Look Ma, No Hands!
I use my Squishy Face Studio Hands Free Dog Leash Belt almost every day while I walk dogs, so I wanted to share this tool with you, in case you haven’t discovered the delights of hands-free living yet.
A while back, the owner of Squishy Face Studios, Jessica, sent me a belt to test out before they were made available to the public. I got the belt for free in exchange for giving them my feedback on their new product.
oooh, pretty.
Guess what? In my opinion, they didn’t need to make changes because they got it 100% right. Let me tell you why (I’m not getting paid to say this – I just really love and do use this belt every day)…
This is not me or my dog, but they’re both cute, right?
3 Reasons The Squishy Face Hands-Free Belt Rocks:
- It’s super strong. Jessica shared that the belt had been tested with three dogs at once and they’d done a 165lb strength test.
- It’s really comfortable. The belt is 2″ wide, so it doesn’t cut into your chub (not that any of you have any chub, but if you did, it wouldn’t bother you). And, it’s pretty darn cute.
- It’s simple to use. You put on the belt. You open the colored nylon strap via the quick release buckle. You loop the handle of your dog’s regular leash handle in there and snap the buckle shut. It works with any leash.
Here’s how it works: Simply put the belt is: Easy, Comfortable, and Safe.
8 Reasons to Give a Hands-Free Belt a Try:
- You aren’t holding the leash, so you won’t be sending your tension down the line to your dog.
- Your hands are free to give your dogs treats, wipe ice melt off their paws, scoop poop, or pull chicken bones out of their mouths (city dog walkers I know you feel me on that last one).
- They make it easy to obey leash laws while doing whatever you want to do with your dog – hiking, running, snow shoeing, biking, pushing a stroller, or yoga. No excuses, yo.
- Instead of dislocating your arm, your dog is attached at a spot lower on your body, closer to your center of gravity, where you are stronger and more stable.
- If you’re teaching your dog to walk on a loose leash, this will help because you won’t be pulling and jerking the leash.
- You can use this with a new dog in the house when then aren’t crated. Back when I fostered dogs, I would attach the newbie to my waist for the first few days to help them avoid making naughty choices around the house (like tasting my cats).
- If you take your dog to a picnic, eat too much macaroni salad and fall asleep under a tree, your dog will remain attached to your waist until you wake up and get your act together. Not that any of you would ever do that.
- Here’s the #1 best thing: You don’t have to worry about dropping the leash. This is a big one for any of us that are anxious about walking our reactive dogs. With a hands-free belt, you don’t have to worry that the leash will be ripped out of your hand because you were relaxed (for once!) while walking your dog, when — BOOM! another dog sneaks up and your dog goes bonkers and you drop the leash. Yeah, you won’t have to worry about that.
BTW, If you want to, you can still hold the leash in your hands while it’s attached to the belt. Whatever floats your dog walking boat.
Dog (and lovely small waist) not included.
Edited: When the original blog was published, this post was part of a contest. That contest has now ended. Congratulations to Sarabeth Tolbert who won the prize!
Here’s the CONTEST!
Leave me a comment answering the question below and one lucky person will be chosen to win a Squishy Face Hands Free Belt from Fit For A Pit!
A movie about your dog is about to hit the big screen. What’s the title?
(p.s. My dog Birdie’s movie would be called “The Moderately Paced and The Curious” – kind of like The Fast and The Furious, only with an old Beagle – and Boogie’s would be “Romancing the Ball.”).
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Ah! I just started using a hands free leash two weeks ago after reading a blog shared by the lovely Your Pit Bull and You. BEST THING EVER. I’m completely dumbfounded that I’ve gone five years with a reactive beast and this has never come up before. I feel like everyone was keeping a secret from me. Seriously. People of the internet – you need one of these.
I felt that way a few years back Sara! I mentioned my fear of dropping the leash to a trainer who casually said, “Just use a leash that goes around your waist.” Like, duh.
For whatever reason, this had NEVER occurred to me and no trainer had ever suggested it before. Let’s hope “the secret” is out now!
