I love Spray Shield.

It was an invaluable part of my dog-reactive dog safety arsenal. Not only is it an effective and safe way to halt an approaching off-leash dog, or disrupt a dog fight, but having it with you on walks, gives you that extra piece of mind that you can handle what might come your way. I always wanted to have Spray Shield with me when I left the house with my dog, and found a solution that would ensure I’d never leave home without it. So I invented a way to make sure I always had it with me!

I’m a mechanical engineer (and my mother taught me how to sew), and this means I tend to modify every piece of dog gear I purchase. While Spray Shield has a belt clip attachment, I found that always adding it to my belt, or to my pocket lip when I wasn’t wearing a belt, was just one extra step I didn’t always want to take. And where do I put it when I have no pockets or belt? (Think tennis skirt…but I digress). Furthermore, when you’re working on dog-reactivity, you often have a treat-pouch that’s clipped to your waist, and adding the Spray Shield was one more item that was hanging off of me. On training walks I was starting to feel like I needed a tool belt to hold all of the gear.

My solution: Sew a holder onto my leash that could hold the Spray Shield. You could certainly just use the belt clip and clip it into the leash handle, but I wanted the leash handle free and clear of any other objects. When your dog is pulling and lunging and you’re holding on tight, you need a good grip and I didn’t want anything in the way of this.

Note that I was using a flat leash, super thick, which offered a nice flat base. My leash is 1″ wide, and so it made a perfect attachment place. I sewed a loop of neoprene (my favorite material in the world!) onto the leash and made a perfect sleeve to slip the Spray Shield cannister into. It’s sized just so it’s snug to the diameter, and the clip holds it in place. It’s easy to slip out and use in an emergency.

With this leash modificiation, I never was on a walk without my trusty Spray Shield. Because you never know when that off-leash lab puppy is  going to come bounding over to you with the owner a block away yelling “Don’t Worry! He’s Friendly!!”.

Note to BAT Users: If you’re using BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training developed by Grisha Stewart) you’re probably working with a long leash. These are not flat leashes, and since you need to have fluid leash handling ability, having a cannister of Spray Shield will probably impede that. For BAT set-ups, I’d have it clipped to my pocket or belt.