Extendable dog leads - please please please stop using them

[violentovulation]

I am the owner of a large senior dog. He is always on lead, and wears a harness. He is not an XL bully before anyone asks, and I am always in control of him. He used to love saying hello to other dogs on our walks, and now he's an anxious mess because people can't be bothered to train their dogs due to them being small. There is an assortment of small shouty dogs in my area, chihuahuas, jack russells, pugs, daschunds, bichon style dogs, miniature schnauzers, westies, cross breeds of them all. Most of them are walked on those bloody extendable leads. These small horrors will yell at us from across the road when we are minding our own business. Then they try to come over the road and the owner inevitably has to yank them back because the lead doesn't retract properly, and in the event that we can't avoid walking on the same side of the road, my poor dog gets a faceful of angry ranty little shit because their owners think an extendable lead means they don't need to teach a dog recall, heel, and other calming techniques. I'm tired of telling people to control their dogs.

Do they have to attack a child before you'll give a shit, honestly? Or maybe your dog has to run out into the middle of the road and get hit by a car first? If any of this doesn't apply to you and your small dog, please scroll on and thank you for being a responsible dog owner.

I've lost all patience. truly. There is a house at the bottom of my road with three small dogs, one of which is a really nasty little shit. When they are walked, it's always out in front of everyone else yelling at anything that goes by. There's another family across the road with a chihuahua, and they all yell at each other from across the road, it's so noisy and initially I thought someone was hurting one of them. When I went to go and check things out, they were honestly just screaming at one another. Nobody ever does anything, you just have to listen to it until they run out of steam.

You have ZERO control over a dog on an extendable lead. ZERO. Train your fucking dogs. It might be your little bundle of joy, but you're failing them hard when you don't train them.

I'd like to see a ban on extendable leads, but I realise it probably won't happen. AIBU for wanting a ban on them? You can buy long leads to give dogs some room to run about in large spaces while they burn off some energy, but you still have more control over those because YOU control how far a dog goes on it.

I have changed the times I walk my dog to avoid times when there are more people around. I take him to different areas etc, but this nonsense still drives me up the wall. AIBU? Sorry for all the swearing, I'm just so frustrated. We went out at 6am this morning and it was so lovely and quiet. I don't expect quiet perfection, just people controlling their dogs. Thank you for reading my wordy rant.

Excuse me?

They're animals; they're meant to be free, not kept in captivity and bred to have all manner of genetic problems. People used to have lions as pets, keeping them on leads. Do you think it's eye-roll-worthy that we don't do that anymore?

It's very evident that the majority of dogs are frustrated, anxious, bored and depressed for most of their lives. It's incredibly inhumane.

You do understand the difference between wild and domesticated animals? Believe me, my dogs are a lot happier lying around on their memory foam beds in front of a roaring fire being fed treats than they would be fending for themselves on the Serengeti Plains.

What a load of shite. Evidently you have no understanding of how symbiotic relationships between humans and wolves for mutual benefit came about, millennia ago.

Threre is an an article in Good Doggie about the problems with retractable dog leads. Amongst other things It claims it is bad psychology to let your dog charge on ahead because he should be looking to you for leadership and is more likely to show territorial behaviour if he is in front. There is no discipline because the dog just suits itself and if he thinks he can lead you why should he listen in other situations. ?? In 2015 Anthony Steel was awarded £65,000 in damages after suffering multiple injuries when his bike became entangled with a retractable lead.

The problem with retractable dog leads
Here is the article I mentioned. Very interesting reading

Likewise my DH has nasty scars down one leg from a walk where he was wearing shorts and someone let their Cavalier King Charles spaniel wrap themselves around his leg. Happened in the blink of an eye and created a nasty wound, and he needed antibiotics. Not even a whisper of an apology from the owner. I would be mortified if that happened from one of my dogs. The issue is retractable leads tend to be rope like and the mechanism to stop dogs pulling away can fail.

Again this is caused by the person using it. Not the lead.

You can still interact with your dog while they're on a lead. You can, and you should, still work on recall while they're on a lead. Recall is not just from the other side of the field. It's stop what you're doing and come back to me now. An extendable lead does not stop you being able to do this with your dog. In fact, it's the best time to practise recall training. Let them sniff but continually call them back and reward every time until the penny drops.

Lazy owners are the problem. Not the leads. Too many owners think they don't need to do anything with their dog because they're on a lead.

Agree, it is much more problematic to contain cats. I've only seen it work in small gardens that effectively have an aviary style netting across the whole top of the garden. Not workable in large gardens or the countryside.

