What lead for a giant breed? My pup keeps breaking them.

[Igot99problemsbutmypuppyaint1]

I have a 9 month old puppy, 45kg.

She isn't anything like ready to be off lead yet, too playful with other dogs, but she is getting there slowly. She only gets the zoomies about 20% of the time now when another dog approaches her, and she sits beside me within about 30 seconds now too, but I'm just worried she will get excited and go to play with a reactive dog, or a much smaller puppy so I would really like to be at 100% before i let her off lead.

I have bought extendable lead after extendable lead, the metal attachments to stop her chewing, she has a harness which has made a slight improvement too, but the leads keep breaking.

She rarely gets to the full length of the lead, so it's not her pulling, but she is a bit of a pain for wanting her lead in her mouth and having a chew on it.

I've tried giving her various other things to chew as she walks, but she isn't interested.

I do a lot of work with her training lead, and she isn't so chewy with that, but I can't use that for taking her on walks as I need more control of her.

My dog trainer just says it's a phase and she will grow out of it, and hasn't really recommended anything beyond giving her something else to carry.

Can anyone recommend a robust lead for a large breed dog? I'm probably going through a lead a week at the minute. TIA.

What do you mean by training lead?

I thought extendable leads were not advised, let alone for massive dogs. What breed is she?

I think I'd use a leather lead and work offlead in a secure area until recall is reliable.

You need a long line, not an extendible lead. She needs to on a short lead around other dogs so no risk of tangling.

I'm also unsure what you mean by training lead? We used a halti double clip lead for more control, then I used a horse lunge line to let him have more of a run about (mainly because I already had one).

@Igot99problemsbutmypuppyaint1 I once had an extendable lead - never again. I don't trust the button to keep the dog in check ( and my dog - 2 yrs old so not quite a puppy but still bouncy ) I would buy a couple of nylon type leads and a harness and if you are happy with it the attachment to wrap round your waist. My dog is about 10kg but very muscular so if he jumps quickly - I need a strong lead. He chewed through a couple of leads in his early days so I keep a spare. He has stopped doing that now. Whilst on pavements etc - he is on short lead

The long line ones. I use it to practise recall. I can't take her on a walk with it as she gets really tangled in it and I don't have enough control of her quickly enough if I need it.

There is an area of woodland here that I hire regularly as well and practise, where she's pretty much 100% reliable with recall, but there are no distractions there, just me and her, she isn't 100% reliable when there are other dogs around.

The extendable leads are all supposed to be for beyond her weight/size, I know they are not exactly ideal, but it gives her a bit more freedom and me a bit more control while we are on her big daily walk (we have one big walk, then a few training sessions/smaller walks per day). I need to be able to walk her around other dogs where she has a bit of freedom and I have a bit of control, so that's why I do her walks on the extendable lead at the moment.

I have a normal, short lead to walk her to and from our proper dog walking area and then swap her over on to the extendable one.

I'm being over cautious because she's a big breed, my other dog is much smaller and was off lead much younger, but there's not a chance she would have hurt another dog if she bounced on them, this puppy definitely would hurt another dog by just being playful so I really want her to be perfect before I allow her off lead.

I've got no experience of bigger breeds. I'll be honest, I'm just here for the photos

I wouldn't even walk my 6kg terrier in an extendable lead. Too much can go wrong with them. You can get training leads with loops at different levels for if you need to pull them in quickly and a long line for safer areas to practice recall. Ditch the extendable altogether would be my advice

As requested 🤣

This is the best lead I’ve used but it is heavy - you’ll have really strong wrists!

Have a look at some videos on how to hold a horse lunge line. They are the same as a long line. You need to learn how to gather it up and hold it correctly

Link would help

You're probably right and I need to persevere with her other leads, they were just so handy for training her with other dogs, but she's probably beyond the point of being able to have one now.

Thanks all.

You can get a long double lead with a D ring in the middle. Double it for when you need it shorter & full length for more freedom. A few years ago now but got mine on ebay.

I would never have used an extendable lead with my Saint. She's gorgeous!

Thanks, I already got one and it lasted 3 days 🤣 it cost me £40 though, it was surprisingly heavy.

What a beautiful dog. Stunning. Mine weighs 65kgs but she's 3yo now.

She wears a head collar. Dogmatic. Lots of great control. No pulling.

Ah. Not so good then! My boy never chewed ribbon leads. Rope leads though …

Same. Saints and retractable leads don't compliment each other. They are too big.

OP you have good taste in dog breeds! I don't know why more people don't own them, they are just the best ❤️❤️❤️

Stop. She’s SO freaking cute oh my goodness!!! With her little pink harness bless. The bestest girl!!

Retractable leads are the invention of the devil. For any breed. Lots of good suggestions from PPs. You'll get there in the end.

Oh my God, She's gorgeous!

Sorry was distracted by my DDog for a second. I should have said thank you for the photo too

We just used a metal lead with our dog who liked to chew it - once he got out of the puppy stage we were able to go back to the extendable lead

Get a lunge line from an equestrian outlet. You will have to pay attention and let it out/haul it in manually as required (so not suitable for someone that walks the dog and uses the phone at the same time - saying this for others not you), but it's strong enough to hold 50kg+
Look for videos on how to lunge a horse and you'll see how the line is handled to pay it out and bring it in, so you don't end up in a knot.

Extendables and large dogs are really not a safe combination.

I would go for a good quality biothane longline with a handle so that you can use it as a lead as well if needed.

They're not cheap but they last forever and don't soak up mud or dirt either.