The Bonus Biscuit: Use your Long Line Lead or Extending Lead correctly.
The difference between the two is that the long line lead is a just that a long lead that enables your dog to have some freedom and safe training. Extending leads retract in and out of box.
Which one do I prefer and why?
Long line leads because:
- They are more likely to be used in the correct area – parks or open spaces.
- They are good for training in certain circumstances, such as: recall, behaviour work, etc.
- Much of the training carried out using a long line lead will on the ground, not in the owner’s hand.
- They are attached to the back of the harness so that the lead does not become entangled in the dog’s legs.
What’s wrong with extending leads?
- They used to walk a dog along the public roads – this is dangerous because the dog is so far in front of the owner or person walking the dog, if it were to see something or someone it could easily run across the road and cause an accident.
- Being in front of the owner means that going around the corner the dog will come into contact with whatever is around the corner first, this could be a dog, person, child and the owner/dog walker does not have any control over the dog (dog could therefore be deemed as dangerously out of control in a public area).
- They can become entangled around the dog’s leg(s) or other people’s legs and the material these leads are made of can cause burns or injury.
- If the box part of the extending lead comes away from the owner, it will start to retract very quickly towards the other dog (this being the clip on the back of the dog’s harness) – therefore frightening or injuring the dog.
Remember a long line lead and extending lead can be used correctly to ensure that the specific training in which they are being used is effective – they should not be used to walk your dog along a public road/pavement.