By Sarah Groves Dog Training - your puppy training speccialist covering Neath, Port Talbot, Swansea and surrounding areas
Retractable leads are becoming increasingly popular amongst puppy owners - and I can see why - they allow your dog a little extra freedom without having to let them off the lead, so the convience factor is definitely there.
HOWEVER, as professional dog trainer, I actively advise against these leads, and here are my reasons....
So before we get fully into my reasons, let's clarify what exactly a retractable lead is!
A retractable lead, also known as a flexi lead or extendable lead is a plastic handle with a long, thin chord wound up inside. When you attach the lead to the dog, it unwinds as the dog walks further from you, and when the lead slackens, it winds back into the handle.
Despite their popularity, these devices can be extremely dangerous for yourself, your dog and others around you. Let's look into this a little deeper....
The dangers to you
You just need to google 'retractable lead injuries' to find a whole host of horror srories about how these leads have cause injury to dog owners and people around them.
The handle of the lead is bulky, heavy and difficult to control. Not only that, when the lead is at full extend, it is extremely difficult to manage your dog at a distance.
The thin rope like chord has been reported to cause burns, deep cuts, entaglement, and even amputation of limbs!
Here are some of the stories which I found online:
In 2009, a 12 year old girl was injured when a retractable lead broke and the metal clasp snapped back into her face. She immediately lost vision to that eye and had to undergo multiple surgeries.
(story can be found here https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=7058784&page=1)
In 2018 there were 30 serious hand injuries in cornwall alone due to dog leads. One of those injuries was to a 65 year old lady called Jillian.
'She had just finished walking one of her dogs when it became distracted by another dog and ran off excitedly on the lead.
The lead ended up wrapped tightly around Jillian's middle fingers on her right hand, causing severe damage, including the "degloving" of her finger - when the skin and some of the soft tissue are ripped off.
She said the retractable lead she used acted like a "filleting knife", causing "terrible pain".
She also suffered severe cuts and dislocated her index finger, after the incident several months ago.' (this story can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48382570)
The dangers to your dog
I have personally whitnessed some dangers to dogs who are walked on a retractable lead - here are a couple of my personal experiences.
A dog was being walked down the street at full extend on a retractable lead when he spotted a cat on the other side of the road.
The dog quickly run into the road to try to chase the cat - the owner didn't have time or control to prevent this from happening.
At the same time a car was driving in the road and was forced to do an emergency stop - luckily this time everyone is safe, but I have heard stories where the dog hadn't been so lucky!
On a seperate occasion, I was walking from my house to my car, when I heard a lady shout 'STOP' in the distance. In front of the lady I could see a small dog darting away from her with the retractable lead locked on full extend chasing behind him.
The lady had lost control of the lead, the heavy noise of the lead hitting the floor spooked the dog and he bolted - and the more he ran, the more the lead was flying about, hitting the floor, lamp posts and cars and it followed him - creating a cycle of him becoming more spooked and wanting to run even faster!
This dog was also lucky in this occasion as he ended up running to a house which he was familiar with - but this could have easily ended in disaster!
Similar to the dangers to people, these leads can also easily cause burns, cuts and worse to dogs.
The training implications of using retractable lead
Dogs who are walked on a retractable lead are only ever learning that if they get the end of the lead, it gets them places faster.
This in turn teaches your dog that pulling on the lead works well for them, causing training problems for you and your dog further down the line.
Instead of using a retractable lead....
Get a 10 metre long lead for recall training andor if you want to safely allow your dog more freedom in environments such as the park, field or beach.
For safety reasons, always attach a long lead to a harness and not the collar.
For walking in the streets, I would normally recommend a 2 metre long lead.
The dangers of extendable lead far outweigh any benefits.
When considering walking equipment for your dog, please be mindful and consider your saftey, the safety of others around you and your dog.
Comments