Buddy - Hands Free Dog Leash Connector - Biking, Jogging, Hiking, Walking

My dog Chester loves to go running with me (while I bike). I used to just hold his leash, but it got frustrating because the leash would drag the ground and it would eventually make its way behind his front legs while he ran, so I'd have to stop and "untangle" him. What a pain! But speaking of pain...one day the leash got caught around my ring finger, and when he pulled unexpectedly, it nearly broke my finger! To avoid the need for future x-rays, I purchased a product that had a 5-star rating and cost me over 100 dollars. With a good rating and an expensive price tag, it's gotta work great, right?Nope. All three of my dogs were afraid of it, so I never got to use it. It's in a weird crooked "L" shape that that attaches to the rear gear mechanism, and juts out to the side about 2 feet. Since I often ride in my neighborhood or on a greenway path, there are times that I need to have my dog closer to the bike, not sticking out an entire 2 feet and in the path of cars or people. So, back to Square One.I stumbled upon the Buddy Hands Free Dog Leash Connector by accident, and it works perfectly! I put it on the rear of my bike in the same position shown in the last product picture. It's just short enough that it doesn't get caught in the chain. I attached a short carabiner bungee cord (also bought on Amazon) to Chester's harness, and we were off and running without a hitch! No fear, no learning curve, and no broken fingers. And unlike the other product I tried, I can use a longer or shorter carabiner bungee cord, depending on how much slack I want to give him.I'm just sorry that I didn't try this nifty little device sooner. Don't let the price -- or the 3 1/2-star rating -- fool you. It is a MUCH better choice than the more expensive dog walking products, and it has made my bike rides with my dog SO much more enjoyable.

Gave this to my husband for his birthday so he could ride his bike with the dog. He used it twice and it broke! Our dog isn't particularly large and wasn't pulling on the device very hard. The cord pulled right out of the rubber connector at one end, so now it's just a carabeener attached to a string which doesn't do much for us! I would really hope that the company will replace this item.Update: the company replaced the item extremely quickly with no questions asked. Their customer service definitely made up for receiving a defective product the first time!

We bought this instead of those other bike/leash attachments because we were worried about the leash pulling out of them. Our dog is a 65 lb goldendoodle puppy. This product is fantastic. It makes riding your bike with your dog on a leash safe. It also gives you flexibility to use it attached to other things. We like how it absorbs the "shock" of the dog pulling. Our dog is pleasantly tired and well behaved now that we can exercise him like he needs.

I do not like giving negative reviews but this product disappointed me both for jogging and biking with my dog. And my dog is a well trained and well-behaved Australian Shepherd, not a wild beast. Basically, all this thing is is a shock cord with a small carabiner on one end, basically a fancy bungee.As to biking, I already owned a Springer Dog Exerciser for biking, which works awesome but weighs a ton and is incredibly overpriced (like $120). So I was looking for something lighter. I used the Buddy as recommended with the Highland bungee cord with a carabiner on each end. Problem one is that the carabiners are tiny and only open like 1/3 of an inch, and since all the tubes and what not on a bike are larger than that, I couldn't find anywhere to connect it. I eventually ended up connecting it to my seatrail, which is bad because it's up high, whereas a dog connector should be as low as possible from a center of gravity viewpoint. Problem two is since the product is entirely flexible, it allows the dog to go forward, backward, in close, etc., and that definitely interferes with riding, and can even get caught in your pedals, etc. If you look at all the other products out there that attach a dog to a bike, they all have a rigid arm to keep the dog out from the bike and in a fixed position relative to the bike. The Springer, for example, keeps my dog to my right rear as I ride -- her nose is about 2 feet out from my rear wheel.So it was not a success for bike riding. As to jogging or walking, you can hook it to a belt loop or whatever, and if you have a dog that always stays in perfect formation with you, I am sure it would be fine. But most dogs (mine included) like to wander from side to side and stop and sniff the roses, and having a leash attached to one fixed spot on one side of my body was not convenient.That's my experience, thanks for reading.

We've got a standard poodle, they train extremely easy and by the time I got this, the dog was trained to stay close.

But wish it had better components, especially the carabiner which is very cheap. I suppose you could just buy a good carabiner and make your own.*****28-Dec-2013.... In the last few days I've received an email from the manufacturer telling me they were shipping me at no cost, an updated version of the hands free leash connector. I felt guilty for my weak 3 star review! But at the same time it's great that manufacturers read these reviews. And this manufacturer cared enough about the reviews to send me an email. Then a few days later a package arrived with the udpated unit and a personalized letter from the manufacturer. Boy, more guilt. But let me take a look at the updated product....It has a good quality carabiner - not something you'd climb mountains with but far better than the original unit. And there's a very soft rubbery grip at the base of the carabiner vs. the hard plastic of the original product.So... let me say bravo for great customer service. As for the product itself, I think it fairly rates 5 stars, up from my original 3 stars. It's of good quality, feels good to the hand, is very useful for your dog, and for ~ $10, it's a great value.