How to Make a Decorative Rope Dog Lead

In this little video tutorial I will show you how to make a nautical style dog lead. The other thing that I do like about this dog lead is that it is rather quick and simple to make, but the finished result is rather decorative and stands out in the crowd.

Cat’s Paw Eye Splice

I start of the dogs lead using the Cat’s Paw Eye Splice. This is a relatively simple splice to create. The fiddly part is getting all three loops to line up correctly. If you practice making the Cats Paw Eye Splice, you will also notice that this particular splice can be used to create a slip lead. I would say though if doing this, maybe a slippery rope would be more suited for the purpose. One word of caution, never use this splice for critical loads as it can fail. Yet, for a dog lead it should hold up well, just give it a little test to see if it suits.

Marline Eye Splice

For the handle end of the rope dogs lead I use a Marline Eye Splice. Yet again this particular splice is very quick and easy to create. Also, it may not look it, but the Marline Eye Splice is an incredibly secure way of splicing an eye into the end of a rope.

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Whipping the End of the Rope

In the video I show the ends of the dog lead being whipped using Common Whipping. However, there is no reason why the dog lead could not be made more decorative by using Sailmaker’s Whipping. Also when it comes to cutting off the end of the rope after whipping, this can be as long or as short as you require. If you have a longer length then the ends can be fluffed up to give your lead even more decoration.

How to Make a Decorative Dog Lead Video

In this video you will see how you can make a very decorative, but simple rope dogs lead. The two main knots used are the Marlin Eye Splice and the Cats Paw Eye Splice. In addition to that, the end of the line have also had some decorative whipping added.

Fancy Rope Dog Lead

Swedish Fid for Splicing

Often when splicing a rope, as Swedish fid is used to assist in the process. The Swedish Fid is passed under that strands of the main rope, the hollowed out section then allows the loose strand to be easily passed under the main strands:

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