Two dogs on two separate leads is a knot waiting to happen, usually around your own legs. A coupler solves the tangle by running both dogs from a single handle, and this one adds the part cheap couplers leave out: a length of bungee in each branch, so when one dog spots a cat the jolt is absorbed rather than travelling straight up your arm and into the other dog's neck.

The handle is foam padded, which is the difference between a comfortable half-hour and a rope burn across the palm when something does go wrong. Reflective thread is stitched through the rope rather than glued on as a strip, so it keeps working through the winter months, when most dog walking in this country happens in the dark. Nine colours are stocked, which is useful if more than one person in the house walks the dogs.

• Splits into two leads to walk two dogs from one handle
• Shock-absorbing bungee section in each branch
• Foam-padded handle
• Reflective stitching worked into the rope for night walks
• Nine colours: pink, dark blue, green, grey, orange, red, purple, sky blue and black

A coupler is not right for every pair. Two dogs tied to one point pull each other about, so this suits dogs of broadly similar size and strength who already walk politely. A strong puller paired with a small or elderly dog is a real injury risk, and a dog still learning lead manners belongs on a lead of her own.

Who it's for: Owners of two similarly sized, lead-trained dogs who walk after dark and want one comfortable lead instead of two tangled ones.