E MILL KEEPS

[Officially Retired]

I agree in that an emill isn't building any type of strength. The act of running, whether it's on a jenny or a mill, is still the same act of running. It is definitely different in what it accomplishes with each tool, but the act is just the same.

Not so. By the very admission that an emill "isn't building muscle," and that actual running is "definitely different" in what it accomplishes, you are thereby admitting they are not "the same."

Your error here is in confusing "moving your legs" with actually running. With an emill, you're just "moving your legs" while a belt is moving underneath you. By contrast, out in the hills you are actually running, which means propelling your whole body forward against the inertia of gravity. This absolute difference in what is actually happening between the two exercises is precisely why true running is ultimately superior to emilling.

As a runner, I can attest to the differences in running on a stationary treadmill as opposed to running on trails throughout acreage or on a track. I can also tell the difference in dogs when running a treadmill as opposed to running a jenny or something along those lines.

If you can tell "the difference," then basic logic holds that they are, in fact, not the same

I personally would never suggest using just one tool to get a dog in shape. I have used just one tool to do so over the years just for my own satisfaction to see if it could be done successfully. In that regard, most all of them can be used singularly and still have the animal come out a winner.

Neither would I. But because dogs can "come out winners" placed under a wide variety of keeps, what this shows is that there are other factors to winning than "what keep" the dog is placed on ... the most important of which is what dog is being used, and at what weight?

I think that any way of conditioning a dog can be labeled as the "lazy man's" way as the man isn't doing any work aside from keeping an eye on his charge to make sure all goes smoothly. The man isn't doing any of the strenuous work that his animal is performing.

That is not true. Bicycling a dog, or weight pulling a dog, involves human effort and constant attention. Even flirtpoling and ATVing a dog require more effort than putting a dog on a mill and just standing there, and (what's more) they're ultimately better for the dog too.

I personally believe that whatever the dog does the best is the optimal way to condition the animal.

Disagree again. What some lazy dogs "do best" is just stand there

I do get your point though.

Regardless of my own personal feelings, if a dog will not work a jenny but will work a mill like a madman, then the mill is the optimal way for that particular animal.

This is true for that animal, but that doesn't mean the emill is the best way to condition in general ... it is just all that particular dog can be coaxed to do.

I personally feel that the flirtpole, jenny, and another contraption I use are the best ways to condition a dog. Unfortunately for me, not all of my dogs share the same mindset.

Yep. The flirtpole, the jenny, and two other contraptions are what comprise my own keep, and dogs that don't want to work these devices will be at an exercise disadvantage compared to the ones that do.

Jack