I've 3D printed a new dog gadget and would love your opinion

Jaan Hurditch

Jaan Hurditch
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#1
Hi fellow dog lovers!

I have been working on a personal project the past year which is basically a small ball that you attach to your standard dog leash to provide another point to hold on to.

The idea was born from wrapping my own dogs leash around my hand when I needed closer control - which works ok but after a while starts to hurt as although I consider my dog well behaved - she still gets a little excited and just loves to pull on a leash.

I've noticed people tie knots or loops in their leashes to offer something similar to what I have come up with.

www.leash-mate.com

I would love to hear your opinion and have been 3D printing prototypes to try to perfect my design before hopefully going to market. If anyone is super keen to give one a go I have a couple of extra prototypes that I could send out as well.

I hope this doesn't sound like a product plug as its really isn't - I'm a one person show and this is a project I'm working on for a new design that will hopefully help a lot of people - nothing is available for sale as yet.

Thanks heaps for any comments and I hope you're all having a great evening!

Jaan
 

Jaan Hurditch

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#2
Any chance of a 'bump'?

Would love to hear some opinions before I invest any more money in this. Most people seem fairly receptive of the idea but my sample audience has been quite limited so far.

Maybe check out 'A Vets Guide to Life' blog for a review - would love to know if you see it as working for you.

http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.com/2015/03/product-review-leash-mate.html
 

ACooper

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#3
I think it's a neat idea. I would try it if the price was reasonable.

Honestly though, I would STILL wrap the 'extra' lead around my wrist/hand while using the Leash Mate because it makes me feel safer, as though I have a better grip on the lead if something should go tangent. :)
 

amberdyan

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#4
Honestly, although it's a neat idea, I have a leash I bought for 15 bucks that has a traffic handle built in. I think I feel safer with it than I would a leash attachment. However, I think there are people out there that would like this, especially if it was light weight enough to not make the leash feel unbalanced.

ETA: I looked at the website some more and I will say the strong hold is super impressive. I watched the video of the man swinging from the tree.
 

milos_mommy

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#5
I'd definitely consider using one for a tough-to-handle dog. However, I'd worry about the adjustability. When wrapping a leash you can shorten it lengthen it quickly as needed. I feel like this might be awkward to handle and I'd want to try it first before purchase....I'm just not sure how it would handle in reality vs in theory. I've never knotted a leash and it seems this would do the same, and be more comfortable, but still have the same impracticalities of a knot
 

stardogs

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#6
All I can see are my ball-motivated dogs going nuts trying to grab at the new ball on their leash, personally.

I think it's a decent concept, but I generally am not a leash wrapper, and with my crew, it wouldn't be a great fit.
 

pinkspore

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#7
I like it! I work at a doggy daycare and I'd say about half the dogs come in with knots tied in their leashes for a better grip. I don't think I'd personally use it with my own dogs, but it's totally something I would be recommending to people with hard pulling dogs and leashes full of knots.
 

Jaan Hurditch

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#8
I like it! I work at a doggy daycare and I'd say about half the dogs come in with knots tied in their leashes for a better grip. I don't think I'd personally use it with my own dogs, but it's totally something I would be recommending to people with hard pulling dogs and leashes full of knots.
Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for your support so far.

Here is a great little review of lead Mate on Dog Milk

http://dog-milk.com/mingus-and-dottie-try-it-lead-mate/

Lead mate is now live on Kickstarter too - the link is in the review! Any support you can offer by sharing would be super appreciated and get me one step closer to making Lead Mate a reality.

- Product and packaging from 100% Recycled materials.
- Donating 10% of all profits to 'no kill' dog shelters and rescues.
- Planting a tree for every pledge in order to offset environmental impacts of production and shipping.

Please support us by sharing/commenting/reposting

If you're feeling generous there is a 'share' button under the video on the campaign page http://kck.st/1Fuo2Wt

:)
 

Jaan Hurditch

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#9
I wanted to let everyone know - we are now using kickbooster, which gives anyone that signs up a special link and 10% of every dollar the link raises. So if you wanted to sign up and help spread the word you would get 10% of any pledges resulting from your share.

I think its a great new tool and is essentially crowd sources marketing - a win win for everyone. Here's the link if you were interested in making Lead Mate a reality and earning some money for your troubles.

https://lead-mate-dog.kickbooster.me

Thanks again to everyone.
 

Jaan Hurditch

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#10
Hi again everyone,

It's been a long journey but Lead Mate is now finally available at www.lead-mate.com for 9.95 USD.

Product and packaging from 100% recycled plastic and cardboard
Donating 10% of profits to dog shelters and rescues

A share with your knot tying, dog loving friends would be an amazing help! :)
 

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