Is anyone able to recommend a good extendable lead.

[florentina1]

I only let my dog off lead in the park when there are no other dogs in sight. As soon as another dog is seen she goes back on the lead. She is quite happy on the lead, but I like her to chase a Frisby to give her a good fast run.

I take her to our Country Park which she loves and then she is on an extender. She likes to sniff and never goes to the full extent of the lead. However it is quite thin and , having read another thread, not sure how safe it is. She wears a harness so the extender is attached the loop between her shoulders. She weighs 15 kilo if that helps.

I don't like flexi leads for many reasons... maybe a police dog style lead would be better? Or an adjustable lead.
It won't give you the range, but is a lot more secure.

It is quite a secure environment where it is used. Narrow paths through dense forestry and we never encounter other dogs, is there a reason why you cannot give the range. Maybe you could pm me if you don’t want to post it here,

What sort of dog?

I had an extender for our Staffy, but the tape is so thin she bit through it one morning in one slice. So I won't trust one of those again. They're also not recommended for sprinting breeds (greyhound, lurcher, etc.) because they allow the dog to reach full speed (takes just six strides) before hitting the stop at the end - and being jerked to a halt.

I prefer the training lead style, either the Julius K9 leather version or the thick Halti fabric version. They're extremely adaptable, giving many different ways of adjusting them.

I only ever use extenders for bitches in season and a particular spaniel during pheasant season as she's incurably naughty when she realises there are any around. For your purposes a training long line would be better as described above. A cheap way of doing the same job is a length of washing line firmly knotted to the harness, which has the advantage of not picking up dirt and wet in the same way as the halti line does.

She is a Patterjack X terrier, 9 years old and very nervous. When she is on the extender she never goes to it’s full length as she likes to keep me in sight. She is a vey obedient dog most of the time. I need a retractor lead, so that when we are in the country park I can get her back close to me and lock her quite quickly if we see other off lead dogs. Also horses which seem to come from nowhere. I need to get her away as she does not like dogs getting close . I have found that people ignore me if I try to explain so the physical call, bring her close and turn away is a clear signal to the human. Because she only has short high energy off lead bursts, early morning or late afternoon, I like her to have a long sniffing walk as often as I can.

I use a flexi neon lead for my dog.
He's getting a bit deaf so I keep him on the lead now, I like this one because it can be seen easily by other people, although I always shorten it when anyone is around it to make sure no one gets tangled up. It has a handle on the short lead at the end for when I am keeping him close, although some people prefer the tape version.

Can I just ask why you don't let her meet other dogs? If the other dogs are off lead and all are sociable I believe it's actually really good for them to interact with one another. Ultimately I think this should be the aim for most people. If socialised properly and given proper training they soon learn canines etiquette. Absolutely her recall much be brilliant for this but agin you should be aiming at improving it.

In terms of leads I actually find long horse lunge lines are the best. They are strong and comfortable to hold. They are also relatively cheap £10-£15 will get you a nice robust one. They last much better than most dog ropes.

She is a rescue and came to us a year ago when she was 8 .She lunges and snarls at any dog who gets too close even those on a lead. That is why I always have her on the lead and with a harness when other dogs are around.When she first came she lunged and snarled at everything. cats, birds dogs people and traffic. She would not cross a road but would cower against my legs. She was a nervous wreck. Her nerves have settled down now and she is a lovely dog. I can walk her down a main road, walk her past people, cats and traffic and know that she will not lunge. We had an excellent trainer who helped us and she is a happy contented dog except when dogs get too close. We have no way of socialising her as we dont t know any dog owners. Trying to get her to dog classes just made her hysterical and set back her other training.

I like to vary her walks, so. the off lead chasing the frisby, the long park walks and the sniff walks in the Country Park seem to giver her a good variety. I bought an ordinal retractor lead when I first had her, but after reading another thread, I wondered if I needed something more robust.

Sorry for the essay. I waited such a long time to have a dog of my own and I loved her so much.

Long line or horse line. It’s very easy to learn to let them out or roll them back to you and much much safer than an extendable.

We have a Flexible Comfort Long 2 for our dog (10kg cockapoo). We’ve had it for 5 years and no issues.
Of course now I’ve said that......

Hate to be naive, but what's the issue with the extendable? Was looking at them for our dog, but may have to change tact now.

@buttercupsyrup

Extendables are bad for training as they teach your dog to pull because when they pull they get more freedom, you don’t have the communication that you get in say a leather leash, and the dog never knows when the leash length will stop so they get a whiplash type effect when they hit the end or you put the stop on it.

They can snap easily and without warning so not ideal from a safety perspective.

And they can become wrapped around people and dogs causing some really nasty injuries.

Personally I like a five or six foot leather leash for training and a long line or horse line until I’ve trained in a solid recall. You might want to look at rope leashes if you do lots of hiking, or waterproof if you spend a lot of time in water with your dog.

