I can't walk two dogs!

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

Boomer was my walking companion for 2 years before Milo came along.  Boomer is the PERFECT walking partner.   I have not spent much time training Milo 1-on-1 with walking as I assumed he'd figure out how to walk straight if I positioned him between my knee and Boomer.    Its difficult for me to handle both dogs (heavyweights) and it breaks my heart to leave one behind so I've not been walking either one!  

 

I HAVE TO start walking again.  How do you "get over" the whining when you leave one behind in the house?  It seriously breaks my heart to shut the door on one of their noses.  :-(

 

 

 

 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Julie, your leash technique is interesting.  Ben is too big so I've been looking for a short leash everywhere!  When i wind up the leash on my hand he pulls and squeezes my hand too tight that it hurts for days after!  I wonder if I can do this with his gentle walker harness and collar or does it have to be the gentle leader where it is connected to their face?

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

I had the same problem with the 6' leash being too long and winding it around my hand. The way I hold the leashes now makes all the difference for me. I don't see why you couldn't attach a leash to his harness in two spots (or to his collar). I'm only using the gentle leader because Milo was pulling but I don't always need the GL on Boomer. I could attach the leash in two places on him without using the GL.

Try it and let me know how it goes.

[Melissa Angelini]

I know what you mean .  I have four doodles and unless my husband comes we don't all go together.  I have one , Patch who wass my first doodle and I trained him well and he walks with his leash in his mouth along side me and never goes astray.

the 3 other girls are a handful because i  never put the time in.  So its ussally patch and another and it is not pleasant.  Never mind the hooting and hollering that  goes on when i am leaving.  But I say to myself if I don't go,  nobody gets any exercise

!  So I make it my business to just rotate and go! 

[Lynda Kamrath]

We have had to deal with that too.  My husband made a special leash for them with about 18 inches on each extension to the side.  It hooks onto the end of the leash and then usually walk tandem but can go out to the side if they so desire.  I had too much trouble trying to handle two leashes.  They would get all tangled up.  They still sometimes get tangled but not nearly as bad as previously.

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

Is your right hand holding the piece he made?
P.S. I met a sibling to Groucho too last weekend. His name is Baxter and he's 5yo. Beautiful dog. He lives in the next town. We plan to meet again. I thought of you when I met him.

[Lynda Kamrath]

No, that thing in my right hand is the retractable leash.  There is a clip at the end of it and two short leashes that go off to the sides.  They have clips on the end of each of them that hook on the dogs' collars or their harnesses.  That way, I have one leash to keep track of and the boys can move to the sides to check out anything along the trail.  We just got back from a walk at Ft. Ord and they were both on leash (this one) because of Harpo's little problem.  I couldn't let Groucho be off leash while Harpo was on leash.  But Harpo was not wearing his cone.  As soon as we got back to the car, he started licking so I had to put the cone back on.  He has really adjusted pretty well to the cone.  Maybe a few more days.

Is Baxter on DoodleKisses?  Love to see some photos of him.  You can always tell Groucho's puppies.  They all look like him.  I named my puppy after him because he looked just like his father, hence Groucho Too.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

So happy to read this. We are considering adding a rescue doodle to our family and walking teo dogs was a major concern for me. I'm kind of on the smaller size and already have some trouble controlling dog 1 on a leash. Thank heavens for the gentle leader. Its amazing the difference. I love your harness ideaand will keep this in mind.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have the same problem.  I actually would take one out for a walk and then come back and take the second doodle on the same route.  When we had a doodle guest, I would take three of them at different times.  It is good for my exercise, but not the best solution.  My husband made a special leash for walking two dogs.  At the end of an expandable leash, you attach a ring with two leashes on it (each about 24 inches long).  They can go out to the side, but do not cross.  I am making a new double leash with parachute cord for them.  The retractable leash actually works pretty good because you can reel it in if they are stopped so it doesn't get tangled.  Works for us.  I tried having one dog on leash and the other free and that works pretty well except Groucho likes to eat everything on the trail and Harpo is severely allergic to poison oak.  We are surrounded by oak trees and the poison oak grows under oak trees. It is an on-going challenge.  (Just looked back and see that I have already responded to this discussion.)  Yep, it is an on-going challenge.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Personally, I could never do it. Guess I don't have nerves of steel. Luckily, walking 2 has never been a problem for me, especially now that they both have Canny Collars. I find that they walk especially well when its just me and not my DH and me. Not sure why, but they just walk and don't do a lot of sniffing and wandering off the path when its just me with them.

BTW, I use a splitter leash on the end of one long leash so they don't get tangled up.