Double-Dog Dare

by | Friday | July 9, 2010 | 17 comments

The dogs and I went for a nice long walk this morning. And by, “we went for a walk,” I mean “Koa and Brody dragged me around the neighborhood for an hour or so.”

Brody and I had been working hard on the heel command for a while there, and for the most part when it’s just the two of us, he will grudgingly do it. He has the attention span of a gnat, as, unfortunately, do I.

Koa doesn’t want to leave my side to begin with, so regardless of what I do with her she is attached to me by an invisible tether. My four year old can walk her without problems. Individually, they are handle-able.

Together, though? Nightmare. They seem to think that they need to jockey for position, so the second one noses in front of the other, they’re off like the thoroughbreds at Del Mar.

They twist the leashes around each other, and as soon as they hear me scold one will invariably fall into position on my opposite side, across the front, usually tripping and/or hamstringing me in the process.

I seem to recall I had the same problems walking Emmett and Mulan, except in that case I not only had two big dogs but a double stroller. After one embarrassing episode involving a playgroup, a local park and a surly rollerblader, that era came to be known as “the era my husband walked the dogs.”

By habit, the leashes are in my left hand and I control them both at the same time. Holding one in the left and one in the right doesn’t work (never been a fan of the whole drawn-and-quartered thing.) If I move at a quick enough pace- this is not a given- it’s pretty easy, but the second I start lagging, they start goofing off and twisting up.

I’ve had a couple people now mention couplers like the Sporn one on the right. I’m thinking this might be the next step in our walking evolution, unless someone else has a better suggestion.

Anyone use these? Do they really reduce dog/person/leash entanglements? Anyone have a favorite brand?

Filed: Daily Life, Reviews
  • Jennifer C.

    Dr. V,

    YES, please get a coupler or something similar. I had a Goldenbeast as well and at his prime, he was 85 pounds. My second dog was 65 pounds, so together, they put up quite a fight, even when they weren’t pulling. My favorite is from Ruff Wear. It’s called the Knot-a-Coupler and you can find it here: http://www.ruffwear.com/Knot-a-Coupler_2

    As a bonus, you qualify for the Ruff Wear Pro Discount for being a veterinarian. I’m in no way affiliated with them…Just another happy customer who also qualifies for the pro deal! Here’s the info for that: http://www.ruffwear.com/customer_service/Pro-Purchase-Program

    In the event you want to become the Crazy Dog Lady (my husband is the only deterrent; I don’t think he would tolerate it…) the coupler can link together to create even more leads. The material kind of resembles climbing rope and has reflectors in it. I love it; back when they used to swap sides every 2 seconds, this thing kept me sane. When they mellowed out over the years, it still came in handy because I only had to carry one leash.

    • http://www.biscuitsbylambchop.com Annette Frey

      I don’t have this, nor have I used it, but by far I would say that Ruffwear is my absolute favorite company! (me too, not affiliated but qualify for their pro discount but used them prior to that as well).
      If they make it, it’s probably amazing and if not, you can return it.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      That is fantastic- thank you for that link!!

      I have the same problem with my husband. If not for him, I’d have about 5 dogs by now, plus chickens. But what can you do, he’s perfect in every other way. :D

  • http://www.3beards.net Lisa

    I have one of those but haven’t tried it yet. I have used the coupler and I liked it, but then, I was walking 2 18 lbs schnauzers.

  • Sophie

    we have one of those as well and walk two bernese mountain dogs with it… doesnt work well with big size differences though because one will try to go under the other and tangle the leash. now theyre the same size though and i find it works nicely….

  • pikachu

    I use that double tether. seems to work on my 15 and 13 pounder , LOLOL
    Larger dogs might be a challenge. I had the same issues with the pups tangling up and tripping me up and yes, drawn and quartered is an accurate depiction. :-)

  • Lisa W

    FYI, my trainer did not recommend the coupler. If one starts screwing up, you end up correcting both of them. Made sense to me. Right now hubby and I are each taking one dog when we walk, but as we get more practice hopefully one of us can do the two dogs together. (FYI, I hold the end of the leash in my right hand and the middle part in my left, so when I’m taking them into day care, for example, and Oscar takes off like a racehorse, I can correct him without freaking Sophie out.)

  • Kim

    I was concerned about the weight difference between the two of them (8 lbs vs. 15 lbs) so never tried it. I want to because I think they think I’m gumby and start going in opposite directions. I stand firm when they do that and let them work it out ;)

  • http://disappointingentertainment.wordpress.com/ Valerie

    I have the same problem with my two Siberian Huskies. When I have just one, they are fine and actually act like the canine good citizens that they are. When they are both with me, it’s a contest to see who can be in front and heaven forbid a squirrels runs across the sidewalk. During those times, no one would believe they both passed the CGC test! I use a walking belt from White Pine Outfitters and hook their individual leashes to it. I like that because it leave my hands free for grabbing leashes, picking up after them, etc, and I don’t have to worry about them pulling hard enough to make me lose the leash. No matter what they are stuck with me. They still get their leashes all twisted together, but I eventually give up and let them walk that way.

  • Cilantro

    I have an Easy Walk Harness http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/collars/easywalk/description and I can’t recommend it enough. I haven’t tried walking two dogs, each with one, but I can’t imagine that it would not work. This product has been the best $20 I have ever spent. It is like magic. You could also try using the Gentle Leader on both dogs.

  • Jeanne King

    You need you get yourself a herding dog to wrangle them into shape! My terv keeps the husky pushed up close against the curb or on her side of the sidewalk. It’s his self-appointed job. Once in a while there’s some crossover, but he’s gotten pretty good at it.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Oh just what I need, another dog! lolol.

  • Chile

    It was always an adventure whenever I walked Blade and Cookie together. He was an easy walker but she was on a shorter leash and she couldn’t stand to let him in front of her. It was always a one-up when they were together. But I always got a good stretch of the arms out of it. ;)

    There have been times I’ve had one dog on a normal leash and the other dog on one of the leashes that goes around your chest. I usually put the better walker on that leash so I can correct the other one. It works for the most part.

  • Michaela

    I loved the idea, but it didn’t work for walking my dogs for the reason Lisa W. said above — no way to correct one of the dogs without also correcting the other, or scrambling to reach for the part of the leash attached only to the one dog.

    I keep trying and hoping, though! :) My 50ish pound mutts usually settle down after 10 minutes or so — our bigger problem is that one wants to WALK! and one wants to meander and sniff. :)

  • http://finnspawprint.blogspot.com/ Susan Montgomery

    I have seen it work when one dog is well trained to begin with. (then at least you have one who is working with you) I have a friend who is a dog trainer who does that all the time with the new puppies. But then I have also seen what happened when two wild wolfhounds are yoked together like that..yikes! It’s like that cartoon where they take off so fast the shoes and socks are left behind…

  • Olga

    Sounds like a good idea, but didn’t work for us. We have a sheltie and a little poodle so the sheltie would always try to be in the front and our poor little poodle was subjected to trying to keep up while his nose was almost crammed up the sheltie’s butt. That lasted for one walk and from then on we’ve been two leash walkers. Haha!

  • Sassy

    I use a coupler with my border collie and miniature schnauzer – yes, quite a size difference. But it works well. I don’t insist that they are in perfect heel position, and they don’t pull me, because they end up pulling against each other. The occasional tangles they have learned to work out themselves. Much easier than two leashes.