how do you walk two dogs at the same time?

[elgancho]

both heeling on the left side? one leash in each hand, with a dog on your left and on your right? one leash with a coupler attachment?

also, how do you train them to do it the way you want?

i am working with a 3 year old boxer and a 3.5 month boxer pup. both do better when they're in the lead or by themselves. the older one is pretty good even off leash by himself, but tends to pull if the pup is in front of him. obviously the goal is loose leash with them behaving on my left side.

:thanks

 

[Laurelin]

I use a coupler. I trained both to walk seperately then started walking them together. For the first few walks they were obnoxious- always tangling themselves up and such but after a few goes they figured out between themselves where each should walk in regards to me and the other dog. So now it's fine. Mia walks slightly ahead of me, Summer walks slightly behind me.

 

[FoxyWench]

i use a coupler too, but not untill they have GREAT leash manners, both knwo how to heal on both sides of me first and know how to loose leash heal when told, then i walked them each ont heir own leads so i could easily control each as an individual one on each side, then moved them to the same side and then put them on a coupler. generally ruby walks on the outside becasue shes less easily distracted and keeps jasper in place.

 

[smkie]

I changed around...more for my hand's sake. I get tired of holding two leashes in the same hand. IF i want to put my hand in my pockets because it's cold I walk one dog on each side because two leashes wont' fit in one pocket but one will.

 

[colliewog]

Mine are trained to walk on either side, or both together. Starting with a puppy and an adult, I put the puppy on my left side (to learn 'heel position') and put the adult on the right. Slowly I combine them on one side if the puppy behaves.

 

[Doberluv]

When teaching a young pup or inexperienced dog, I would recommend teaching one by himself...how to walk nicely on a loose leash. At least get a good handle on it before taking them both together. If one pulls and the other doesn't and you need to stop and/or turn back the other way... to show the pulling one that the walk won't continue if he pulls, the one who is not pulling gets the reinforcer of getting to continue walking taken away from him.

Once they learn that any tension in the lease won't work for walking, but a loose leash will work, then try them both together, but in a distraction free environment until they're good there. Then gradually add in more distractions. Make sure to frequently reinforce nice walking. Reinforcement = continued walking and a super duper treat. (tiny) Show your dog what works and what doesn't. Be consitent. If you pull on the leash, the dog's opposition reflex will kick in and he'll pull too. (not because he's stubborn or dominant) One step of forward motion when there is no slack in the leash not only reinforces the behavior, but puts it on a variable reinforcer which strengthens the behavior you don't want.

Mark the correct behavior with a special sound or clicker, then treat. You can Google Clicker Solutions and read about clicker training. (an excellent way to communicate and give explicit feed back to your dog so he learns) (lots of good training articles)

I walk all three of mine together, but not every time we go for a walk. But they're 7, 9 and 9 yrs. old and don't tend to pull. Sometimes, just at the start of the walk, Jose` will pull a little. He's an eager beaver. So, I'll stop and the other two get "penalized" too. That's not so good. But, after one or two stops, he gets the hint. Then we all walk fine. I usually walk the big dog on my left and the two Chihuahuas on my right, each with their own leash. The little ones wear a harness and the big one wears a flat, leather collar. They can walk on both sides though. I sometimes vary it to keep them on their toes.



From Clicker Solutions:
ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- Loose Leash Walking: The Total Picture

 

[Juicy]

I walk four dogs at the same time :rofl1:

YouTube - Walking Four Dogs At The Same Time

 

[Toller_08]

I walk my three at the same time occassionally. Keira and Dance are on my right -- Keira beside me, Dance following behind. And I walk Ripley on the left right beside me. All with separate leashes, and I didn't even try walking multiple dogs before teaching each of my dogs to walk nicely individually. I hardly take them all at the same time, eventhough it's easy. I just prefer taking one or two at a time.

 

[Tankstar]

When I walk two. I just keep both leash's in my hand. I always hold the leash's close to their collars. As my neighbors dog, who I walk every day, has no leash manners ( I need to get pictures of him for "guess his breed" lo)l. So he walks beside me and Blaze is on the outside of him.

 

[Southpaw]

Lucy and Juno walk together just fine, but it was something I didn't even attempt until I had Juno's leash manners under control when she was walked alone. Lucy is on the right, Juno is on the left. I haaaaate going for walks lol, it's something I only do for the dogs, so it's definitely nice that they can go together.

 

[Beanie]

When I would take both Happy and Kota for a walk I did one leash in each hand. They were really good about staying on their sides, not because they had been taught to do so but simply because they didn't want to be right up on each other during their walks. I never really thought about it, I just knew there were two dogs and I wanted to walk them both, I was the only one there to walk them, so I grabbed one leash per hand and out the door we went. I guess I was lucky they didn't make it a big production, haha.
Kota would usually go out ahead and Happy would stick closer to me.

 

[darkchild16]

Ive walked 5 at once and made it work. 3 large and 2 small. they all knew how to walk well befor hand and I just put the 2 who behaved well together on one side and the other 3 (patches the saint, Guiness and Whisper) on the other side. Worked out great for what we needed. You just need to have control over them before attempting it. I now walk 2 dogs and push a stroller a lot of the time.

 

[Paige]

When I walk Mika with Bandit he will walk closer to me and slightly in front of her. He's great. Mika knows to walk in a heel position but I can't blame her for getting excited at times because she only gets out for a walk once a week. Not enough for a young husky. Bandit will just bump her back into place with his butt if she starts falling out of position. It's wicked.

 

[noodlerubyallie]

Ruby is always on my right and ahead. She has to have a straight line to walk along, so she wants the edge of the sidewalk. Allie walks on her left. Noodle walks between the bigger girls back legs.

When I have Ruby and Rocket, Ruby helps keep Rocket in line - he walks in Allie's position.

This was after they learned to walk nicely on their own. I keep all the leashes in one hand.