I have three rather large dogs, with a combined weight of about 230 pounds. Walking all three of them is pretty much impossible, especially since Cooper likes to veer off in one direction while my girls like to sniff as a single unit. Walking two of them is quite a challenge at times. I can walk Tasha and Maia together, because as I said, they basically act as a one very large dog, but Cooper can’t be walked with anyone else. All three of them give me a bit of a challenge on uneven ground because, to be honest, I never really taught them to walk properly. I let them walk me rather than the other way around.
The Instant Trainer Leash was designed for people like me who really need some extra help teaching their dogs to walk properly on a leash, but can’t go out and pay someone oodles of money to train them. It’s available in two sizes, one for smaller dogs and one for dogs over 30 pounds. The leash easily attaches to any collar, and uses gentle pressure to help prevent your dog from dragging you down the street on your face.
I received two to try out on my dogs, and finally had a chance to use them the other night. Sal and I took all three dogs for a walk. I took my boy Cooper, and he handled the girls. We used one regular leash that I already had, and the two Instant Trainer Leashes. Maia is the only dog who would stand even remotely still for two seconds, so she’s the star of this post.
My Experience with the Instant Trainer Leash
We tried putting the leash on Cooper first, even though he’s actually the easiest of the three to walk. He’s also the largest, so while he’s easy once we get going, the first five minutes of the walk can be downright dangerous for me because he gets so excited that he tries to drag me down our driveway. Unfortunately, Cooper flat-out refused to wear it. He’s a little skitzy about things around his middle, I think bad things happened to him when he spent the first 6 months of his life in a tiny cage before we found and adopted him. He actually snarled and snapped when we tried to put the leash on him. We gave up for now, but may try to convince him again another day.
Maia is my easy-going dog, so we tried next with her. She had no problem letting us put it on her. As long as she thinks the end result involves food, a walk, or a ride in the car, she’ll pretty much let us do anything.We had a bit of a hard time adjusting it just right though. The trainer is supposed to rest further up, but it kept slipping down.
We ended up using both of the trainers as regular leashes, and they work perfectly for that. I love the handle because it has rubber grips and is easy to hold onto. I’ve read other reviews of the Instant Trainer Leash in which the reviewer had a smaller dog and used it with great success, so I know with a little more patience we’ll be able to get at least Tasha and Maia walking properly on it. In the meantime, I really do love this leash for walking the dogs, even if I can’t get it on them right. At $19.99, it’s actually less expensive than many of the leashes I considered purchasing, so even if you have issues using it as it’s supposed to be used, it’s still a great buy.
