Walking two dogs at a time

[Stacy]

Isn't it disappointing when you take the dog for "a really long walk" and then then you get home and Map My Run says it was only two miles? I just really wanted to say that.

I have never had much success walking two dogs at once, but I admit, I've never worked very hard at it. That said, I would really like to be able to walk Willow and Maggie together and I could use some suggestions. 

Maggie is walking really nicely on leash these days. Willow is of course, a work in progress. But she's not doing too badly. 

I own a splitter, so I could theoretically walk both of them on the left of me. And I think that I would prefer that to having one on each side, but I'm not sure... maybe one on either side? But in obedience we teach them to walk on the left. Will I mess them up if sometimes they walk on the right? 

And do you all think I should wait to try it until Willow is pretty good at walking nicely first, or do you think that Maggie would help teach her what to do?

I am always so amazed when people can manage two at once. I think I'm impressive when I have one who walks with me without pulling and tripping me everywhere.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I have a wide nylon belt that fastens around my waist and holds two (or more) leashes. With the system I have you can walk both dogs on one side on one on each side.  I have had it so long I don't remember its name.  I have walked many twosomes on this arrangement.  I have walked them lots of places.  Currently I live where I often encounter deer, feral cats, skunks, and occasionally a bear.  I now walk Tigger and Murphy on it.  Both leashes are adjustable as to length.  I walk Tigger, my older dog on my right.  He has always walked on the right when I have both and on the left when it is just him.  It has not seemed to confuse him.  Murphy (18 months) walks on my left. I am 72, pinched nerve in back, not very strong but it works.  I never have any intention of obedience titles (with doodles not possible). Tigger has a CGC and Murphy has a CGC and a Rally 1 certificate.  (Rally 1 is the AKC basic obedience certificate for non pure bred dogs.)

Both dogs have had quite a bit of leash work right from the start. I hold one leash in each hand even though both are attached to me.  This gives me some time to react to a situation.  I do walk Tigger in a pinch collar when I am walking both. Murphy is just in her regular collar.  Murphy weighs 40 pounds and Tigger weighs 50 pounds.  Tigger is much more reactive and will pull hard on a regular collar under certain circumstances (bear sometimes deer or feral cats)

I walked two huskies for years using this arrangement (both in pinch collars though and I was ten years younger!)

If you google "hands free two dog leash" you can find a lot of choices.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maryann, things have changed for the better regarding AKC titles. Mixed breeds can compete for titles in just about every performance sport, including Obedience. 

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Thanks Karen I did not know that!

[Stacy]

I really like the idea of having them attached to my body when we try this. I can hold onto 50 pound Maggie when she has the occasional "squirrel, must chase" moment, but I am a little nervous about being able to hang onto both of them if they try it at the same time. I think I'm just going to have to get brave and give it a try. I'm sure there will be a learning curve, but it would be really nice to be able to take them both at the same time.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Lol those fitbit type things aren't terribly accurate sometimes.  DH went running the other day and it said he ran 13 km (so 8 miles) in 25 minutes.  Not possible, sorry DH you aren't THAT fast!

I would try it, Maggie might be able to keep Willow in line.  I would use the splitter and walk them both on your left, Willow on the outside ideally so she isn't tripping you up.  

Of course take all this with a grain of salt because I have never actually walked two dogs at once.  Just some stray thoughts since we want to get another dog in a few years :p

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When Ned was young, we used a splitter with he and our lab mix. It worked perfectly which tells you the old lab mix was a terrific dog.  When he passed we tried putting Ned and Clancy or Ned and Gordie (Springer) or Gordie and Clancy on it.  Didn't work well at all because each one wants to be the one next to me.  What I have done is when I'm walking two dogs, I put Ned on the right - my command is Ned, Right - so hopefully he knows it is a different sort of heel. I feel that I am still in control.  My husband will walk all three dogs loosely on one side - he just lets them meander around.  I know that if if I did that, and one or more began to pull, I'd just be taken along for a ride LOL.  With Charlie's reactivity, he is usually walked as a single dog - Ned hates this because he wants to be with me and not with my husband. That makes me sad....

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

I walk both of mine on my left and hold the leashes together (as if they were one leash) in my right hand. This works for us. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I found that I really needed to train my two guys individually to walk well on a leash before I could effectively walk them together.  I tried it a few times before Murph was trained and I felt when I was correcting Murph it just confused Guinness which kind of spoiled the flow of the walk.  I walk one on either side of me, because even now Murph can react if we pass another dog and he decides there's something about him that he doesn't like.  I find it much easier to control him and keep moving if they're on different sides.  If I want a long, relaxing walk I still take them individually.

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

Here's a wonderful leash made for walking 2 dogs.  The bungee gives it just enough give that they bounce off and to each other, but not like a retractable leash that doesn't give you good control.  I'm walking Zoey and Zeke with it and hes only 11 wks old.  (First I had to walk him by himself with chicken as the lure!)  It's also very thick and sturdy on the hand hold.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Do NOT get me started on retractable leashes!!!!  Just the words make me want to hit something.....  LOL

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

Me too!  I've seen too many near accidents!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

All 3 of my dogs are trained to walk on the left. That being said, on the rare occasions that I walk all 3 at once (Lord, help me!), I put 2 on the left and 1 on the right. The one on the right always gets a little wonky because he/she is used to the left! 

So, for 2 dogs, they are walked on the left with a splitter. The dog that is the "best walker"- i.e. doesn't pull at all, doesn't go crazy when seeing a rabbit/other critter, etc. is put in the far left position. In my case, it's Winnie. Then, either Bob or Indie get the inside position where I can have a little more control of them. I shorten the inside end of the splitter so that dog is right next to my leg. Neither Bob or Indie knew how to "heal" when they were rehomed to us. I did a fair amount of training them by themselves before I walked them with Winnie.They are 55lb dogs, and I have severely arthritic hands, so I can't have them pulling all over the place.

When we go for walks like this, they know that there is no playing, excessive sniffing, stopping at every tree, etc. These kinds of walks are training sessions and time to get a bit of fresh air. They know to walk at "heal," and sit whenever I stop walking. When we meet walkers/runners on the sidewalk, we pull off to the side and they sit politely until the person has passed. All in all, they are pretty well behaved. Unless, of course, they forget that chasing rabbits is NOT cool... :-)

Like a lot of dogs, my dogs get far more exercise when we go for off-leash walks out in the country. Then they can run, play, sniff and chase all they want!  

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