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Homemade tie-out / long line

13K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Fade 
#1 ·
I like to hang out on the front porch with Chester when the weather is good but I always use a tie-out line since the road is only 25 ft away and even with good recall, I'm not chancing him going after a cat at that distance. It also gives peace of mind to people walking by with kids or dogs. But I hate the wire lines because they have cheap clips on the ends and the wire doesn't flex smoothly when Chester moves around.
So I got creative:
I bought 100 feet of good quality synthetic rope, a heavy duty bull snap and a heavy duty link that secures with a screw (both zinc plated and weight rated). I used climbing knots to attach to each after cutting the rope to my desired length. Then I made a 3rd climbing knot about a foot away that won't slide and it can be used to loop the one end around a fence railing or tree.


Here's the snap and knot that is for the harness end. I used a bowline knot and then a double overhand to secure. The bowline is very tight and secure when there is any tension on the rope and the double overhand is to prevent it from worming loose when there isn't slack. I can untie these if needed


And then here's an example of it hooked onto a railing. The loop a bit down from the end is an alpine butterfly loop knot and can be tied anywhere along a rope as long as there is slack in the rope (meaning, no need to have a free end)


If I bought another set of hardware, I have plenty rope left for another tie-out/long line. Could easily 2 for $25 or so. It isn't good rope for holding in the hand like a leash though. It is easier to grab than a wire tie-out but not as comfortable as a nylon leash handle.
While technically all the parts can get wet just fine, it isn't really suited to being left outside long term. Shouldn't rust though from wet grass or playing in water.
 
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#2 ·
You can also use clothes line rope. It's something like 100 feet for 5.00. That plush an old leash fastener is our longline.
 
#3 ·
I've used clothes line rope with a knotted end on the D ring of the collar in the past. If you have a bunch of that stuff laying around that would be great but I paid about $10 for a 20 foot training lead ... but Zoey looks like she is a smaller dog than Chester and I don't know how strong the lead really is.
 
#4 ·
Yeah- the main point of making my own was that I wanted stronger material but nice and flexible unlike the wire and better snaps. The regular snaps from leashes get all gummed up and the cheaper training lines are typically cotton which takes forever to dry. Chester could snap a clothesline without any trouble. The idea is that you can take whatever rope is of suitable strength for your size dog, cut to desired length (even making different lengths for different uses) and get snaps/clips to match your needs- like bull snaps or carabiners- and not need any sewing or such.
 
#6 ·
I've always used nylon clothesline for tie-outs, and it's never broken. Gives awful rope burns, though :eek:.
 
#12 ·
Nice! I made Eddee a 50 foot one for out back while I am playing around in the garden. I bought my supplies at TSC. :) I also used yellow ... helps with not seeing the rope and the tripping factor! Lol!
 
#14 ·
Finally looking at your long leash post.. Definitely gonna wait for my Dad to get here next month so I don't have to use my brain as much to make it. (Learning all the knots, etc. since he, being Retired Air Force, already knows them anyway. ;) ) Thanks for this post! Can't wait to make one!
 
#15 ·
I made one myself as well, but with less knots :)

I used a similar type of rope, tied a single knot at the end, trimmed the extra rope off. I made a loop at the end with the hardware clip on it (though a caribiner works if an actual clip isn't handy). I then sewed the two together with really strong thread (read fishing line!), then I put some tape around where I sewed. Either hockey tape or that stretchy pipe tape works. The knot at the end lets the tight tape assist the stitching to hold things tight, then I did the same thing at the other end so I can loop it around something and clip it. I just checked the strength of the end loops periodically. We used it pretty steady for 6 months and it was still going strong.
I unfortunately gave that one away with our foster Dexter, so I can't post a pic of it, but it cost maybe $10 for a 25 foot line.

Another one was going to the feed store and getting some really high strength webbing and doing some really strong sewing on the machine (a regular sewing machine with a strong needle...it had a hard time but made it!). That one cost me about $25 for a 50 foot line. That one has lasted well over a year, though it did get shortened a bit because it got laid close to the fire pit when we were camping (oops!).

I love knowing that other people make their own long lines/tie outs too, especially when I know how crazy expensive it is to buy an actual "dog tie out" at the petstore. Not just that I'm cheap, but wow, I hate being ripped off!
 
#17 ·
My dog would chew through it. Oh gosh Leo use to break so many things. It was never the actual line but the hardware.

I ended up with a super heavy duty giant dog cable I use to joke I could haul up the Titanic with the cable =-) it withstood everything. The trouble area was not him always wanting off it was the neighbor cat coming up and taunting him at random times. He would take off running and hit the end of the cable at a dead run and it would just snap >.< ( Harness on of course ) It would snap with such force I did not use the metal attachment on the harness rather I clipped it directly to the fabric. Now I have a fence and no use for the giant cable. But a heavy duty spring helps take that force off too. And its better for the dog if they hit it at a full run...even with a harness.
 
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