How long a leash?

For walking my younger dogs I prefer a 4' leather lead; sized to wrap around my waist when I take them off lead to work.

For my older, more trained dogs I prefer 4' of thin rope with a snap on one end; small enough to fit in my back pocket when I take them off to work.

For training young dogs I prefer 20' thin rope with a snap or flat cotton lead that they can drag.

dturm wrote:
One other thing not mentioned is the possibility of injury due to the cord on the flexi. I've seen injuries to both people and dogs, rope burns ranging from minor to pretty serious. I "heard" of a finger being severed, but that could be one of those rumor type things, I have no personal knowledge....

X10!

When these things first came out and everyone ran to purchase one, we had 'numerous' dogs that had their show career ended from a flexi lead.

If you drop the handle which I see happen 'all' the time. That handle makes a racing bee line down the cord right into your dog.

We have seen many tendons severed on smaller dogs from a flexi lead incident. A personal friend of mine had a very promising dog in the top 10 and all in one moment of a dropped handle that then ran down the cord, severed the tendon on his dogs leg. :(

And I have witnessed serious injuries to owners hands and fingers.

They are banned at all dog shows and I am pleased to see them being banned at many CG's now.

Oaklevel wrote:
Forgot one other thing personally we recommend a harness instead of a collar. They can pull out of either but a harness is less likely to coke them.......

Your dog shouldn't need a collar or harness to say no to drugs;)

icanon wrote:
Please don't make this thread a Hot topic as I just wanted to know how long a leash when within a CG.

We specify a 6 foot leash. If the dog is on a leash, period, we see that as a win and don't quibble over the actual length. Got a lot better things to do than be leash-length police.

dturm wrote:
Single minded, focused and hard headed, training is a challenge.

LOL! You have my sympathies :-) Is she food-motivated?? Many dogs will gladly sell their souls for freeze-dried liver....

Oaklevel wrote:
Forgot one other thing personally we recommend a harness instead of a collar. They can pull out of either but a harness is less likely to coke them.......

This is a GOOD POINT - it doesn't matter how short the leash is if the dog just pulled out of its collar. I saw the fatal results of a sheltie being taken to a groomer, pulling out of its collar and running into the street :-(

Which is why my dogs wear martingale-styled collars (also called greyhound collars). They're nylon, and work like a choke-collar with a stop on it. You adjust the stop point to be snug around the neck so they can't slip out no matter how hard or what direction they pull; but it doesn't cut off their air. Otherwise, the control loop lets it hang loose enough to be comfortable for the dog.

Now, when I use the dreaded Flexi's, I have to put harnesses on the dogs because they won't pull against the leash tension if it's snapped to their collars.

rockhillmanor wrote:


Have a family member call, tease, have food, whatever, while the dog is on the flexi at the end pulling toward the family member.

Now try and reel him back to you. You will quickly find how a flexi does NOT work. And IMHO better to find out with your family member than at a CG meeting up with another dog that is wanting to fight trying to kill your dog.

For starters, I have well-trained *herding-breed* dogs. I can call them off a squirrel chase, or a T-bone steak. I have never had a problem bringing my dogs back to me. And if we meet an aggressive dog, they will be at my side anyway - they have no desire to fight with anybody or anything.

Now, if I had a TERRIER (wink!) at the end of my Flexi, the proper procedure would be lock/yank, reel up the slack; lock/yank, reel up the slack, etc. Sort of like reeling in a big bass. If I had to grab the webbing, it wouldn't cut. And the big heavy reel gives me something to smack the attack-dog's owner in the noggin with after the dust-up is over. ;-)

Please don't make this thread a Hot topic as I just wanted to know how long a leash when within a CG.

Well, we've used retractable leashes for a couple of decades now. No injuries, other than a bit of rope burn behind a knee one summer. We use the ribbon type, rather than the string ones.

We live in the bush in Yukon; people often ask why we leash our dogs here when they could be free. Porcupines. Wolves. Coyotes. Mama moose. And more. So the 25' retractable leash lets them explore and play, but they can't run off & disappear for hours, or become snack food for a wolf or coyote.

Yup, they are under our control. The lock mechanism gets used when needed. When we're in a campground, it gets locked at about 10' but might be shortened to a couple of feet if there are loose dogs around.

When they do chase a squirrel or varmint into the trees, they know how to weave their way back out following their leash, so no tangles.

Any tool is dangerous if used incorrectly......... Whether it is a retractable leash or a table saw......