Walking two dogs at once

Didn't want to hijack the related thread, so I'll start a new one.

In anticipation of bringing in a new pup, I have been working hard with Milo on his walking manners. He has stopped obsessively marking and sniffing everything in sight, and will now sit at street corners, etc. I needed him to be reliable about things before I add in a new dog/distraction.

My question is -- what techniques do you use when you walk two dogs at once? Do you have one leash in each hand, with one dog on each side? Do you try to walk two dogs on the same side, holding two leashes in one hand? I have seen lots of those "connector" leashes for walking two dogs at once but this seems like an invitation for disaster with a new dog in training paired up with a seasoned, well-trained older dog. On the other hand, maybe the older dog would help the new dog learn what to do?

How do y'all with multiple dogs do it?

Thanks!

Having the Hellions on 2 leads usually means one of them will slip their collar, or try and trip me up. They arent the greatest trained I know.

However having them on a 12" lead and a 12" coupler they are making great improvements on walks. I even made them a 4' coupler so they can both be out on the cable run at the same time.

I use one leash for each dog and it works pretty well. But as blue mentioned, if one dog slips the collar or gets away then you're in trouble. (Herschel and Nala both have incredible recalls so I don't worry too much)

With two dogs, my motto is "keep going." Don't let them stop and sniff or mark, don't give them the chance to play with each other. Just keep on walking, unless they have to go to the bathroom. If one of them starts barking/reacting towards another dog, get out of there and keep walking. You don't have the time or the hands to train in that situation so just get out of there before the other joins.

i would start off taking puppy on seperate walks or having 2 people walk untill puppy has learnt leash manners, the good news is with consistence most pups pick them up very quickly...once both dogs have good leash manners a coupler is an easy walking device but both dogs must be excelent as its impossible to correct and individual dog when there strapped together.

for me it depends on who i have with me at the time. vixie and dodger both have flexies, but walking is not soemthing they do often, when i have them out i connect the 2 flexies with a coupler and lock them to lenght when on the street, they walk great side by side, dodger prefers the inside lane, with no pulling...when were at the park the leashes get "unlocked" but they still tend to stay close to eachother.

Ruby is very confident on leash and will walk great loose leash no problem, id have no problem putting her on a coupler wiht my parents cocker...

if i want to take all 3 out im thinking im going to have to attatch a 3rd line to a regular coupler and walk them all on the one...they all heel to one side so it makes for an interesting lineup lol.

i think youll find that no matter what advice youll end up finding a method thats best for you, some people prefer to walk with a dog on either side onr egular leashes, others prefer couplers, others prefer to walk one at a time...

I would stay far away from couplers until both dogs have proper leash manners. When I walk my two I have one leash in each hand unless I need a free hand for something (like holding an umbrella). The dogs are really good about staying on their own respective side without any training which helps a lot! Both dogs also know the command "pole" so if one goes on the opposite side of a pole from me and the other dog, I can just say "OC/Ronan, Pole!" and they will back track around the pole.

My 2 do so much better individually on the 12" lead than a regular leash. I havent tried them each on a short leash in each hand yet.

Hee! Each of my dog weighs 10 pounds or less, so I don't think a 12" lead would work. Sounds awesome, though. Talk about control!

Mine are 65 and 75 pounds. It actually works better with the lead in one hand holding the coupler in the other.

I use a separate leash for each dog and have one on each side of me. I keep them walking by my side so they can't cross me up and get tangled or trip me. I have pretty good success with over 190lbs of dog this way. I should try them both on the same side and see what happens.

ive found same side walking "pack rules" tend to fall into place, vixie the domiannat female and dodger the dominant male walk slightly ahead side by side, Ruby and rosie will fall into place behind them and poor 30lb charlie takes his place in the rear lol...its amazing because vixie and dodger are so great on leash even Rosie who, due to my parents lack of training, isnt perfect on leash, even she follows in line if i stop vixie and dodger stop and rosie STOPS lol.

we do get some leash tangles if i ever try to walk all 5 dogs at once...i only did it once and that was during an emergency exit of our home, luckily it was a false alarm, but that once was very interesting to see how the pack dynamics realy work in our home...

walking side by side will realy depend on your dogs though...some dogs are comofrtable walking along side eachother, others realy need one on either side...
walking multiples is definatly "easier" with the toy breeds who can walk side by side without taking up the entire sidewalk. lol.

I have two GSDs so I don't know how helpfull this is.

When I first was still training Duke I would walk one dog on either side. Baron on my left and Duke on my right. Once Duke was trained to heel this fell apart because neither Baron or Duke would walk on my right side so I started walking both of them on seperate leashes on my left side.

I now have a coupler and I love it. Duke still has puppy moments but when he's hooked up to Baron he normally settles down. They are deffinatly not for everyone though, it took a bit of training to get them to walk together nicely.

Since you have little dogs I would just use to differnt leashes.