Seriously. HOW is this not, like, the first thing anyone recommends?! I asked a few of my trainer friends about it and most of them were all yea, they’re fabulous! And started singing praises. I just kind of stared open mouthed and asked why no one bothered to enlighten me.
Andre: The Adventures of Superpuppy! Singing his own theme music, Andre saves the world from nefarious evildoers like, The Cat, The Vacuum, and The Bird on the roof. He’s a nerdy little pit mix.
Layla: Dog vs. Food -a dog almost too smart to live, defeating child locks, kibble storage bins,and garbage cans, in the quest to eat all the food. Starring- 35# of pure piggy pit bull
Lita: Old dogs: a comedy about aging gracelessly. Starring a 13 year old pit bull, formerly the “good” one in the family, now bossing people around and acquiring a MUCH younger boyfriend. Co-Starring Petey the Pit Bull.
Been wanting to try this type of lead with new pup. Very cool
For my Toby, his title would be “The Tails of Toby the Terrier”. He’s got his quirks, he’s got his terrier ways, but he’s the best cuddlier there is!
The Yin and Yang of Ray and Julius.
Frida’s Excellent Adventure!
If a movie was made about my four it would be called “The reason mom became a force free dog trainer…. Our journey with her”
My four with all their issues and awesomeness is the reason I have made the journey to become a certified force free dog trainer. We have had quite a journey together.
Sophie May’s would be… “Sophie’s Choice”! [Should I pee here, or here, or here, or maybe here.. or THERE, yes, there, that’s the place!
The title of our 2 dogs’ movie would be “TOO CUTE FOR COMFORT”…..or “TWO CUTE FOR COMFORT”……
A movie about my dog Sophie, a yellow Labrador retriever, would be called Water Dance!
My 13 y/o Dalmatian’s film would be “Have (pet) passport; will travel.” She has lived in five countries and traveled to nine more.
My new little vizsla’s would be “Causin’ chaos.”
Together they are a really cute pair… not sure what their theme movie would be called but it would feature a big sister rolling her eyes over the antics of a pesky little brother but secretly loving him from afar — and stepping in to referee when anybody tries to harass him at the dog park!
My dogs’ movie: “Gone With the Wind…as soon as someone forgets to close the gate”
“Dogs of Anarchy”
My dog’s movie title would be The Dixie Horror Picture Show 😉 I’m sure she would look great in fishnet stockings.
“Reactive Management”
Loki, my Border Terrier is fun but also deliciously naughty at times – he’s also the most affectionate dog I know, so my film title for him would be, “The Good, The Bad and The Snuggly”
The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly – starring Ivie-Lu in all three roles!
My dog’s would be “Izzy The Flirt, the tale (or should that be tail) of a little girl that can’t resist a man at work. My border terrier is very people friendly and always stops and bats her eye lashes at any men we see when out for a walk particularly men working. Unfortunately she’s reactive to some dogs, we are working on this and it is improving. I have just switched to a perfect fit harness with two attachment points (from dog games) and use a double ended lead so if I do tighten the lead the pressure is split between the ring on the front which sits on the Brest bone and the one on the back which sits behind the shoulders. This has made a big difference reduction to the amount of reactivity we would normally have. It is worth experimenting with different combinations of equipment to walk your dog and remember nobody likes too much pressure on their throat cutting their air supply any thing that puts pressure here is likely to make the animal panic/erupt.
The world according to Bella
Pepper – Misunderstood Lovable Shit
Ginger – Love Hungry Teddybear
Not Sleepless And Not In Seattle would be a movie about Moe.
Oh dear – a movie about my boy Hodgins would be titled “Nerf Herders: Return to the DoggieThunderdome”
The adventures of Raindance Maggie….I know it’s a song title but so fitting for her 🙂
“Fat or Fluffy” – what will his next haircut reveal?
My dog-reactive, squirrel obsessed, highly jazzed Doberman’s movie would be called “Sponge Bob Hyper-Pants: The Pee-quel”.
Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown!
Meatball: The Mystery Mutt From Mars!
