Homewood residents create carabiner dog leash

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but Homewood residents Seth Griffin and Foster Phillips say you can teach a dog’s leash new tricks with the invention of Hitch Leash.

The first-of-its-kind retractable dog leash that easily hitches – or hooks – a dog’s leash to objects such as park benches, chairs, railings, fences, etc. is the brainchild of Griffin, who serves as partner and chief creative officer of Telegraph Creative in Birmingham, and Phillips, senior industrial designer at Push Product Design in Birmingham.

Hitch Leash combines the familiar mechanics of a retractable leash with a solid, all-metal core and carabiner latch system. This design allows pet owners to secure their dogs in a quick manner that avoids having to unleash from the collar or risk having the pet unsecured for even a moment of time. It releases with the flick of a wrist.

“Originally I just wanted something like this for my dog and assumed it existed,” Griffin said about the origin of the product. “After searching for a while trying to find one to purchase I realized it truly didn’t exist, and my first call was to Foster to tell him we might have an opportunity. Two years later, here we are.”

Griffin and Phillips’ company, HitchCo, launched a Kickstarter campaign on Oct. 26 to fund the first round of production. All contributors to the campaign who purchase a Hitch Leash will receive limited run Kickstarter rewards. The campaign will run for about 50 days with products shipping to customers in late 2022.

Phillips is a Homewood native, a 2000 graduate of Homewood High School and has lived here most of his life, now residing in West Homewood with his wife and three kids. Griffin moved to Homewood in 2016 and now lives in Edgewood with his wife and three kids.

“We’re hoping this idea really takes off on Kickstarter and gets people excited about the product,” Phillips said. “We see people out and about all the time with their dog leashes tied around a park bench or a brewery table downtown. This is such a simple solution and the first of many product ideas we have.”

Visit kickstarter.com/projects/sethgriffin/hitch-leash-carabiner-dog-leash to purchase. A longer version of this story will appear in the December 2020 print issue of The Homewood Star.

— Submitted by Jenny Griffin.