carrying his own bodyweight, pushing against the ground. Sprinting. There is no tool that outperforms a dog running all out sprints.

Of the ones you mentioned biking is the best. If the rider can and the terrain/environment allows it the rider can run the bike at a fast enough pace to get 'sprinting like movement from the dog over distance. The speeds can change and the elevations can change. The guy on the bike can push the dog further than if the rider became a runner and tried to do the same. Of the ones mentioned, biking wins because the dog's feet are on the ground.

Second would depend on the type of mill, slat mill or carpet, and then from there the quality of said mill (how it actually turns). How it turns will determine how hard and how long a dog can run the mill. Different mills will provide different results and the different results can be derived from how the mill is used per dog/per conditioner.

Last, would be the electric mill. The electric mill can be a very effective tool as well. It can change speed and elevation to create different work for the dog.

In the 'book of conditioning' each of the above would cover several chapters individually.

The secret to any of the tools is first, if the dog will put in work, and second if the dog that is putting in work is listened to by the guy dictating the work.

Each are just tools.

A person can dig a hole with a hammer but in some cases the hammer is all you have or actually works best in digging a particular hole.

S

 

It is all about the piece of equipment the dog works best not so much the piece of equipment or the type of equipment.

I have one now that will pull you down the road like he is towing a boat. He will run beside the side by side from here to forever.

When I put him on the mill he looks back at me like I have lost my frikkin' mind. He just stands there.

So for him, if I bought the latest and greatest mill with all the bells and whistles it would be a completely useless piece of equipment.

Regardless of how nice it was and regardless of how well it works on the dog next to him.

S