Leash manners

 I'm sure some people will have better ideas/suggestions than my own but for now...I think walking them one at a time is better for now. You really should work on heeling with the dog who is pulling. I would suggest an obedience class.

When I walk three dogs, I walk them all on the shortest lead I can - a 4 ft. lead, and I used leather leashes that are easier on the hands. This prevents too much extra bulk to hold on to when walking. Every dog gets their own leash. I don't use/like couplers for walking, as you never know when something might happen and you need to control each dog individually. I hold two leashes in one hand, and one in the other generally, for ease of walking, although sometimes I will switch all three over to one hand if I need to switch sides or do something.

The dogs need to be able to walk independently with manners before they can walk together with manners. Then when they can, you should set up actual training situations with two dogs like you would with one. So practice getting leashes on. Practice stepping out the door and regaining attention. Practice getting to the end of the driveway and back. Don't make these *exercise* walks. Make them training walks, and remain consistent with your wishes until your dogs understand what it is that you want. If you want exercise walks, you should walk them separately for now, or get something for the pulling dog, such as a halter or no-pull harness to help you manage the behaviour.

 Walking two dogs together requires the same type of training that teaching one does, and it takes time.

hapnthatch

I'd hate to take them on separate walks (one, I'm insanely lazy and walking around again require effort lol

I'm afraid that you may have to bite the bullet and do the above at least for a while or every now and again.  I have three large, but well behaved dogs who I take together the majority of the time.  But, each did get independent walking time for both "mom" alone time, but more importantly individual training time.  My neighbors have seen me go up and down the street 3 times before...LOL  You are right, it does require effort.  But, I'm here to tell you that putting in the effort is WAY worth it...when you can eventually walk all dogs together.

hapnthatch

they seem to get really nervous and unhappy-excited when they're apart

This happens sure....they want to be together.  But, sometimes they can't...and they need to get used to that.  Just doing it will get them used to it, just like everything else.  But, I hear ya...it does make me feel sad to have to leave one behind.  Now that Buddy is old, he can't go on long walks, so he gets an "emotional" walk with the others, then I take him back.  While you are walking one and have to leave the others...give them something to do.  A frozen treat, or something.  Personal experience:  Buddy could care less about a treat when he is left behind.  He wants to be with everybuddy else.

When you do get to the point that you can walk all together, leash management becomes an artform.    I've gotten pretty darned good at this...everybuddy has their own leash, no couplers...I found that to be harder to manage for some reason.  I am not a stickler about a formal heel...I pretty much let them be whereever they want to be on the walk.  However, they don't dictate when they sniff...I do.  We walk, we walk, we walk....then they get to sniff at my say.

Buddy is a natural heeler...always on my left side.  The hooligans are all over the place ....thats just fine as long as they behave.  They don't pull me generally, but if they do...I stop.  Its funny to watch.  I stop "I'm a tree", they both stop, they turn around to look at me, then we go.  They also know "slow" so if they slightly tug, I give them a slight leash tug (when they are on the slip collar) and say "sloowww" which works.     Practice makes perfect.

I believe we have some dog walkers on the board who will offer suggestions too.

Our walks are going a little better...Thatcher's got a no-pull halter now and I'm letting them walk out in front of me together but still on separate leashes (I twist them together though) and he seems to understand what he's supposed to do better with Hap beside him.

 Also, Mom's going on a working retreat so she's going to start walking with us... that way, on his off-days, I can hand over Hap to her and focus on Thatch. =)

And finally!!! Hap's biopsy came back clean.. So of course he ended up with some sort of cut on his nose today. It's not very deep and the bleeding's stopped, but he's definitely my problem child. Lol.

 When I walk all 3 of mine together they are on no-pull harnesses. Sometimes I let them have the length of the leash and sometimes I don't. Typically the walk is more enjoyable for me if they do not have the length of the leash and instead are healing next to me. I usually put neiko on outside with one of the girls on the inside then 1 dog healing on the opposite leg.

 I do what Jewlieee does, too.  When you are walking multiple dogs, no matter how well trained they are, safety should come first, and even three medium dogs can bowl you over if they are accidentally startled (I once had a truck backfire right next to me while riding my horse, so I can tell you that these things do happen lol - for those who want to know, I stayed on that time, but it wasn't easy!)  That said, any time I am not training a novice dog, I have a no pull harness or head collar on the dog.  The last thing I want is for my dog to associate the regular collar with "I can pull you now" - and when I am training, I am armed with a clicker, treats, and a promise to myself that I will NOT walk forward if the dog pulls me forward.  In fact, I will back up to our starting point;-)  Sooner or later, the dog gets the idea that to get to the thing they want, they have to decide to go there on a loose leash.  Basically, I use life rewards to reinforce loose leash walking.

When I'm walking three dogs they are all on their own leashes.  The best trained dog (Kenya) I just tie to my waist and then I hold Coke and Nikon's leash one in each hand.  Coke get's the shortest leash because he's the most likely to zig-zag or otherwise misbehave.  DH lets him get away with a lot more than me so I don't really do much training with him since it would be futile, but I keep him closer to me because when *I* am walking, all dogs must stay on the pavement and not be wandering around up into people's yards and such.  If I had a puller, I'd start with an Easy Walk harness.

I think you should take the dog who pulls on quick ten minute walks first. You can work on heeling and recall while burning off some extra energy. I've learned that if you walk dogs of different sizes or energy levels, one will always be all over the place and super energetic. Once you walk Thatch for a few minutes, maybe even jog, get your other dog and walk them both, still practicing recall with Thatch. 

 And I know the type of halter you're talking about I think. Regular harnesses actually give your dog more ability to pull (harnesses were designed for dogs to pull big loads) but there's a special kind that's anti-pull. I found one at Target and I'm sure PetSmart would have them.

We had to take a break from walking because of Hap's eyes, but Thatcher's gotten much, much better. "look at me" seems to be much more effective than come here or any other thing I've tried. I don't know if it's because I'm gone or because the other dog's gone or because we're both gone.. but they freak out so much (whining, running, not moving from the door, not wanting to play, so forth) that I just can't make myself do single walks with each of them. I've tried it a few times since my original post and it just doesn't work for us. However..most days, Mom has started walking with me and taking Hap's leash.. then about halfway around the block once Thatcher's calm, I take both. Look at me is also what caused Hap to stop peeing at the vet, so yay! Still working on the jumping people/how to greet dogs properly though...=-s