Parts of Australia have I believe now mandated that cats be kept indoors and contained. The point I was making is more that if the UK were to adopt similar rules and regs there, it would I believe considerably reduce cat ownership. I would not wish to keep cats in such a way. It's not the nature of most breeds of moggy to sit around that much

I once saw a big dog - a husky on an extendable lead, immediately, he bounded up to us (i had two small dogs) and the husky owner had NO control over him, he came up to us, intimidated my two, then the owner FINALLY caught up, explained the dog was 'excited', then there was another small dog in the distance which this husky then took off, well his owner had no control AGAIN, the extendable lead wrapped around the back of my knee, and guess what happened? yes - i had massive rope burn and my flesh was torn open because of the sheer force and speed of which the dog took off.

This is clearly a dickhead owner issue though as why on earth wouldn't they have locked the lead to gain control once they'd reached you?

People like that are going to be idiots no matter which lead they use.

I used an extendable. My dog weighs under 5kg, it's a ribbon type as opposed to a string one. When we walk by the road it is locked into place so he's close by and can't leap into the road. His recall is very good but I don't trust him 100 percent, so when I see people and dogs in the distance he comes close and we keep his lead short. I do this because he is a nervy dog (has been attacked three times by off lead dogs) and I find people take me more seriously if hes on a lead when I ask them.not to let their dog come over. I test them regularly and replace often. I've had a harness failure before so I always test his collars, harness and leads regularly. It works for us so I'll keep using it. He is good at staying close on the lead, so we do have a loose lead and he's not pulling against it, I know that can be an issue with retractables. We do have normal leads which if I'm going on a path walk I'll use but when we go on field I take the retractable.

I wouldn't use one for a bigger dog, or a dog that isn't well behaved. I saw a husky on one of the string ones running around and tangling up people. That was chaos and the owner had no control.

Amen. Very cruel and selfish act if you ask me.

Why do you say yelling and screaming when you mean barking? Or are you referring to the owners?
Like all things, responsable use is required. I use those extendable leads, but on pavements they are shortened. I also call my dogs and retract the lead if the park is busy with kids running about. My dogs are not small, nor barky.
I love these leads. It allows my more independent dog a bit of freedom (I don't trust him off lead completely). But I use it with care, and lock it short as needed. My other dog is off lead in the park - she is 100% reliable on recall and isn't really interested in other dogs or people.
Far worse is those off lead dogs who rush up irregardless of whether you have a dog on a lead and the owner weakly calls out 'they're friendly'! Maybe my dog isn't and now I'm stuck.

1. That's the most amateur dog psychology BS I've read in a while.
2. If a dog walking in front of their owner is all of those things (it's not) exactly the same can be said of a dog walking in front of their owner on a short lead. Or do you think that short leads magically make a dog loose lead walk to heel? Perhaps the distance that they're not looking at between them and the owner is the magic BS ingredient?

I have about 8 different leads for my dog look it's not my fault I keep finding jazzy ones reduced to £1 in Pets at Home, one of which is an extendable tape one. I assure you all that I use it responsibly to give my dog a bit more freedom when we are walking in the countryside away from other people and vehicles. I do this because he is a terrier, whose recall isn't awful but it definitely doesn't compete with his prey drive when he sees or smells rodents, and don't wish to live in fear of him disappearing down a rabbit hole or getting lost in the forest.

I use an extendable lead for preference over a long line, as I'm not going to trip over an extendable lead, nor is anybody I happen to be walking with going to be tripped up/taken out by it, both of which I have seen happen with long lines. The thing that haunts me most about them though is watching somebody else's dog have zoomies on a long line and they managed to get it looped around their belly then caught on a tree and it pulled tight like a tourniquet. It caused severe internal injuries which he was later euthanized for, absolutely horrific. A total freak accident, but one that I'm very keen to avoid seeing again.

I used to walk my flat coated retriever on one whenever we were walking within smelling distance of any body of water. She was a wonderfully obedient dog with excellent recall, apart from her Archilies heel - when she smelled water, she bolted for it, and the little git wouldn't come out for love nor money! Again, we were never a problem for other people (or for ourselves for that matter).

The problem isn't the tool. The problem is incorrect use of it. An extended lead isn't suited for use in urban environments or where you are likely to come across other people. Small dogs being reactive towards large dogs aren't going to be less reactive on shorter leads, they're just not going to be able to risk themselves and others by running across roads etc.

Sure there was a local story around here of a German Shepherd on an extendable lead who grabbed a chihuahua type dog and killed it.

Exactly, I call my dog in to me regularly, when we see people or dogs/horses and randomly. It's helping with the recall training, she will now come off a fresh scent, and that's because I've called and when ignored I've locked & retracted the lead, so I've got the desired result. Now she comes first time she's called. She had zero training and hunted to feed & entertain herself up until 18 months ago, and we've gone from not ever walking on a lead, and knowing no commands to all the basics and most circumstances recall. That's been with the aid of a retractable. Used properly and sensibly. She was a rehomed dog and was 3 when I got her.

