Retractable dog leads

[lynyona]

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Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on these retractable dog leads ?I have read good and bad reports on them . Betty walks quiet nice on a lead or did on her old one until she chewed it she isn't she doesn't pull all the time only when we get back to our street but she s pulling a bit more now she s got the whole world to investigate I do need to take her to pets at home and get her an harness to fit the two I have aren't really suitable.my thinking is because I could be sure if I let her off the lead she d come back yet at least with a retractable on she can still have a bit of freedom in the field I sometimes take her for a walk on she can run but still be stoppable. Also are any better than others recommendations be grateful she's a pug cross staffie

 

[JoanneF]

First the harness - with that cross, you may struggle to get a good fit. I like the Perfect Fit harness, which comes as three separate parts so you can mix them to get the right fit (for example, T is in a S, S, and X-s combination).

I personally don't like the retractable leads at all, but in fairness that is partly because I get all fingers and thumbs with them. But if the lock fails (and it does happen), or if the fingers fail in a moment of panic, the results could be awful. You could use them in relatively safe place though and swap back to a normal lead in traffic areas.

 

[Caro Perry]

I'm not a big fan of the retractables. The mechanism always looks a bit flimsy and I've seen owners spend ages untangling their dog from a bush when he's gone in one way and come out the other via a tangle of brambles!

I use a long line for Harri if I want him to be able to wander. Mine is 10m and if he does wind himself around a tree it's easy to just drop my end and pick up his end and pull the lead through as there is nothing to catch

 

[Sezzy]

Misty has a Perfect Fit harness too (size L-M-M) which we have only been using for a couple of weeks. Although it isn’t an anti pull harness, I have found that she doesn’t pull when in it like she does with her normal collar.
We use a 8m retractable lead when out walking where she can’t be let off and find it easy to use and lock. If she does go round a tree I stand there and tell her to go the other way to untie herself. When walking along a road I always have it locked short.
On walks where she’ll be off lead once there I just use the normal short lead as it’s easier to put in my pocket.

 

[JoanneF]

she doesn’t pull

Sorry to go off topic but have you tried a double ended lead with one end attached to the chest ring and the other to the back?

 

[Sezzy]

Sorry to go off topic but have you tried a double ended lead with one end attached to the chest ring and the other to the back?

I had thought about that, but so far with this harness she has been really good, should have bought one before!

 

[JudyN]

If you Google something like "flexi leads" "dangers" you'll come up with a whole load of reasons they can be dangerous - though I don't know if this really just applies when they're not used with care. I have been wrapped in one when my dog (off lead) and another dog on lead have run in circles round my legs though.

I do hate it when I see a dog I think J might take a dislike to so I put him on lead and keep him out of range... or what I think is out of range because the other dog is on lead... and the other dog then comes right up to him because it's an extendable one!

 

[excuseme]

It worries me when driving alongside a pavement, with someone and their dog walking on a fully extended flexi lead. There is nothing to stop these dogs from dashing out in front of a car to chase a cat or maybe little bird, there is no close control at all.
I do understand how useful they are if you have a puppy or even an adult dog with no recall! It does give them more freedom and ability to sniff around white safely attached, but they should not be used extended alongside the roads.

 

[Nanny71]

I have several leads for Dudley. An ordinary one if we are walking where there is traffic or in towns where there are always people.
Never had a problem with retractable though. Use it when we go to our dog walking field and when we are on holiday on the beach.
When I let him off he is fine, he does have good recall as he doesn't like to be too far away from me.
If he feels threatened he hides behind my legs but if I put the retractable on he will come out and make friends.

He has a collar except tin the car where he has a harness. He escapes from a harness and they also seem to rub under his front legs despite one of them supposedly made to measure.
However he is not a puppy and didn't have a retractable until he was a year old.
Recall was done with a length of clothes line, he got the idea very quickly never needed any pulling it was more for me to feel secure than him

 

[leashedForLife]

.

