The Buddy System Belt and Leash

I have two 70 lb. pit bull mixes(think 140 lbs. of goofy muscle), and I can walk them with this system and drink a cup of coffee at the same time. Prior to the buddy system, one of my girls sprained my finger when she pulled the leash off my hand to investigate a cat. It is much more difficult for them to pull at my core strength than to pull my arm. With some training and this leash, they rarely pull at all anymore.

It is excellent for running. With regular leashes, I found myself off balance as I was holding a leash with one hand and pumping my arm with the other...not a good way to run. I used to use it exclusively for running, but I found it to be such a good system that I no longer have any other leash.

It is also great security; I never have to worry about one of them getting away from me. When I'm in the pet store, I can bring them in, browse, inspect products and pay for merchandise ... all with the completely free use of my hands.

I highly recommend getting the extend-a-buddy with the system because the default leash is too short. If I want to reign them in to keep them closer, I can either take the extension out or adjust the leash.

This isn't a passing fad for me...I've used this system for 8 years, and it would be very difficult for me to go without it.

There we were enjoying the mid-afternoon hike thru the Tucson Mountains. Hands-free walk/hikes are great. Chance (my dog)was loving the smells and fresh air. I was getting exercise with my favorite buddy. And then there was a rabbit.... Out of the box my Labrador bolts and bam! The connector from not only the waist harness but also the connector from my dog's leash to the waist hook-in broke. That is correct both connectors broke. Chance ran off determined to catch this rabbit full tilt. Only the recall command made him stop and return to me. Thank gosh for my dog trainer and all of her wisdom to teach us ("Recall") that.

So if you have an 85 pound of muscular fur who evidently likes to chase rabbits I would recommend getting a hands free jogging leash that is stronger than this one.

Kind regards

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This style of having the leash attached to an adjustable belt is a great concept but it could use a little tweaking. There are 2 plastic clips that hang from the belt. The leash is clipped onto either of these. The clips themselves have not been strong enough to survive unexpected lunges from my 42 pound female pup. Even with the elasticized lunge buster, I have had 2 clips snap in my 1st month of use!

Other tweaking has to do with how you "store" the leash if and when you set your dog loose. The second clip, which hangs from the belt, comes with the system and allows you to plug in the collar end of the leash (or to attach a second leash, as an alternative) but when you do this, the part of the leash that is left looping in front of you is cumbersome so I wind up tucking some of it into my clothing which looks a bit weird and draws comments from others!

In conclusion, I really like the concept of this product. The manufacturer replaced my first broken leash quickly and without charge. I acknowledge my dog is very active (she's not nearly as strong a many dogs out there) but I would like the plastic clips to be heftier or better made.

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(UPDATE: 6/19/2012) After over two months of solid use, I still love this product, but not for all the same reasons as before. Here are some additional thoughts:

First, if you are a runner and want to improve your performance, I highly recommend a young Siberian Husky as a personal trainer. Boundless energy and an innate desire to pull mean you can either run faster and farther, or get dragged around the neighborhood like a sled. Yes, he has learned how much he can pull when attached to the Buddy System, and does he ever pull.

At first I was pretty disappointed, but as my own speed and endurance started to improve, I realized that he was pushing me to do better. It took me months of solo running to be able to consistently go 2 miles and still, every time it was a struggle. We now regularly go 3.5 to 4.5 miles. You can't overstate the benefit of having someone there to push you just a little further when you're running out of steam. It turns out that's true whether the "someone" is a person or a dog.

I noted in other reviews that some people have had their dogs snap the Lunge Buster. I have had no such issues and my dog has certainly tried. However, the belt does gradually work itself loose as we run, and I have to stop every 15-20 minutes to re-size it. The lead also does not always slide around the belt cleanly. When it gets stuck I have to physically rotate the entire belt with my hands to free it, which somewhat defeats the purpose of a hands-free leash.

(Original review follows.)

I have a year-old Husky mix puppy with HIGH energy. We take regular, long trips to the dog park so he can run himself to exhaustion and not be bouncing off the walls. Unfortunately, an infected spider bite has him wearing a Cone of Shame and on restricted activity -leash walks only! The first week or so he went nuts, and as a result so did everyone in the house.

He is 70 lbs and a big-time puller, so we use a Gentle Leader to walk him. He has never gotten used to it and hates it as much now as he did when he was 5 months old. But he doesn't like to walk -he likes to run. And even with the Gentle Leader this is not a possibility with a regular leash.

I ordered the Buddy System with the Lunge Buster attachment and crossed my fingers. The first time we went out with it, he tried to drag me forward, but apparently realized he couldn't pull my entire body, and immediately gave up trying. Now each time we go running, he tries to pull away once, but for the rest of the run he stays right beside me. The product works better than I could have hoped for.

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3-17-13

UPDATE

I've had this for a while now and still LOVE it. One thing to note: I quickly lost the second thingy on the belt that attached to the lead. If you are walking/running only one dog I'd just keep only one on the belt at a time.

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I am a runner and my running partner is an 87lb golden-doodle that likes to pull and when she sees a squirrel/rabbit/other dog she likes to lunge!!! I've been searching to find: 1) something that will keep her from lunging and pulling my arm out of the socket, 2) something so I don't have to hold the leash in my hand -it throws off my stride with 87lbs pulling on one side. This has been a wonderful solution!!

Here's what I like:

* The belt is comfortable to wear.

* The dog seems to sense she's attached to something heavier than just an arm and has stopped pulling the whole run. She still lunges, but with my center of gravity as the anchor, she's not able to almost pull me over!

* The way the belt is attached to the lead allows the lead to move around the belt. This is a surprisingly nice feature--not one I'd thought much about.

* You can unhook the lead from the belt quickly and easily. I've tried several other brands and when other leashed dogs approached and the inevitable "sniff dance" started the leads got tangled. With the other brands I had to unhook the waist-belt to untangle the leads--with this one I simply unlatch the lead from the belt, untangle and reattach. Or if I'm on the ball, unhook the lead before the dog approaches-I can do this with-out stopping my run. Very convenient.

* The length of the lead is adjustable. My dog has a tendency to run right in front of me. Some of the other leads I tried were too short so I'd kick her heels. This one I adjusted so she has just enough room in front of me, but not too much that the lead drags on the ground when she is beside me. (I did get the "Extend-a-buddy" extension section. The leash alone was just a tad too short.)

*This lead does not have the elastic section and I don't recommend adding it. (You can order it if you really want it.) I tried other leads that had the elastic section built in. The theory is that the elastic gives you warning time when the dog lunges and eases some of the shock. In practice I did not think the elastic did anything to ease the shock of the lunge. Plus, the springiness of the elastic caused the lead to really bounce up and down when I ran. I found that very annoying and I think my dog did too!

The only thing questionable aspect of the product is how long will the plastic clips hold up to an 87lb dog straining against them? I guess we'll find out.

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