Colleash

Dogs are beautiful creatures: intelligent, playful, loving, funny, sensitive, intuitive, instinctive, and athletic. It is no wonder so many humans have always had dogs in their lives, from ancient times through today. Now it is more about companionship than survival, but the dog-human bond is still powerful and undeniable.

I would venture to guess that people with dogs have overall better mental and physical health than non-dog owners. Dogs encourage bonding and exercise. I had dogs growing up and, after a break during my college years, I had Rivkin, Maya, Boz, Milo, Harry, Fluffy, and a few others I took in temporarily.

A Life with Dogs

I had an extremely close bond with Maya, a wolf-shepherd mix I adopted from the Anti-Cruelty Society in my twenties. She became my surrogate family for many years, and we did almost everything together. She was incredibly athletic and clever, and she was a great conduit into the outdoors and nature because she was very wild herself.

After she died, and after several months of grieving, my partner Vivian and I adopted Milo, a Chow–Border Collie mix, and then Harry, a Chow–Malamute mix, a short time later. These two dogs became a big part of my life and my kids’ lives, along with Fluffy, a small Shih Tzu–Terrier mix.

Looking back and forward, I am grateful for the experiences, companionship, love, and joy dogs have added to my life.

The Frustration with Traditional Leashes

After Harry died a couple of years ago, I was taking care of only Milo. One thing I did not enjoy about dog ownership was the leash we used. Over the first couple of years, Harry and Milo became relatively well-trained, although still amusingly stubborn Chows.

With only Milo to care for, I decided to ditch his large collar and leash. I attached a piece of elastic to a small collar and used that as a leash when I needed more control on city streets. It seemed that 75% of the time, I did not need or use a leash.

At the park and on trails, I was always inconvenienced by having to hold a leash when it was not in use. Several times on car trips, I had also forgotten to bring a leash. On hikes that returned the same way as the entrance, I used to hide leashes behind bushes or rocks to pick up on the way out, which led to more than a few extended searches. I was highly motivated to find a better answer to the traditional collar-and-leash setup.

After using my improvised collar-leash combination on Milo for a couple of months, I thought I might be onto something. It was convenient and worked great. I started brainstorming ways to make a more elegant and permanent Colleash: the collar-leash combination.

Breaking Bad and Good

I have always been a huge fan of Breaking Bad and loved the cinematography and scenery of one of my home states, New Mexico. I appreciated that the regularly disrespected and often clueless Jesse still had moments of inspiration and genius. Maybe we are all capable of these moments; they just have to be recognized and acted upon.

I was certainly sympathetic to the Jesse character. With Jesse and Breaking Bad partly as inspiration, I started experimenting with neodymium magnets and flexible galvanized steel as the “landing strip” for the magnets.

“Magnets, bitch!”

At our design shop, Utah Contract Sewing, Kastle and I started constructing prototypes. The reaction and response have been exciting and positive.

Combination All-in-One Collar and Leash

Over the past year or so, we have experimented with, tested, sold, or given away many Colleashes. I was waiting for more help to develop the business because UCS and my kids were taking up so much of my time, and the idea of launching another product myself was daunting.

A very talented local industrial designer I know, DJ Stuart, loved the product idea and the other directions and concepts I had planned. He wanted to get involved, and with DJ’s help, Colleash is now entering the marketplace.

We researched a new marine-grade coating for the magnets to help protect them from corrosion, which was the big challenge for the original nickel-coated magnets. We have collaborated on new branding and print designs, packaging, and everything else needed to bring the product forward.

We are proud to introduce Colleash: the first fully functioning all-in-one dog collar-leash combination made from durable, tactile webbing. It offers great control of your dog when needed and cleverly stores away when you do not.