Jan Williamson Webboard User Reg: 08-10-2005
Posts: 483
Loc: NE Pennsylvania
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I have a question that may or may not even be an issue. I have two 8-month-old male GSDs that are doing fairly well walking with me individually. We are working on the sit when I stop and they will do it about 75% of the time without my reminder. My question is two-fold. First, when do I start walking them together with me? Then, how do I do it? I have a friend who trains K-9s and he told me to always have one dog on either side of me and never rotate them - they will quickly learn their positions. But in the few shows I have seen, Cesar Milan has both dogs walking on his left side. Is there a preference; does it make a difference; or is it really even important?
Mike J Schoonbrood Webboard User Reg: 04-30-2005
Posts: 2784
Loc: Toronto, ON
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When I got to that stage, I was planning on having one heel to the right and one to the left, my current GSD heels to my right because thats my preference, so I was gonna train my upcoming dutchie to heel left as-is tradition. I think it's personal preference, I think it'd be a headache to control 2 dogs when they are side by side. When you get into advanced obedience you can teach a dog to heel on the opposite side with a seperate command to switch sides, so if you want to walk them both individually on your left at some point, you can teach this too. I'd be interested to see how the folks with 2 dogs deal with this, since I'm gonna be doing this within the next year or so myself.
I have tried both methods for walking two dogs. Both have worked well for me, but I think I prefer to use one leash attached to a two dog lead. the down side to the two dog lead is that if one dog needs a correction, both dogs get it, but I think if you spend the time training your dogs to heel you should not have too much trouble with it. The down side to two different leashes is that they can get tangled. Like I said I prefer the two dog lead. Ed sells a two dog lead on the training equipment portion of his website. Which ever method you choose just be consistent.
Terry
Ryan Burley Webboard User Reg: 09-19-2005
Posts: 111
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I walk all 3 dogs on my right side. I wouldn't be comfortable in a crowded place like that though simply because with 3 leashes and 2 hands, I can't possibly have physical control over all 3 at the same time.
All 3 were heeling individually before I even attempted walking them together. Their performance individually is as good as I could expect really, but together, the result looks more like 3 well mannered dogs that don't pull and walk "near" me instead of in a perfect heel position.
As for correcting them with the leash, one at a time, I give them all about 6-12 inches more lead than they need to walk in position, and when one of them gets ahead/behind I pop the leashes and the one that's farthest out of position gets the strongest correction and the other two get a little reminder.
I walk one dog on each side, but it can be dangerous if you encounter a loose dog (you have no hands free). Occasionally I walk both dogs on the left (one hand free say to hold a stick etc.) but if they pull.....(even my one dog outweighs me). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The trick is to keep them in a half decent heel so they don't drag you down the street. I waited until my pup was six months old (and could heel) to walk her with my other guy, until then I walked them seperately.
Jan Williamson Webboard User Reg: 08-10-2005
Posts: 483
Loc: NE Pennsylvania
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Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I was hoping it was just a personal decision. Based on my size and the size of my dogs, I think I will feel more comfortable having one on each side. But I think I have a ways to go because I get the feeling they each have to heel 100% individually before I try them together, and we're just not quite there yet. At 8 months I know I'm behind schedule, but hopefully it is because I am trying to train 2 dogs <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
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