I think he’s a beagle/dachshund/Staffy mix (waiting on the DNA test results!) and literally everyone who sees him goes “What is THAT?!?”
Hannabel Lickter
In this movie, Hannabel Lickter-a handsome pitbull- shows the world how amazing pitbulls are by rescuing all types of bully breed dogs!! In the process he takes down the hoomans responsible for dog fighting and all types of animal cruelty!! He’s a true hero!! 🙂
Based off my pitbull, Abel! @abeltheblue
adorable!
Pibbles and Chiz: The Adventures of a Star the Pit Bull, and her side kick Twinkle the Chihuahua. (chiz prounounced like cheese)
And what a fantastic idea – I am definitely going to try out this belt! Thanks for sharing 🙂
GingerForce about my two ginger dogs!
A movie about my boys would have to be titled The Dynamic Duo!
They are the best buds, and love each other so much.
My sweet Rascal (pit bull mix) his movie would be called “Natural Born Kisser”, because he loves giving puppy kisses and he is just an all around good dog and fun to be around. He makes everyone around him smile 🙂
Boris’ movie would be titled, “Bark Hard with the Vengeance”, for sure.
We love DINOs and teach about them and welcome them in ourpack walks. Mama loves going hands free but most belts are too wimpy for me. I hope I win….this one looks awesome!!!!
Honey Badger and the Three Dwarves (I love my girl, but she is a bitch. Luckily her brothers are fairly easygoing…)
The Life of Riley
a movie about my boy Pete would be titled : Petey the Wonder Hound
My rottie’s movie would be called Rotten-weiler, and would be a van wilder style comedy
I Know We Just Met, But I Love You (subtitle: do you have treats?)
for my 2 golden retrievers, their movie would be the Ginga Ninja’s
Six Degrees of Separation… Anxiety.
The adventures of a wiggle butt
The Houndy and the pitty cat
Because I’m Happy!! I dont’ know why but I am!!
All Balls All The Time!
I think this is a great solution!
The hands free leash is the best thing ever. Completely transformed working with our super reactive dog, Fiona. The only thing I wish is that the leashes you use with these things had a grabbable loop attached to them halfway down (like some of the leashes you see that have a handle, but also another handle, further down the leash). Just because sometimes you have to pull your dog in really fast and the nylon leash can be rough on your hands. (I used my hands free leash setup with a larger rescue dog who proceeded to cause trouble with another dog and ended up with blisters on both hands from trying to pull the dog I was handling away from the other dog.)
Anyway. If my dog had a movie it would be called Semper Fiona. Because whatever her challenges are (and there are many) she’s the best friend you could ask for, and I’m learning to be her best friend, too. This morning she wanted to get up at the regular time but I didn’t want to (snooze!) and instead of bugging me like she usually does she curled up under my arm and laid her head next to mine and waited patiently. She’s the least snuggly dog we’ve ever owned–any time she chooses to snuggle with us it’s remarkable. I almost cried.
Glad to hear this kind of set up has been helpful for you Meredith! I know what you mean about needing to pull in your dogs and wanting a handle. The nice thing about this particular belt is that you can use whatever leash you want (including the kind with two handles)!
A movie about my Brittany, Dot, would be called
Princess Mud Monster
The Adventures of Captain Naughty Pants & Friends
What a fantastic leash! I would love to win one. It would make things a lot easier when I walk my FOUR dogs!
Pogo the Poodle’s Movie: ‘Pogo the Great and Powerful’
Casper the Bichon’s Movie: ‘The Curious Case of Casper the Bichon’
Jimmy the Maltese/Bichon’s Movie: ‘Mr Congeniality’
Pippa the Whippet’s Movie: ‘My Fair Whippet’
“Toby: The accident prone pittie”
This would be awesome to win!
My dog Kora’s movie would be titled “The Nose Knows!”
Starring Sally in
“Return of the Mad Humper”
Starring Daisy in
“Moldy Oldies: A Poopcicle Documentary”
This is great! My very overweight Vinnie needs this to make running with me easier!
Daisy and Sunshine: Two Hippy Dogs on a Hike.
