I am getting two Shih Tzu puppies just after Christmas. I am looking for a "dual" lease but the only one I found was for larger dogs - mine will be about 9 pounds at full growth. Any suggestions? Also, I could use some tips about training the puppies on their lease. Many years ago I had a Yorkie puppy who was part mule and just refused to walk with the leash. I could also use a tip or two. Thanks.
Are you getting the puppies from the same litter? Just wonder if you know how difficult training and keeping two puppies of the same age can be.
If you are definately going to get two pups then would say that training them seperately to start with may be the best option. They very often bond very closely together, then do not respond as well to the owner trying to train or do anything else with them, being more interested in whatever their sibling is doing. When they get older, especially with same sex puppies, there can sometimes be quite bad sibling rivalry.
As for training puppies on the leash then I would just keep the puppies on a normal flat collar and normal lead for the time being. When the puppies know how to walk on a loose lead, then is the time for a dual leash. Maybe Ebay or Amazon would be able to supply these. Use food/clicker and treats for training. When your puppy is walking by your side, give the command 'heel' or 'close', and reward. If your pup pulls ahead of you, either stand still and encourage it back to your side with the treat, or take a few steps backwards, bringing your dog back to you, and when it is by your side, go forwards again, praising your puppy and rewarding for being in the correct position. Once your puppy understands that 'heel' or 'close' means walk by your side, then if your dog pulls or lags behind you can give that command and encourage it back to your side. Make your training fun, and doing this seperately with the pups means that you can concentrate on the pup and the pup can concentrate on you, rather than its sibling.
Jan, thanks for your suggestions. The puppies are siblings - a male and a female. I have done a lot of reading about "bonding" but decided to take the plunge anyway. (Ask me again in Feb/Mar) With our Maggie who we recently lost, we frequently said that we wished we had a companion dog for her. So, when the situation presented itself, we decided to get two puppies.
Your suggestions on leash training are very good. I will certainly give them a try. Thank you.
Look forward to hearing how you get on. Hopefully being brother and sister, you will have a better balance.
I know what you mean about having a companion. I have always had mulitple dogs, then lost two to cancer in quick succession, and was suddenly without a dog. Now we have a rescue Lab and hubby won't agree to us having another one. We have a friends terrier staying with us at the moment, and Ruby is so enjoying having company. Maybe it will help 'sir' change his mind.
Good luck with the training, and hope that it all goes well with you.
I own a Shih Tzu and have had him since he was 12-weeks old. When I started leash training him I started with a flat collar and leash. In the beginning I wouldn't let him on the ground outside because he didn't have all of his shots yet but I still started leash training him. I started by letting him smell the leash and then attached it to the collar with me holding it then I would walk a couple of steps while holding the leash and call him to come and when he would reach me I would praise him and give him a treat. When he was used to a flat collar and leash I then introduced a harness to him, because Shih Tzu are a short snout breed and flat collars can sometimes cause problems. Add in the dual leash after you are confident that your puppies know how to walk on a leash alone and listen to you. Also when you are training you pups try to always walk them on the same side of you every time (usually the left). The dual leashes are also called dog leash couplers if that helps and they have sizes that connect to the smaller dog collars.
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