[midnight804]

good morning all,
Yesterday I was running the dog at a local park and I ran into (litterally) a friends dog. Knowing the dog we waited till my friend came huffing up the trail (boo for tobacco lungs) and caught up for a while.

I noticed my friends dog Giza had a great condition and seemed more muscular than last time is saw him. The Giza is a large (very large) American Staffordshire mix so me noticing more muscle on Giza was a shock...he's always been a solid 100lbs of straight up muscle and sloppy pitbull kisses.

In our conversation my friend said he had bought a treadmill for Giza and trained him to run it. she said they love it for winter time exercise as well as now that its often over 100F during the day here.

has anyone here had experience with Grand Carpet Mills?

http://www.grandcarpetmill.com/

It seems like it a solidly built piece of gear (we went to Giza's momma's house to have a beer after we met up at the park) and Giza's momma said the guy who runs the company is super awesome to deal with. Hers has a dark finish on it and I really like the harness and harness attachment bar setup. Gizza's momma also said it was pretty durable and the guy who owns the company even gave her some tips to make the belts last longer (seal it with clear Silicone Caulk) and gave her a discount when he found out she worked at an animal shelter.

Upon my up close mechanical nerd inspection I found the roller to be very well machined and the frame was also well made. The adjustment for the roller length was simple, solid and sensible. The harness bar attachments we're all hardcore and looked very durable. Also the incline legs on the front were solid too. All in all it passed my uber nerd inspection!

I have trained Midnight to run on my dads treadmill but its a big old $3K motorized person treadmill and the carpet mill seems much better for dogs.

I realize that a treadmill is never an exercise replacement, but a tool to use when weather will not allow for a good run outside. However I have called my dad a few times recently to use his treadmill with Midnight during the recent days when its been 100+ outside.

He would never be allowed unsupervised use (Giza's momma keeps hers in the closet to dissuade Giza from unattended use) and this is certainly not going to be any kind of run replacement, but it could be worth the 600-700 bucks to have a suitable hard exercise alternative for craptastic weather days.

I had a good month with sales last month and I was gonna get myself a new SIG but since seeing this dog treadmill yesterday I'm seriously considering not buying a new SIG for me and instead buying a treadmill for the dog. However the new run of the equinox finished p220's just hit the shelves so I'm kind of torn.

Dog Treadmill or Shiny New .45?

Any opinions/ experiences with the Grand Carpet Mil or other dog treadmills. If you happen to own a sig p220 you could chime in on that too...

thanks,
chris and midnight

 

[BrianR]

Sorry I'm catching this post a couple of months late!
I hope you've bought a treadmill from Grand Carpet Mill, or you're still shopping!

I have one of Kelly's mills and can say that your inspection was right on. Ikea has nothin' on these things - you're absolutely right about their construction, very solid, built to last, and the craftsmanship is very nice to look at!

I've got two border collies's that love running on their mill in upstate NY in the winter. I'm not so interested in hking in the winter months, so the mill is a GREAT energy outlet for them!!! Kelly has stories about bully breeds that run on the treadmills just for the sake of running. He's got more than one customer that has to turn the mill on it's side to keep their dogs from running at at all hours of the night! My dogs are more interested in the run-for-treats aspect of it, so it's definitely a family activity with lots of encouragement and treats. But the 20 minutes a day in the winter time is very, very worth it! The dogs get a kick out of it, and they stay in shape while the snow is flying! We still go out to the local parks, and you're absoltely right - it's definitely not a replacement for a walk in the woods - but it allows for sanity when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Grand Carpet Mill is putting out the best product in this niche market. Powered treadmills designed for humans are not a safe options for dogs and don't give the same workout as a dog-powered carpet mill. There's also a dog specific powered contraption being pandered on the web, but it's an expensive pile of trash. Give Kelly a call about his treadmills and you won't have any question about money well spent!

I'm a Glock man myself, but I appreciate good hardware from other makers... Good luck with your Sig search, and I can't wait to hear how your GCM works out!

Brian R

 

[midnight804]

wow...its late but its very informative. thanks Biran and welcome to the forum. this is a good place to learn about GSDs and other stuff.

I decided to save for both...I'm about 75% saved for the GCM and well I got 90% of what i need for the shiny equinox finished .45. My guy at the store held one in the back for me so I could save for the both the GCM and the SIG. I used to work at this place and since leaving have continued to be a good customer so they were ok with holding one of the Equinox 220's for me. I have a couple o glock and like them fine, but i prefer the triggers on the sigs...nothing wrong the glocks though. I'll always have a few simply because they will feed anything and only jam if you limp wrist it.

Kelly is the man! I called and he gave me the run down on the finishes and the roller/belt adjustment. I am going to have the largerst sized GCM here before december hits. I decided to go ahead and get the extra belt and another harness with it.

I'm really looking forward to it as I'm sure it will pay for itself on days when theres sleet and snow around. Of course he'll still get his walks, but when the weather is really crappy he gets a tad bit "stir crazy" if we can't run our 6 miles a day. I don;t mind running him in "bad" weather but I simply wont' do it if Its so bad I'm afraid the cars on the roads can;t see me well enough or if theres ice and whatnot on the ground.

I felt the same way you do about the 1500 dollar powered treadmill.
thanks again briand and welcome to the forum.
-c