Has anyone ever used a double lead to walk two dogs? I found a new use for one.

[Stinky The Clown]

The lead I am talking about is like this. One end on each dog's collar, the main leash on the ring in the middle.



We had always put the two bigger dogs on the double lead and the new itty bitty one on her own leash. The two big one would pull each other and the itty bitty one would walk, around, under, and past the two big ones. Knotted leashes ensued.

So today I walked the three of them but put the itty bitty one on a lead with one of the big dogs. The walk was amazingly uneventful. The big dogs are sufficiently strong that the little one can't pull them off course. The little one just fell in line and we all just walked. Interestingly, they all seemed very happy this way.

So here's the experiment . . . . later in the day I went out to get the mail. The big dogs usually come with me. I want to take the itty, but she has no sense of the front yard and just keeps walking out to the street. The big dogs never do that. So I hooked the itty to one of the big dogs and off we went.

The big dog seemed very pleased to be a "babysitter" and the little one seemed very happy to follow the big dog.

Anyone ever done this? My hope to have the itty learn by example. We're convinced she housebroke that way - going out with the bigs and then learning to ask to go out. Now maybe she can learn her territory the same way.

[Coyote_Bandit]

1. Yes, I have

The double lead I have permits me to individually adjust the length of each lead. By doing so I could walk two dogs of approximately the same size and permit one to have more control than the other. It made it much easier to walk two dogs that otherwise insist on going opposite directions.

The worst thing that ever happened using the double lead? Both dogs went to opposite sides of the same small bush and simultaneously lifted their legs and proceeded to pee all over each other.

[japple]

2. When I worked at a university, I used to see a man jogging with his

two huskies. For the first six months or so (it was during the winter) he had one leashed to the other with the front dog leashed to a belt he wore around his waist. They ran like that for months. Then one day they were running by themselves, still leashed together, but without the harness attached to him. Later on, they ran behind him, unleashed. They seemed very focused on their run and didn't look around or get distracted. I don't know if that could be done with other dogs, but it worked with those huskies.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. That's a little more evolved than I am hoping for, but it sounds like the same basic technique.

Sparkly expressed some concern that the bigger/older dog would somehow resent yanking the little one along, but that seems not at all the case. Quite the opposite, the big one seemed very happy to have an actual job.