Flexi used to have an entire page of their website, listing all the dangers of their extending lead; it's gone.
I'll try to list a few of the most-blatant hazards.

- being struck in the face by the clip-end when the clip fails, the dog's D-ring fails, or the collar opens.
Ppl around the world have lost an eye or had vision loss, & of course, many-times that number needed stitches, & / or facial surgery. Broken cheekbones or noses, & other facial fractures, are also likely. // The spring brings the clip flying back violently, accelerating as it approaches.

- the cord going "around" or "behind" anything.
Fingers or fingertips have been severed; legs, arms, hands sliced; dogs' legs de-gloved [skin stripped entirely, leaving the naked muscle & tendon]; & other injuries. // These happen very fast - a few seconds' tension, & serious injury results.
WOODY PLANTS are just as much at risk as mammal flesh - the living cambium of a tree or shrub is very thin, a mere sheet of papery liner under the outer bark, but there's a linear connection from root-tip to twig-tip, all the way around that tree or bush. Severing an arc means the upper area dependent on that arc for food & water will die.
This caused a lot of expensive damage to the plantings at Marina Shores apt-complex in Va Beach, while my mother & i shared an apt there.

- palm & finger burns or slices
these can be to the handler using the extendable, or to someone trying to remove it from themselves, their own dog, or any object [such as a folding cart used to carry the shopping home, their scooter or wheelchair, etc].

- injuries to dogs' legs or neck [to the dog wearing the extendable]
The dewclaw pad on the back of the dog's wrist is a common injury site, & it's difficult to stop bleeding there, & even-harder to get the injury to heal properly. The most-frequent is a partial severing that leaves the edge of the pad unattached on one side, & it tends to break free of the skin repeatedly. Supportive bandaging may be needed for weeks.

MECHANICAL failures
- the whole case falls apart
- the brake won't lock; the line is permanently "out".
- the WET case slips from the handler's grip, & chases after the dog [sweat, rain...]
- the entire cord detaches, or it wears-thru at some point
- the spring fails

The handles are bulky & not easy to grip [& i have large hands; I wear a size-9 glove, an extra-large in disposable exam / medical gloves, & i still find them very awkward]. Petite women & children will have, IMO, a really difficult time just hanging onto the dam*ed things. Dropping them is easy.

This is by no means extensive - it's not even a fourth of the "dangers" page posted by the maker.

Personally, i despise them - at all the Bark in the Park & other dog-events, extendable leashes ALWAYS caused at least a half-dozen avoidable incidents, every time. Face-to-face confrontations with dogs going opposite ways in the crowd, display tables overturned, tables hauled to one side & brochures flying, postcard-racks pulled over into the mud, 10-ft square shade canopies shifted, several tangled dogs trapped by the same cord... chaos.
Typically, we'd man a booth from 11-AM to 5-pm, & over that period, we'd see anything from 6 or 8 to a dozen or more small or large disasters, caused by extendable leashes. Dogs going around a table leg, canopy peg, passerby... under a table & out the other side, & "stuff" is falling on them & all around them.

I have a nice scar on my Rt heel side to side across my Achilles' tendon, where a dog crossed behind me & accelerated in the direction he'd just come from; his owner was furious WITH ME, as I stood there bleeding into my shoe.
That was shortly after they came on the market, around 1980 - how in H*** it was my fault was not made clear, but she cussed me out thoroughly while i tried to keep my GSD under control, as he wanted to play with the other dog.
When they approached us head on, walking the old RR track / now ped-path, I put myself between her dog & mine, with my GSD on the outside right, on 4-ft of the 6-ft leash - she never even shortened her leash, & her dog was trotting over 10-ft ahead of her.
He passed me, doubled back on my right, & came up behind my dog, trying to play - & my heel was the loser.
It was unGodly painful, as it yawned every time i put wt on that foot & stepped forward, but i could hardly hop home one-legged with a 75# dog on leash, & we were a mile from home; it took over 2-weeks to close, draining & weeping & crusting thinly under my bandage.