The only thing really I need it for is when she flushes something out and gives chase, that's when the lead prevents her chasing it to ground, or miles away, across roads, through stock fields...... and when that happens on the retractable I have a way to prevent the bog off. As I can't predict when that will happen I keep her on the retractable until I am sure that I can call her off a chase - which is worked on in the secure field and on the retractable.

But sure, I'm just lazy to not want to lose my dog and use a retractable to give her the best of both worlds according to some.

I tried one once and when I walked forward + clicked to retract the mechanism yanked the poor thing backwards to me! Mind you she was only a little 8lb miniature poodle puppy at the time. I don't like them personally.

You don't click to retract though, you click to lock the lead. It's only if you lock the lead when it's long that it will retract back with any force when released. Absolutely no need to lock when long, only when you need it short as the lead should always remain taut.

We don't ban cars because some of the people using them aren't sufficiently trained or responsible not to cause accidents. It's the same with extendable leads.

Not true.
My dog is old and deaf. She is well trained and used to have great recall but now she can't hear me. Also, she used to be a flight risk when she was done walking and try to go home (including crossing roads). An extendable lead lets her still have a walk with a bit of freedom, and I can keep her safe. No one has never tripped over her lead because I use it responsibly.

Aside from all the stupid owners that allow their handbag dog to circle you or your big dog and effectively tie your legs together, and the trip hazard issue plus the mobile phone using while the dog poops, these leads are just in no way suitable for a large dog. I recently met a male Tibetan Mastiff being walked on one 😨WTF??? I mean, why would you have a dog like that and walk it on a lead designed for a toy breed?

My 7 month pup weighs 38kg and I would absolutely not trust an extending lead, ever. I walk her on a 5ft webbing lead with heavy duty trigger hook. Whenever I see a big dog on an extendable it makes me cringe.

I have a family member who's a vet, she also thinks these leads are unsafe, she has seen injuries to dogs and owners caused by this type of lead.

I use a Flexi lead for one of my dogs, I only have it extended in appropriate places, I live by the beach so when it's quiet and dogs are far away he fully extends on it and will recall while still being on the lead.

I have had a couple of instances of seeing people using them poorly but that no way comes near the amount of dogs coming up to mine with 0 recall while my dog is on a short lead at my side. Seeing untrained off lead dogs is a much more common occurrence where I live and they're a nuisance and dangerous.

I suppose you could ban them but that wouldn't ban stupid dog owners. Reactive, untrained dogs with no recall especially big ones should not be using them as yeah they could absolutely dislocate your arm. I also don't think the super thin ones should be sold they're prone to fraying and wear and tear much easily.

YABU, but I understand the sentiment.

I have a teenage dog who is in a long line. He wants to jump on everyone and every dog. It doesn’t mean I let him. Walks for us still mean taking nibbles and constantly training him to do the things we want him to do and stop him from doing the things we don’t. He is a golden and they are notoriously stubborn and difficult as pups so it requires a lot of ongoing work.

It also means he gets the exercise he needs, and we recall him constantly so he understands he has to come back. I also watch for other people and dogs and walk him next to me on a very short lead.

I have a short lead on me at all times too in case I need to swap him over.

The lead isn’t the problem, it’s the owners who don’t train their dogs that are. And I come across them daily (usually off leads and roaming free!)

My dog is similar size to yours, as you know, and I use one but it's a heavy duty one. Only ever use it in the fields and it will always be locked short if there are dogs/people about - it's a quiet area though.

If she starts to build up any kind of speed with it, I always use the lock as a brake to slow her down before any damage would be done to either of us. She's used to it though, never really runs with it on and it very rarely extends to it's limit as I think she's learnt what that is!

I'm always fully focused on my dog when we're walking though, but can see how they could be a hazard if an owner isn't or if they don't know how to use them correctly.

Theres an instagram i've seen a few times:

"Theres no such thing as an aggresive dog breed... oh wait - Chihuahua".

The only dog that has ever hurt my child was a tiny dog being wheeled around in a baby type stroller that got out to pee, shot at my child and bit her face. The small ones also bark relentlessly at my big lazy loaf of a dog who ignores and continues, but I agree that tiny dogs are by and large very poorly trained. Not a fan of the extensible leashes either here.

I'm not being funny about it @CellophaneFlower because I know you're a responsible owner, I don't doubt you, and I know your beautiful girl is big and strong. But there is still no way that I would feel in control using that sort of lead for my dogs.... 😨It would scare the 💩out of me to even try. You're a braver woman than I!