Walking 2 Dogs At The Same Time

Quite often I have clients with more than one dog who would like to walk them both at the same time. However I have found that walking two dogs at the same time can be an accident waiting to happen. In fact it can be very dangerous for not only you but for your dog as well and let me tell you why.

Now let me start off by saying if you have two well-trained dogs that walk nicely at your side and that don't go crazy when they see another dog or person come by then none of this may pertains to you.

Now that we've eliminated that 10% of dog owners that has multiple dogs that are that well behaved now let's talk to the other 90% of you out there.

Have you ever taken both dogs for a walk and here comes another person with their dog and your dogs are going crazy each of them tugging at the leash in different directions. You're having a hard time hanging on but hopefully you do.

Well over the years I've had many clients who had this experience before I met them that resulted in broken arms, broken hips and lacerations to their bodies when their dogs knocked him to the ground in a fit of frenzy.

I've also seen people who were not able to hold onto their dogs in one of these frenzies and their dogs have actually attacked other dogs. Of course when this happens you need to think about liability because if a dog or a person gets hurt you are going to be responsible financially for any damages.

So can you ever walk two dogs on the leash at the same time? Certainly you simply need to teach the dogs to walk on leash nicely. I have my clients start off by teaching each dog the heel command and having them ignore the distraction of other dogs and people so they are under control.

Once each dog is able to heel nicely you put them together. However instead of using two leashes you use one leash and a coupler. The coupler will allow you to use only one leash while being attached to each dog's collar and that gives you much better control of both dogs. Couplers are available in a chain, nylon or leather and are available at training supply stores on line and at the big box pet stores.

NoTangle Dog Leash Coupler

So for your safety, your dog's safety, the safety of other people walking their dogs, and the safety of your liability insurance train those dogs to heel nicely and take them for a walk safely.

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