I hate 'em. Untrustworthy tools, & often in the hands of the unprepared or careless, IMdirectExperience.
- terry

.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Ive used flexi leads for 30plus years now. Ive used them with dogs of all types and sizes. I havent had any of the accidents described... 99% of accidents are human error or plain stupidity... any long lead near a road is dangerous. Murphy walks perfectly on his flexi. No pulling. It gives him freedom in local parks where off lead is forbidden. If you decide to buy a retractable make sure its a good make. I only use real flexi and make sure you buy the right weight class .

 

[JudyN]

Also, when you're walking a dog on a flexi and need an extra hand, don't pass the lead to a friend and ask them to hold your dog for a moment, particularly if you're by a road. My friend has on occasion handed me the leads for two of her dogs while getting the third out of the car, when I'm already holding Jasper on his 5' lead - I haven't a clue how to operate them and if I did I wouldn't trust my instincts so I just tend to grab the cords. We still get in a right tangle though, as all three dogs are keen to say hello to each other.

 

[PWDmum]

I’ve used them so years, and and on the whole have no problem with them, they can be invaluable for a little free on for a dog that can’t be let off lead, my old bitch wa such a dog and the flexi gave her some good free room to sniff around, I have used them for two dogs at the same time, and had no problem with them. I never use the cord ones, they can cause major rope burns, I always use all tape, and the maxi size, I teach my dogs when they are reaching the end of the leadto stop if they are running, , I never use them for pavement walking, but if I go off road and dog need to be kept on leads I will always use one

 

[leashedForLife]

.

I use long-lines to allow a dog to have running room - after all those years of horse-handling, working with a dog on a long line is easy for me.

.

 

[Josie]

It worries me when driving alongside a pavement, with someone and their dog walking on a fully extended flexi lead. There is nothing to stop these dogs from dashing out in front of a car to chase a cat or maybe little bird, there is no close control at all.
I do understand how useful they are if you have a puppy or even an adult dog with no recall! It does give them more freedom and ability to sniff around white safely attached, but they should not be used extended alongside the roads.

I was going to say exactly the same!

 

[Josie]

I personally am not a fan of these leads. I think if they are being used then for small dogs only.

I walk a golden retriever occasionally and his owner uses a Flexi lead and there's just no reason for it. The lead itself is big and heavy, its uncomfortable to hold and the retriever is fine walking off the lead.

I've seen so many owners with their dogs on long Flexi leads that have no control what so ever of their dog.

 

[Biker John]

I can remember a comment someone made about these leads and Whippets. If the dog sets off at full speed they will be well over 30 mph by the time they get to the end and the forces that would put on the dog would be very high and you would have to have a very firm hold to stop it being pulled out of your hand. I have never felt any need to use one with anydog.

 

[JoanneF]

I can remember a comment someone made about these leads and Whippets. If the dog sets off at full speed they will be well over 30 mph by the time they get to the end and the forces that would put on the dog would be very high and you would have to have a very firm hold to stop it being pulled out of your hand. I have never felt any need to use one with anydog.

And this is why they should never be attached to a collar (only a harness) because imagine the damage to the throat that could do

 

[millymojo1]

To train your dog to walk on a lead, you can’t beat the good old fashioned lead. I’ve never used anything but.
Retractable leads teach the dog nothing apart from bad manners.
As for harnesses - to stop pulling- the front leading harnesses are best. I use ‘Walk your dog with love.com’. I’ve recommended these to many people and they are more than pleased with them. They are much kinder than the halty - around the nose - type things and probably more effective.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Im sorry but I dont agree about the bad manners comment. Thats just down to bad leadership and training, my dogs walk(ed) perfectly normally on a flexi. It provides a great oppertunity to allow a dog a little freedom in safety ..PROVIDED the human on the other end of the lead uses it properly.
Benny went blind and his flexi gave him a freedom while maintaining his safety.

Sadly the majority of owners are too lazy to learn to use them properly and they account for 99% of the accidents.