Couplers?
A thought.
Looking at some general dog supplies [ depressing, yes I know ] I realized they sell "couplers" for walking 2 dogs on "one leash."
Out of curiosity, for those of you who walk 2 dogs at a time, do you use couplers?
In our current apartment complex, many of the dog owners have 2 - 3 dogs, but none of them use couplers. [ either they walk their dogs separately, or walk them at the same time with separate leashes ]
I just imagine the dogs wouldn't enjoy being constrained to each other. But, that's just a passing thought of mine, so I was curious on the practicality of it / how the dogs feel? I don't know any one who uses them, so I was just sort of curious.
~
Looking at some general dog supplies [ depressing, yes I know ] I realized they sell "couplers" for walking 2 dogs on "one leash."
Out of curiosity, for those of you who walk 2 dogs at a time, do you use couplers?
In our current apartment complex, many of the dog owners have 2 - 3 dogs, but none of them use couplers. [ either they walk their dogs separately, or walk them at the same time with separate leashes ]
I just imagine the dogs wouldn't enjoy being constrained to each other. But, that's just a passing thought of mine, so I was curious on the practicality of it / how the dogs feel? I don't know any one who uses them, so I was just sort of curious.
~
Comments
Tho, on second thought, meeting my beloved nihon ken might kill me more than alleviate me LOL ~
Ruby probably wouldn't mind being confined that close to Miko. But as you will one day get to experience for yourself, Shikoku are the worlds pickiest poopers. Brad warned me about this right before I got Miko and I thought he was just exaggerating. Nope. He was spot on. Miko will literally be mid-squat, changer her mind and go back to looking for a more perfect spot. She has taken upwards of 45 minutes to pick her spot all while (what we call) "turtle heading" (I will spare you a description and let your imagination do the walking).
While I have completely digressed, the point is, if Ruby was breathing down her neck too, it would take me a year to get her to poop. Plus sometimes they get rowdy and want to rough house and I need to put them on either side of me, which I wouldn't be able to do with a coupler.
Maybe when they are older and a tad more a mature we could use one. But now not so much. Didn't use one when I had the three either for the same reasons, plus diverging energy levels, with a puppy, a two year old, and a senior.
For the most part, if Tom isn't with me when I'm walking the dogs, I usually just hook Tetsu around my waste and hold Tikaani's leash in my hand.
The only dogs around here that I've seen with couplers were mini dachshunds, and they were usually being dragged.
I have Baron and Haru on a coupler a lot when we're walking around town. However I don't use the coupler on toilet runs for the reason Jessica mentioned. Haru is an extremely picky pooper when on leash.
Part of Sage's deal is loose leash walking with me, and checking in with me frequently. Reilly has much more freedom to investigate and so forth, but Sage needs more hand holding and if pressured or overwhelmed he balks or reacts in all sorts of ways we are trying to avoid. When we was in his worst fearful days, he would redirect onto Reilly if she was close and he was freaking about something else (he never hurt her, and she'd roar at him pretty quick, but redirected aggression is just one car fairly far back on a train of things that must be prevented/avoided first.) Sage can't hear me clearly if Reilly's pulling him around. It's like a phone line, me to him, and I need to be able to play it and keep it loose, or give him subtle signals that we're waiting or changing direction. In fact half the time I walk Sage alone w/o Reilly, jsut so we can have a private conversation. I gave my coupler to my sister. If walked together they each get their own arm.
As Beth illustrates, the coupler is designed to go from the back of the collar to your hand in a straight line above the dog, with both dogs in front of you, otherwise they get caught. (kindof looks like pulling, actually...hm..) But to walk a dog in harmony is to have the leash loose like the letter J, attaching to the dog under their neck at the front, and the dog more or less to the side. Walking in harmony together is not made easier with the coupler.
I use a coupler alot. Especialy when I leash walk three at once . I couple two together . When koshi learned to"basically" walk on leash I coupled her with the shibas , They actually hepled her learn proper leash behavior.Like the walrus stated couplers work very well when you have two calm dogs , or two with similar energy.
I understand a lot better now
I use a coupler on Loa and Kona, they are both about the same speed and do well with each other. About 95% it works great, but then they get hung on something or tangled - that can suck, but that can happen with just a leash too. I'm usually walking 4-5 dogs when I use the coupler w/ them.
I find couplers work best if they are short so the dogs are kept closer together, you can use Necklines to keep dog's fronts and backs connected:
http://www.nordichuskyfarm.com/productimages/metal_neckline.jpg
http://www.nordichuskyfarm.com/?file=category-mushing
Here is Loa and Kona from snowshoeing the other week, notice they don't have a lot of room to wonder off in different directions. I found that if you give them too much slack they will go in different directions and cause issues. Another thing to note is it would be disastrous if you connected a dog like Loa to a dog like Blue like this as Blue would just pull her all over the place - so the dogs have to be nicely matched.
Having three separate leashes would get complex - I like having the hands-free option that the over-the-shoulder leads afford me particularly when I need to pick up poop, or carry something else. I also like it that two dogs are strapped to me when there is a wildlife sighting
I have a short coupler that I use when I bike two dogs together. It is less than 12 inches long and keeps them close together. I fit one dog with a harness and connect the WalkyDog to it. I couple a second dog to the first via their flat collars. I typically attach a light leash to each martingale collar as back up, but there is no tension on these when I am riding. They often wear two collars.
Thanks again! I'll look into it.
I used to use a coupler when my shibas still got along. It worked well...though there is the issue of them having to stick pretty close together because of it. In those days, though, they used to run outside shoulder to shoulder anyway (when off leash in the yard). They looked so good together....
Now they can't be together at all so no more coupler on the leash. I have noticed though that I can take both dogs out (me with one and my husband with the other) and while they are on a walk they totally ignore one another. It's the only time the murderous duo can be together, apparently.
Actually, if the 2 boys are acting up, or if the girl is getting snarky, I'll make sure whoever is the nasty one is part of the couple, and put them really close. It makes pooping a problem... a hilarious problem that I usually solve by letting the leash out a little bit
Also when I rollerblade with the 2 young ones I use the coupler because if I wipe out --and I haven't yet, but it's a great concern-- and I lose the leash then they are stuck together and theoretically less likely to run as fast and in opposite directions.
http://www.petco.com/product/104075/Petmate-Take-Two-Adjustable-Leash-in-Black.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Dog-_-Petmate-_-375470&mr:trackingCode=4EFFEB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA