A couple of weeks. For the grown dogs there is a post with a piece of threaded rod out over the table with a snap hook to keep them centered. The puppy made no effort to get off. The few I have tried run it fairly well but they have to be hooked up. A squirrel happens by and it would the dog chasing them and me chasing the dog. I'm thinking I would finish a distant third. I will get another video of the hookup with a grown dog using it. I will be working on the learning curve in the mean time. EWO