My pitbull Roxie’s movie title would be “Roxie the Rockstar”
My boy has inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but we still able to help him live a great dog’s life — playing with friends, running, hiking, doing agility… That’s why his movie title would be “IBDog”!
Combining my description of my dog and our trainer’s description for him, a movie about our Parti Poodle would the “The Punk Rock Star”.
The block-barker movie my dogs are starring in is titled ~
Tails O’ the Super Hero Therapy Dogs
❤
Clover:
2001: A Space Dog Odyssey (she was born that year)
To Kill A Mockingbird, Two Sparrows, A Pigeon…
Dances with Wolves: A Canine Freestyle Story
Raiders of the Lost Park
Dogtor Strangelove: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The KONG
Great titles Katie! I’ll count them both as one entry. (I didn’t think to say this earlier, but it’ll just be one entry /comment per person for the drawing) Thanks for playing along!!
I love this one. I promise I hadn’t read it before I wrote mine. Great minds.
Nicky PomPom and the Suspicious Looking Watermelon
‘Tails of a troubled but loveable mutt’ about my DINO Ruskin
“My name is Stella and my foster mom wants to send me to the glue factory” (she may have destroyed my house today – bed rest is not agreeing with her high strung ways)
“Drop that Sock” My Sonny Boy has a habit of picking up socks (or anything else he can find for that matter) and bringing them to me. Well, one day he decided he wanted to know what it felt like for a sock to go down his throat. We got it back with no complications but socks are now off limits!
I Did it! or How I Learned to Control My Spin and Make Friends at the Same Time.This movie is a fantasy since my pup Junior has canine OCD and is dog selective. A woman can dream, right?
Our crazy youngsters movie would be called Problem Child. This leash is an amazing idea!:
Caesar a Diamond in the Ruff
My reactive guy would love this!
My boxer, Carter, would have a horror film titled “The Tale of the Terrifing Turd”. Poor thing is literally scared of his own poop after a few “traumatic” encounters as a puppy when he had a turd get stuck to his butt.
My youngest would be: Adventures of an energetic puppy 🙂
My eldest one would be: Survival of the dangerous outdoors 🙂
Safe and sound: a rescue dog’s new lease on life
Teddy and the yard art of doom.
He’s afraid of statuary, garden flags, etc. However, mowers and loud equipment don’t bother him.
What a great idea! This “secret” also never occurred to me – I’ll work at helping spread the word.
Ed & Tess’s movie would be titled “Where the Wild Things Are” (answer: my backyard!)
My boys (a siberian husky and a chihuahua mix) would have to star in the movie “CASH and misfit: The Odd Couple” because they’re so completely different from each other! If they were to have their own it would be “CASH: A Tale of Two Holes in the Ground/All for the Love of Digging” and “Misfit: The Snuggler Returns”
Fun! My Pups movie title would be:
Smiley: The pittie behind the snarl 🙂
Harley: His movie would be called “Everything with Gusto”. He’s a little pitty mix who does everything with Gusto.. Whether playing, sleeping, dringing water…
My dogs movie would be “REACTIVE! The Freaky Life of the Shaggy Pit” it would be a suspense/thriller.
My dog’s movie would be “The Lumbering Oaf Cometh….” – he’s a lab/pit mix (and probably more!) who’s about to turn one. Nothing else needs to be said. 😉
How about the obvious one for our German shepherd Mia: “Mamma Mia”!
“Metropawlis” (ala the 1927 German Expressionist movie “Metropolis” directed by Fritz Long; the moral of the movie: end classism, end breedism, end speciesism!) ❤
Not Moneyball, but rather JollyBall.
“Come in here Goobers” the two pittie mixes are always on the wrong side of the door. Roscoe has a very long tongue that hangs out the side of his mouth and now Caly has started to imitate him. Roscoe comes running up the yard with his tongue hanging out, breathing hard and he’s so adorable.
Our dog, Louie, is actually named from this line in CASABLANCA: “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, so that line from the movie would be the title of his movie.
Movie title for documentary movie with both my dogs in it: “Love & Beasts”. A movie about the shapes, sizes, and colors of breed appearances and how public perceptions of dog personalities are inaccurately influenced by these simple visual characteristics.
