Retractable dog leads and why they are BAD for most dogs!
Retractable leads have a place, for just a handful of dogs and owners. For most dogs retractable leads are not their friend or yours!
Put yourself in your dog shoes (or paws) out for a nice walk you sniff that delicious pungent smell of another dog’s scent and you simply must go and smell it. You zoom forward, you are freeeee with that sweet-sounding zip line sound zzzwwhmming through your ears, cock the leg then off to the next glorious odour! You go from side to side doing your thing, life is good!
Next minute you are walking down a street and you smell those same smells that you so desperately want to sniff, you see your mate across the road so you want to go and see them this time you hear a click and that same zipping sound, with no warning you are sharply zapped back half strangled pulled back into place next to those size nines!! It’s all very confusing!
Do not get me wrong, Retractable leads have a time and a place. The time you should never use a retractable lead is if you have a dog in training (which is pretty much all the time), never use one on a puppy, a dog that pulls, a dog with behavioural issues and last but not least a dog you do not let off lead.
Yes yes yes, I can hear you now saying but I need to give my dog exercise and I can’t let him/her off the lead!
Look to the route cause. Why can’t you let your dog off the lead? Go back to basics and get the information you need to rectify this!
WolfeEdu firmly believes in training the human first, if we humans understand basic animal behaviour and have the key training foundations then 90% of behavioural issues will be irradicated before they have even manifested themselves!
The only time you should use it is for a mature well-trained dog who is no bigger than a Westie and even then I’m reluctant to say use one!
Dogs require clear and concise training! A retractable dog lead is not clear and concise, it’s erratic, messy, and inconsistent, and there is no security in one.
Needless to say, you and your dog can get terrible rope burn, they are cumbersome, the mechanism can fail, tangalation (not sure if that is even a word), and lack of control, therefore, putting both yourself and your dog in danger and the dog does not understand its boundaries.
It’s all very nice letting your untrained pooch shoot from one bush to another like they are on some gladiator Bungy getting hoicked back when they reach the end of the line! But please put yourself in your dog’s shoes your free you running oh no you’re not.. HOICK… Not Fair, not to mention the damage that can be done to their throat!
What to do!
Place your retractable dog lead to one side or in a box never to be opened again!!!
- Cement the recall!
- Purchase a classic lead, a training lead, not too long not too short and relax.
- Understanding how the type of lead you have chosen will help when leading your dog.
- And get his or her recall down.
Please note some but not all links are affiliate links should you choose to purchase a recommended product via the link, WolfeEdu will receive a small commission to say thank you for pointing you in the right direction to great products.
- TagMe Reflective Dog Leads Slip Robe with Soft Padded Handle for Puppy
- Dog & Field Deluxe Gundog Slip Lead
- Halti Training Lead, 2m, Bestselling Professional Dog Lead to Stop Pulling on the Lead
- SuplutuX Dog Training Lead Leash 3m/5/m/15m Adjustable Longline
Clicker Training is an effective way of training with positive reinforcement. Do not use the clicker training method unless you understand how to carry out the process effectively. A dog can easily become desensitized/unresponsive to the clicker if training is not carried out appropriately.
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