What took me so long?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I have discoverd the best invention to battling the two dog walk and it was right under my nose the past 2 years! Geez.

A little history. Murphy was a habitual puller when he learned to leash walk and since I needed a running buddy, not a sleigh dog, it was important to me that he be right at my side during runs. That took a LOT of training, a Gentle Leader for about 6 months and then the Gentle Walker Harness to accomplish. So he does a nice side walk now without any pulling. Mission accomplished, except he HATES running. Oh well, on to Bella,

She came to me totally leash trained, never pulled, does a perfect heel and stops on a dime. WTD? Same breeder too. Murphy must've flunked out of Leash walking 101.

Then as time goes on, Murphy learns to lift his leg and it appears every bush, tree, fire hydrant or leave needs to be marked, so we begin with walk, stop, walk, stop walk, stop until my arm is yanked about 6 inches longer. Bella just tended to stop and wait for him to finish, start again and wait again.  So I work diligently on our walks to keep moving and give him a few occasions to mark. He is a boy dog, so I get it.  However, DH thinks dogs should control "Their" walk and stop and start as much as they need. So you can imagine theirs and my frustration with this method.

Now a few months ago, Bella decides she has an ancestrial need to hunt, and anything that moves in her line of vision must now be hunted down to the death and she has to take off like a rocket to attack it. Fortunatly, she never catches anything.

So I have one dog stopping and starting, one dog dashing in another direction and the two leashes looking like I was trying to play double dutch skip rope or they were taking me prisoner by wrapping the leashes around my legs 10 times.

I was about to give up and just let DH have his way with them as I just don't have the strength to control 120# of dogs, going in two different directions. It's almost like they know there is strength in numbers and are going to foil all attempts of this mere 125# woman to walk a straight line.

As I was leaving for yet another dreaded walk and trying to plan the most bush free, lizard, bird or leaf free route, I noticed a double leash attachment that I had purchased prior to Bella's arrival. Someone on DK must have mentioned it, because it sounded like a great idea at the time. But I didn't need it then, Murphy wasnt marking and bella only weighed about 15 pds...

I decided to give this new found treasure a spin. Attached to both the front clips on their harnesses, used only one leash to control two dogs and VIOLA!!!!! Magic!  My dogs now control eachother with their own body weight. When Murphy stops, Bella stops too, or just keeps walking and he follows and when Bella wants to bolt for a lizard, Murphy stands his ground and stops her in her tracks. I don't have to do much of anything, and nobody is yanking my arms out of the socket. 

This works great as they are about the same weight and one counterbalances the other perfectly. Walks are back to a pleasure again,

As for DH, He still hooks a homemade rope to their collars and lets them pull him down the street. I just don't ever walk with him and them anymore. 

[Carol and Banjo]

What a wonderful solution!    DH may just turn around....I always used (and still do) the easy walk harness for Banjo and DH always used just the collar and leash.    Whenever we would all walk together I would have Banjo on the Easy Walk....and more and more would hand the leash over to DH.   Before long DH figured out how much more enjoyable walks were with the EW.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

i bought one a couple years ago and it was a disaster the first time someone stopped to talk with us.  They got all excited, started jumping and got all tangled up.  It might work better now, just after that first disaster it went in the drawer with all the other things that didn't work.  Glad it is working out for you though.  Anything to make walking two easier.

[Sharon & Monty]

So glad you are finding a solution.  I used to practically run my old golden for 2 miles twice a day, she never tired.  I didnt have time to screw around with lots of sniffing, go baby go, I have to go to work.  Not to mention she tried to eat everything in our path, I removed way to many gross dead things from her mouth.

Moving on to Monty, shoot he's so lazy a 5 minute ball throw or a 15 minute walk, he's good.  This dog I allow to smell and dawdle over and over and he's happy to rest when we get home.  I think he gets more stimulus from smelling rather than the walk.

On another note, I think it easier to train our dogs vs our DH's! LOL

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Oh that's so awesome!  I wish I could do that but Ben outweighs Zoe by 20+ lbs!  =(

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's awesome that now you can walk the Doodles together without fearing for your life.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Very timely post for me...I will definitely be trying this in the future.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I feel like I just discovered the most brilliant gadget. Can't remember where I even got it from, but it shouldn't be hard to find. Plan ahead for two doodles to be about the same size though. I can just picture a smaller dog being dragged behind Bella as she goes on her hunts!

[Vivian & Mojo]

What a great fix...I'm sure you can now enjoy your walks. When my puppy gets older and I get a second doodle I will definitely get a double leash attachment!