Indiana Jaws and the Bone on Doom
“The Dukes of hazard, my outlaw terrier.” Hoboken’s most wanted, Duke is the king of chaos.
The Wild and Crazy Adventures of a Mutt Named Bear.
Looking Cute And Licking Toes starring Remi the Frenchie.
The Million Dollar Dog. A story of how a fearful shelter puppy became a courageous flyball dog. We’re currently at the fearful puppy part, she’s scared of everything and then some. She also is recovering from luxating patella surgery, which is unusual for a 2 year old. Poor girl hit the genetic lottery, but boy does she ever love life! She is currently enjoying her physical therapy, positive training and neither one of us can wait until she can return to her flyball training! Its one thing she was never scared of!
I’ve been thinking about picking this up, as my other two pitties are my running buddies. I could see this being a wonderful addition to our runs! After reading your post though, I can see so many more possible uses with training my Million Dollar Dog, Penny.
Rico Suave: the True Doggywood Story. I named him for reminding me of being pretty boy like, but also I can see how it could turn into a full length feature film full of gorgeous dogs and lots of drama. I get compliments constantly about how pretty he is, yet because he is so reactive he doesn’t get along well with other dogs and strange people.
“Tig the Tiny Tiger”
Mei Mei is a old lady who had no tolerance for puppies or white fluffly dogs. Her movie title would be “Mean Girls”
TheName Of My Dogs Movie Is: DevilDog- Its All Mine!
Cats, bats and spats: stories from a canine foster sister!
The Accidental Agility Dog – a not-very-athletic woman looking for a well-behaved, apartment- and cat-friendly small dog adopts a cockapoo from a shelter who turns out to be reactive to people and dogs. When a chance event leads to her letting her dog explore agility equipment, he lights up with excitement, and what started as a way to bring some joy to her dog leads to…well, I’m not sure what it leads to yet, but we’re getting more and more serious and having a blast!
The Barkfast Club
Frank (my fear-aggressive pup): Dr. Hackles and Mr. Hide.
Beans (my chihuahua): To Bed, with Love
Tge movie title would be “The Art of War”. My dog Artimis would be the main character who struggled between the “stranger danger” he felt and his love for doing thing.
Luna’s movie would be: Eternal Smushes of the Spotted Nose! The girl loves to get all snuggled up and smush that white, pink, and black spotted pit bull nose! 🙂
How have I not tried a hands-free leash yet!? Love your posts!
I missed the contest, but I definitely need to invest in one of these! I get so annoyed carrying the leash as I run.
My mutt Kitty (really long story there) is going to be written about in “A Dog Called Kitty”, if I ever get the time! She has taught me so much, as she is a seriously damaged rescue dog, about Patience, Love and Tolerance.
I fail, sometimes. But then again, so does she. We’re Going Back To Basics, after a very outrageous and serious incident last night. You’ll read about it soon enough, as I’ll be making my blog public soon.
Anyway, I think her movie title would be The Blues Buster, like The Blues Brothers. I am Bipolar and she really does make a massive difference in my life. She is super in tune and so I have to work hard on the “Mirroring” factor that some of you may be aware of. I have to walk her three times a day, even when it literally hurts to leave my room, so I know that’s good.
I’ve been cobbling together belts like this for some time. I have some physical troubles, but I won’t bore you here about them! Anyway, I drop the leash at least once during the walk. In part because we’ve got her loose leash walking so well, that I barely touch the leash. The other part is my hands are bad, so holding things can be tough.
I love walking her by my BIG FAT AND YES, CHUBBY WAIST! She’s slowed down a bit, so sometimes she stops to smell the doggy roses and it is a bit of a shock that I’m the one at the end of the leash who needs to pay attention!
And yes, we live in Philly. The bodegas sell chicken and that is the one food Kitty won’t Drop/Out. So, smelly chicken bone fingers and a big shout out of rudeness to the people who toss them on the street!
My hyper active little girl Barretta would be “The fast and the furious.”