Take a spare lead!

[mumofthreesmallmen3]

Had a nightmare this morning, was walking along a busy a road, cars going over 50mph, high school kids zooming past on bikes really fast and she done a little leap forwards and the lead snapped off in half, I will always be taking a spare lead in my bag from now on, it hadn't occured to me before,new to dog ownership she is almost 6 months, feel relieved she didn't bolt into the a road, as with the cars going along really fast and the kids on bikes on the pavement she might of spooked and bolted,either got hurt or caused a accident if a car tried to swerve etc, luckily was a couple of minutes from my mum's house and got her to collect us! I did tie the broken lead onto harness but wasn't confident to keep walking like that but it got us to a quieter road to get collected and I don't think I will be using the tape type lead again I think they are more likely to do that?

What kind of lead was it?

One way to get a secure emergency fasting with a fixed lead is to

• wrap the handle end through the harness fixing then lace the other end through the handle, creating a secure fixing to the harness
• wrap the bit of lead you have round the dog's neck then lace the broken end through the handle, using the handle to create a slip lead essentially

Both of those leave you havin to hold the broken end but the lead's attachment to the dog is secure.

I always use a double ended lead and have both ends attached to his harness since we had a lead failure .

When I volunteered at a shelter we always took two leads, just in case - a clip lead on the collar and a slip lead as a spare. Never a retractable, too likely to break. Kikopup on YouTube has a great video on how to teach your dog to walk nicely.

I keep meaning to carry a spare after we found a lost dog in the woods.

Thanks sirsniff that's good tips, that I didn't think of! I think I was a bit shaken aswell really so I just tied it best I could but was a bit paranoid walking as the road is so fast on that stretch incase I hadn't tied tight enough. She normally walks ok,some pulling but nothing too bad I don't think, we don't normally go that route that's so busy and that time along the teenagers route, she doesn't normally jump around on the lead, but a lot of the high school kids were either running past us or cycling past us fast and I think she got a bit excited/worked up and jumped forwards and that's when it snapped off, it was the tape type retractable which we also don't use a lot, at least it was ok and I have some better ideas how to tie better and keep a small spare in my bag,it just didn't cross my mind to have a spare so wanted post incase it slipped other people's minds

it was the tape type retractable

Retractable lead is the issue. As someone mentions above, they're more likely to break.

I wouldn’t use a retractable lead in that sort of situation tbh (people hate them on here full stop) if I’m using one it’s because I have a dog that can’t be off lead, so I’d walk with a normal lead until I got to where the dog was going to get more freedom and swap to the retractable one then.

Tape ones are actually usually more reliable than cord ones, and a lot safer if they fail it’s the mechanism that goes usually not the lead... but with retractable leads, quality definitely matters, cheap ones fail a lot.

Retractable leads are horrendous. They are unsafe due to snapping, as you have discovered, and they are useless for teaching a dog to walk nicely on a lead.

They are also incredibly dangerous. They can snap back and hit a dog or human and injure them, and they can run through the hands and cause serious cuts. If you need a longer lead for a dog still learning recall, use a training lead and have a normal lead for walking.

Thankyou everyone, I normally use a normal short lead,she does go off lead in a field around 10 minutes away and is very good with recall, I was given this retractable lead and I use it sometimes around our housing estate which is some quiet roads interspaced with green areas so I used it to keep her shorter on the pavement areas and a bit of freedom on the grass areas when I give her a short walk, we normally go to the field in the morning but changed it this morning to a longer on lead walk and a new route,it just didn't occur to me the type of lead/breakage etc, I'm not going to replace the retractable lead and stick to normal lead

Retractable leads are notorious for this type of thing. But the point stands it is good practice to have a spare lead on you. I've had several clip failures over the years especially with leads that get wet lots. I tend to swap a lot of clips out for locking carabiners now but always have spares on me!

I have heard before about the retractable leads so feel a bit silly, I think when I normally do a short walk where I live it comes In handy where I can keep her short or more freedom rather than on and off, as it's quiet residential roads,grass area, and so on. I will definitely be using normal short lead especially on main/busy roads and area, a lot of teenagers went running and cycling past, were quite loud, I think that's what made her do the leap as generally she doesn't leap on the lead

I usually have a slip lead in my bag and I keep a good quality carabiner on the treat bag. From finding stray dogs to hardware failures it has proved to be a good practise.

Halti do some good leads. we have a double ended one and a longish one with shock absorber section, plus it can be fixed around your waist. www.viovet.co.uk/Halti-Walking-Range-All-In-One-Dog-Lead/c36783/

It’s no surprise to hear it was a retractable lead.

Sounds scary @mumofthreesmallmen3 I had something similar happen when mine was about the same age, though not a lead failure. Mine managed to slip backwards out of her harness on the path on our road which is next to another path which is right next to a dual carriage way! I felt sick but managed to get her back in it and get home.
I also had a 'that could have gone wrong moment' when I realised the D loop on her collar had worn very thin where her lead metal bit rubs and could have potentially snapped! Got a new collar straight away.
I usually wear a scarf, just a thin cotton one, pretty much all year round and I'd use that if we had a lead malfunction or found a lost dog.