Problems walking both at once.....

[LillyBear]

Hi guys. We got our second boxer baby in November and Luke is now four months old. He walks great, except when we come across a barking dog. He becomes frightened and begins to pull in any direction away from him. Lilly did that as a pup as well and eventually got over it. I just continued to walk her past them.

However, Luke seems to remember where these particular dogs live and will stop maybe 10 feet from their homes to avoid them. I have to pull and coax him to walk past the dog, mostly pull, and then he begins to pull in the opposite direction.

Lilly who was not pulling much has reverted to pulling again. She does best when I walk them both at the same time, but between Lilly pulling and Luke freaking out when we encounters a barking dog, it's gotten pretty difficult. I understand there are leashes that can be used for walking two dogs at once. Can anyone recommend any one in particular? I currently use the thin leather leads and they are great.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[darwinsmom]

I don't have much in the way of advice as I have a similar problem. Darwin (7.5 years) is a great walker on his own, slack leash, but when I walk him with Olive he starts to pull, although not very hard. We adopted Olive about 7 months ago and she will soon be two. She pulls less than when we first got her but it continues to be a problem. When they walk together it seems it is always a race to be in front - mostly they just end up side by side. Right now I walk them together once a day and then separately once a day. Neither likes to be left behind though.

Olive is also a weaver, so she is constantly moving from one side to another - which is really annoying with two leashes. We tried a leash attachment so the two dogs would be tethered together and to a single leash. Wasn't great. Dogs not much easier to control and when Olive went forward and Darwin pulled backwards he slipped his collar. Since that incident Darwin walks on a Martingale collar (Olive is on a easy walk harness to minimize the pulling).

I look forward to reading some of the advice you get.

 

[LillyBear]

I guese it's nice to hear I'm not alone. To add to the post, both Lilly and Luke wear martingale collars. But with Lilly's pulling getting to be such a problem, I may start looking at other types of collars. We've tried the gentle leader and that didn't work. I put that thing on her and she went limp on the floor and gave me a very offended look, kind of like "How could you?!"

Luke is very relaxed and seems pretty easy going. He's learning alot of the good stuff from her, but I'm afraid he'll start pulling soon as well.

 

[Darbysmom1]

Walking two at a time....

I love my coppler (not sure if that is how you spell it) attachment that combines one leash to two collars. But I would work on the dogs bad habits before using it or be very careful if dogs are both going different directions it can be a pain. First make sure collars are tight enough they are not going to slip off and then I would work on the habits by bringing treats with me on the walk let the puppies walk and every few feet or so say "Right here" or whatever command you want. Give them their treats, as you walk close to the houses the one dog is scared of give treats and try to keep the dog walking forward and paying attention to you not their fears of the other houses or wanting to bolt.. You may want to work with one at a time till you get them walking ok then do the coppler. Hope this helps...

 

[Caney Creek]

I bought a coupler months ago, used it once and HATED it! If you are currently having an issue with two dogs going in different directions then a coupler is NOT the way to go as it will only make things more difficult. So was the case with my two, anyway. I have much better results with two separate leashes so that I can tug on whichever one is "acting up." On a coupler, when one is pulling in the wrong direction it just ends up tugging the GOOD dog in the wrong direction too. Our smoothest walks are usually when I have one dog on each side of me. But I would not recommend a coupler UNTIL you've fixed the issue with them pulling and both dogs are very well-behaved on walks.

If a gentle-leader didn't work for your dog (I tried one on Creek once too, she did the exact same thing as Lilly ) you might want to try a no-pull harness. There are several different brands/types on the market.

 

[Sansal]

I walk Happy and Sky together and use a "easy walk" harness for both of them. The walking got better over time, we practise a lot. I have one dog on my right side and one dog on my left. In the beginning Happy (my older dog) also started to pull again, probably because I gave the puppy so much attention and Happy felt like she could get away with more. It's a lot better now.

 

[LillyBear]

Thanks for the input guys. We've decided for now walking them seperate is the best way. Lilly does much better when Luke is not around. I think she feels challenged and has to be in front all the time! Getting a little side tracked, since we got Luke it seems she tries to out-do him in everything. It's hillarious.

We'll definately give the coupler a try when we're ready to try this again. Luke's fear of barking dogs has gotten somewhat better with praise and treats.

 

[Irondano]

You can walk both of them.. but..

I have 2 dogs, a rottweiler and a 1 year old boxer. At the beginning i trained everyone at a time. Cause is very dificult to teach them at the same time.
Now i can walk both and normally we have a great walk.
You must practice, study and maybe a training course could help you.
You can do it, but your dogs and you must know how to do it.