Leash Redo ~ From Puppy Leash to Adult Dog Leash

When I looked around yesterday, we were down to only two dog leashes, one for training and one for walking.  The walking leash was a puppy leash, i.e. made of very lightweight cord.  Since I had a lot of materials and the clip on swivel hooks were still in good shape, I decided to make some new leashes.

Our dog trainer just tied rope together to make leashes. This type of leash was used as a training leash for practicing “Comes”.   The dogs are allowed to drag these leashes on the ground.  The idea is that they are hooked to a long rope so if they run we can easily grab the rope.  Our leashes wore out pretty quickly, so I reused the hook and made another with thicker rope.

After finishing the training leash, I decided that I might as well make walking leashes as well.  I used new thick nyon rope I found at the hardware store for the training leashes.   I already had the nylon belting/strap from some backpack projects.  I bought whole rolls of the belting with my 40% coupon.  I’m showing a new swivel hook. I did reuse some swivel hooks from previous leashes.

This is the type of swivel hook I used to make dog leashes. Swivel hooks are also used to make other things. I bought this one at the hardware store. It’s pretty heavy duty. You can also buy them at the craft store.

I wanted these leashes to last a while, so I cemented the rope together using GOOP®, then wrapped and cemented the connection with heavy grossgrain ribbon. Then I put shrink wrap over the connections.

Since the dogs have completely destroyed their puppy leashes. I reused one of the hooks to make a new leash with a thicker nylon strap. The other hook I bought at the hardware store.

I used the sewing machine for the walking leashes. I sewed the seams back and forth many times. On both the handle and the hook end. I sewed a square with an X in the middle.

If my trainer hadn’t already made us leashes by tying the swivel hook on a rope I probably would have never thought of making my own leashes.  I just happened to have many of the parts and the swivel hooks from the previous leash were still in great shape.  I could make custom leashes in any size I wanted.  I opted for some pretty plain jane leashes, but I may try something fancier next time a leash break.