How to Walk Multiple Dogs Without Leash Tangles (Safely & Stress-Free)

Originally posted: 5 August 2019

Walking multiple dogs should feel peaceful — not like managing a moving puzzle of crossed leads, sudden pulls, and constant untangling. Yet for many dog owners, daily walks are more stressful than relaxing, especially when handling more than one dog at a time.

At The Hartful Company, this frustration is exactly what sparked the early development of what would eventually become MyHerculead — not as a product yet, but as a problem worth solving properly.

The Real Issue Isn’t the Dogs — It’s the Equipment

Dogs naturally walk at different speeds, react independently to their environment, and change direction without warning. Traditional leads weren’t designed for this kind of movement. Most are built for single-dog handling and linear motion, which makes multi-dog walking unnecessarily difficult and sometimes unsafe.

We realized the challenge wasn’t behavioral — it was mechanical.

Starting With Observation, Not Assumptions

Before sketching anything, we spent time watching real walks:
How dogs cross paths, how tangles form, where tension spikes, and when handlers lose balance or grip. These insights shaped our understanding of what multi-dog walking actually demands in real life — and what existing tools were failing to support.

Rather than designing around control, we began designing around movement.

Why “Anti-Tangle” Alone Isn’t Enough

Many products promise tangle-free walks, but most simply reduce tangles — they don’t solve the underlying cause. We discovered that tangling isn’t about cords twisting; it’s about directional conflict between independent dogs sharing a single control point.

Any real solution would need to manage rotation, spacing, tension, and balance simultaneously — without requiring constant hand adjustments from the walker.

Designing for Calm, Not Just Convenience

Our goal wasn’t just to make walking easier — it was to make it calmer. Walking dogs should feel grounding, not stressful. So from the very beginning, our focus was on designing something that felt intuitive, balanced, and stable — even with strong, energetic dogs.

This philosophy became the foundation of MyHerculead long before any physical prototypes existed.

What Comes Next

By August 2019, MyHerculead was still in early concept and validation stages — but its purpose was already clear. In the years ahead, this foundation would evolve into real-world testing, system engineering, and safety refinement.

We’ll be sharing that journey as it unfolds.