When I saw this over on instagram I knew I had to try it with Z. I emailed to make sure that at nearly 5 he wasn’t going to be too big.
I was kindly offered one to review *
A few people have said that I couldn’t use a dogs lead, yes, I’ve thought about it numerous times, and just last summer I was attaching Z to the pooch and walking that way. Meaning Z couldn’t run off! This summer when we’ve gone we’ve been taking Z’s bike I can’t attach the pooch to the bike too!
So that’s where the adventure belt comes in to play.
The first little walk we went on was to the park, it was great, Z had his independence was happily walking away, the pooch walking by his side.

So simple that when we got to the park I unbuckled Z and off he ran, the belt around his waist didn’t hinder him playing at all. He was still able to play in the swing. There’s a little bag on the belt, Z wouldn’t be interested in putting anything in it, but I did think of my keys!

He was willing to be buckled up to walk back home too.
Our next trip was going to be the big tester! The park with the lake.
I’m not going to lie I was a little nervous as if it didn’t hold up and Z ran we’d both have been very wet!
Obviously this is Z, autism don’t follow instructions so we were led by him, and we done pretty well.
He did drop and flop, but got back up, he did try to run but once he realised he couldn’t actually keep going he stopped. The expandable elastic I made slightly shorter so that he couldn’t really pull as much as he wanted to. But he will learn, this was only our second time using it.

Of course if he really wanted in he would have got in. But I had my hands free, I wasn’t trying to hold him and make sure he wasn’t going to get in. Think that meant he was calmer, he didn’t really try to get in the water!
This is going to make going out walking much easier on us all, the safety side is Z can’t just run away when he’s had enough. He can’t just run across roads. He can drop and flop but won’t need to squirm out of my grip as he’s quite independent on his belt. His hands will be free to carry what ever he wants to carry without having to worry about holding my hand.
I’m hoping this will be the start of helping Z learn how to walk safely out and about with me, and starting to rely less on the buggy or the back carrier!
Now when we leave the house he grabs his belt and the pooches lead!
You can purchase the adventure belt here.
* I was sent the adventure belt to review, all opinions are mine.