Leash Trick #419

If your dog is an uber-genius who graduated cum laude from obedience school, you might not need to tie him up to a bench or lamppost when you duck into a store to buy groceries.

If he's even smarter than that, maybe he can hold the leashes of all your other dogs too - like this hilarious guy on the left.

However, if you're dog is anything like the rest of ours, you probably have to tie him up for his own good sometimes. But when you do, there's no need to remove the leash from his collar (which can risk letting him run away), and no need for annoying fancy knots (which can pull tight and be a pain to untie).

Here's how I do it, in most cases:

1. Take the handle-end of the leash (the end you hold onto) and thread it through the bars of a fence - or between the legs of a bench, or what have you (you'll understand the various options when you try it).

2. Loop the handles themselves over the top of a fence-post - or around a doorknob, or what have you (again the options will be clear).

That's it!

If you want them to have less slack, loop the leashes around the poles a few times before attaching the handle.

Physics (or topology perhaps) ensures that this arrangement is a sturdy as any knot, but you can slip it off and be free in a second.

These pics show my pups tethered to an iron gate on the street, a chain-link fence at the dog-park, and even to an appropriately-shaped tree branch.

REMEMBER there are "tethering laws" against tying your dog up for too long outside - and anyway that can be cruel and dangerous. Your dog can get hurt or stolen if you're not paying attention.

But if this technique frees you up to take Fido on more errands with you, that's a good thing.

Use it wisely.