OP, you sound like you have the measure of your dog and the use of the extendable to give your dog sniffing opportunities and a measure of freedom on certain walks. I used a long line to teach mine recall and did lots of loose lead training with a fixed lead, this has translated to her being very calm on an extending lead too. I use it on quiet country lanes whilst we are en route to woods etc and on holiday on new walks where we are unsure as to what may be around the corner. Her recall is good but sometimes it is just nice to relax and mooch along for a while. I never use it in busy areas. I have taught her a touch command and if the occasional car , tractor, horse hover into view I call out touch and she retracts instantly for her treat. She sees this as a fun recall for some reason.

I've got a Flexi 5 metre tape retractable lead. I bought it for my previous dog who weighed 30 Kg (sometimes a bit more) and it is the only one she didn't bite through (whilst being walked by others - a friend came to dog-sit when I was on 2 weeks' hol once and got through 3 retractable leads because she didn't/wasn't able to stop her biting it). I am using it now(about 10 years of use so far) for my current dog and it is brilliant. It sounds as though you are au fait with how to use them safely and effectively as I found they do take some getting used to when you first use this type of lead.

I use a Flexi tape retractable lead as it does give freedom for sniffing in places where I don't want my dog off lead e.g. I sometimes walk her in fields where there are lots of high steep banks leading down to deep water, she's small and I don't want her put at possible risk.

I know a lot of people on here don't like them though.

Just a couple of points: never use an extending lead attached to the dog's collar, only on a harness, and use a tape type not one with a metal lead as they tend to snap easily.

I'm normally in the long line camp (and regret using a Flexi lead on my first dog) but I can see why you want and do use a flexible lead with your dog.

Flexi is the big brand in the flexible leads and have the easiest lock mechanisms.

The main thing is actually check the whole lead for wear frequently - so you'll have to fully extend the lead and lock it at that full extent then check all along the lead for fraying, other signs of wear or anything out of the ordinary. Replace the lead at those first signs of wear or if the locking or retracting mechanisms ever play up. This should make it as safe as a normal lead.

There is no such thing as a good flexi lead. Teach your dog to walk on a loose lead. It will save many problems in the future.

The issue people have with extendable leads is that they can fail, they can (in theory depending on how and where you use them) cause injuries.

Oh and they do reward pulling - but my dog knows fine the difference between which lead is on..

So if you’re wanting to carry on using one (I do, it suits me and my dog) brand does matter, flexi is the best, cheaper ones can be pretty dangerous. You want to make sure the weight limit for it is a lot larger than your dog and tape ones are better because they don’t whip against things in the same way and aren’t as likely to cut through flesh if they do get wrapped round anyone. And you do need to check and maintain them and not use them where it would be dangerous if the lock failed.

Thank you everyone who has responded to my question. It has been very helpful and reassuring.

Comments like 'there is no such thing as a good flexi lead' are really unhelpful.

Like many things it's down to how it is used.

I absolutely agree that if you use a flexi lead badly - letting your dog roam to it's limits at all times and jerking it locked if they get near a road/other dog/etc - it's not good use.

However it is perfectly possible to train your dog in loose lead walking using a flexi lead on 'fixed' mode on pavements etc then let them go 'flexi' in fields etc.

Jerking at the end of a flexi lead is no different to jerking at the limits of a long line and you can get tangled up just as badly, if not worse with a long line. We've tried both with my 6-month old and she gets tangled in the long line, thinks its a toy, chews it, gets all riled up when you try to untangle her. Whereas with the flexi lead she walks really well on fixed mode then knows now when she gets off pavement she can roam further - and she has never tried to chew the flexi lead.

When we have the opportunity we are teaching a bit of off lead recall but some dogs just aren't good at it and do need to be on a lead of some sort most of the time.

Different strokes for different folks and all that. Sounds like you're a really considerate dog owner Florentina so stick with what works for you and your dog.

*BirdyBedtime

Comments like 'there is no such thing as a good flexi lead' are really unhelpful*

Google's your friend. I have seen so many accidents and horrendous injuries to owners, Dogs and other people and their dogs when someone uses a flexi lead.

There are no "good" flexi leads. But people only realise that once they see the problems flexi leads cause.

If your dog snarls and growls at other dogs why are you getting an extendable?!

I hate them at the best of times, but you’d have even less control of your dog using an extendable and throw in the fact it snarls at other dogs is only a recipe for disaster

As I said, the extendable is only used in heavily wooded, shrubby areas in our Country Park. There are no paths as such and I have never met another dog in that area. Certainly no off lead dogs. This is why I go there. I use it to give her a little bit of an opportunity to get in among the bushes for a sniff. And the lead is not fully extended.

That said, I take on board what you are saying as I know it is good advice. She is put on the other lead long before we get into the clearing. When I was new to dog owning I did use it once in the park and something spooked her and she ran for home. I got a nasty jerk on my shoulder and almost lost my grip. That was a lesson learned, fortunately before I was able to do any damage to me or others.

If used away from roads I don't see a problem with them tbh, hate seeing people walk with them on paths close to roads, if one failed it's a dead dog if it runs under a car 😢 If you do get one a tape one is the best 🙂