Running with your dog can be great fun. However, one thing that can dampen the experience is having to hold the leash in your hand as you run. If you’re a runner, you know that having a lead in your hand while running can be frustrating and distracting.

So I decided to create my own home-made solution to the problem when I run with my dog. The “solution” would consist of a belt to go around my waist and a leash with a clip on either side to clip one side onto the belt and the other onto my dog’s collar. I went to Bunnings on Saturday morning and bought the following:

• A pack of two nylon tie-down straps, 2.5m each. I’m not sure the technical name for these, but they were straps around 3cm wide and 2.5m long with a metal buckle that resembled a belt-buckle. You pass one end of the strap through the buckle and it holds the “belt”. This was originally meant for holding things down on top of cars or trailers by tightening the nylon straps around the object.
  
• A pack of four metal rings, 2.5cm in diameter. You can use as many as you want for your hands-free dog leash. I used two.
  
• Two metal clips for the leash. One leash clip was like a regular clip you’d see on a leash you buy from the store. The other, however, opened in a way that instantly releases whatever it’s holding as the two “pincers” part in the middle, not on the side like the regular clip does.
  

You will also need a sewing machine (unless you plan on doing this by hand) and some strong thread that isn’t pure cotton, such as nylon.

First, the belt. The nylon straps I bought were 2.5 metres each, which should be plenty for just about anybody. Wrap the strap around you to decide what length your belt will need in order to fit you comfortable. I suggest leaving some excess length to the strap just in case. Cut off the length you don’t need and seal the nylon edges by running a burning match over the fraying ends quickly (you might need a few tries to get the hang of it, which is where that excess length comes in useful).

Next, decide where on your waist you want the leash to attach to your belt. You can use as many rings as you want. So if you have two dogs, you might want to put a ring on either side. I did this by putting on my new belt and marking down my preferred position of the leash. Slide your ring into position and wrap the belt around the ring, so the nylon strap on either side is touching with the ring being trapped in a loop in the middle. Sew the loop shut and voila – you have your anchor for the leash you’ll soon be making! Remember that the loop must protrude on the outside if you belt, not the inside.

Once you’ve sewed on all of the rings you need, your belt is complete. Keep in mind that this version of the belt doesn’t have any padding on the back, which is fine for dogs that don’t pull or smaller breeds. If you have a large pulled, however, or if you’re building the hands-free dog leash for a child, you might want to be careful that the belt doesn’t put too much pressure on the back.

Moving on to the hands-free dog leash itself. Judge how long your leash should be by your dog’s size and how much slack you want to give it when you run. Keeda stands just below my knee and I want her to be in a Heel when we run, so I cut off just enough of the second nylon strap to form a loose “L” when the leash is clipped at my hip and to her collar. I made sure to leave about 10cm of excess strap for the purpose of attaching the clips. Loop about 5cm of the end of the nylon strap through your clip and sew it in place. Sew around all of the borders and sew a V or X pattern into the middle to make sure the stitching is strong and sturdy. Do the same for the second clip. I cannot reiterate this enough – make sure that everything is being held together properly! Don’t do a shoddy job on the stitching or you could wind up in trouble later.

You’re done! Use the clip with two pincers that open equally on both sides and release whatever they’re holding instantly to attach the leash to your belt. This way should you need to urgently release your dog, you can undo the clip quickly and easily.

Test out your new hands-free dog leash and tell me how you go! Check out our results: