by Roy Gilbert

Created on: July 08, 2008

When my first Boxer passed away, I decided that when I got my next Boxer I would also get a second Boxer. One thing I noticed about Bogart was that most of the time he seemed really bored and would lay his head on the window sill and just stare outside. I was not always at home and did not have the chance to play with him after work. Boxers are a very hyper breed and love attention. When the time arrived to get my next dog I got two male Boxers, one was a dark brindle (Tiger) and the other a fawn . I will never again give a dog the same name as a previous dog because it causes problems with animal control records.

I had never owned two dogs before; and therefore was not aware of a slight learning curve: * I had to buy two water and food bowls * One Boxer was older and the second was a puppy therefore I had to purchase different types of dog food * Vet bills were more expensive because of two dogs * I had two kennels inside the house * Two of almost everything was needed * Making sure my mannerisms were always contingent with Bogart being treated as the dominant male of the two. For example, always giving the older dog toys first. They both knew that I was the alpha male of the pack. I thought I was ready to bring home two dogs because I had covered and/or anticipated all of the above needs. Upon bringing home the dogs, everything went well. On the third day they were playing together like old friends. I kept a close eye on them because they were both males from the same litter and one was so much larger than the other. To this day they have not had any major problems.

The one issue that I had not anticipated was that of walking two dogs simultaneously. Prior to having to walk two dogs I always had a free hand for tasks such as talking on the cell phone, holding used and unused poop bags, keys and other convenience items. When I tried walking both dogs traditionally, with one leash in each hand, both hands were occupied and multi-tasking was not an option. I started shopping around for some type of device that would allow me to walk both dogs with one hand because I was on-call 24/7 and had a cell phone with me at all times. The only products I could find were couplers. A coupler is a Y-shaped device with two or more dogs "very closely" connected on one end and the other end connected to a leash. I could walk both dogs with one hand but the coupler was too restrictive and if the larger dog made a sudden change in direction, Tiger would go flying in the air. The

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