A potentially contentious subject as so many are in use nowadays, however, I never use them when walking clients’ dogs’ as the risk just isn’t worth my taking.
Retractable Leads: Are they right for your dog?
Retractable leads can seem like a good idea as they allow dogs who may not be allowed off lead to experience some freedom.
However, there are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account when using retractable leads and they certainly aren’t appropriate for every dog.
When over one thousand veterinary professionals were polled a whopping 92% had experienced issues with retractable leads.
These issues ranged from:
▪️Burns to people from the lead
▪️Failure of locking mechanism, especially with large dogs
▪️Tangling humans and other animals in the lead
▪️Trip hazard to cyclists and pedestrians causing injuries
▪️Dogs being out of control due to length of extension
▪️Being allowed to walk around the veterinary practice waiting room and approaching other sick or scared animals inappropriately
Sadly many people reported to have attended road traffic accidents where dogs had run in front of cars, buses and trucks as the locking system was too loose, failed or the dogs weren’t adequately controlled
and many of these pets lost their lives despite the intensive care of the veterinary team who attended them.
So… Are they right for your dog?
This is a hard question to answer because circumstances are very individual. Given the number of issues seen it would suggest that many owners are making the decision to use a retractable lead when in fact they are not appropriate to their dog, reason for use or lifestyle.
Retractable leads should be used with extreme caution near:
❌Roads
❌Others dogs
❌Busy public places
❌Indoors
And their use may not be sensible to use with:
❓Large dogs
❓Strong dogs that pull
❓Boisterous dogs
❓Reactive dogs that could lunge
❓Dogs on a loose retractable that could trip or tangle someone
Source: Veterinary Voices UK
Just as an aside, within my work for Deed Not Breed, any owner using a retractable lead, could be considered as having a dog dangerously out of control. Having a lead on your dog does not mean it is under proper control as stated in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and that “a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person or assistance dog, whether or not it actually does so”.
What would I recommend instead?
Obviously, first I would consult an expert, who, in this case, is my rescue colleague, Caroline, from Help at Hand Dog Training & Behaviour. This is what she says:
Let’s face it, looking for a harness is an overwhelming experience sometimes. Choices of colours, shapes, step in, over head, clip around, padded……it goes on and on.
I keep it simple, because it has to be about what is going to be best for the dog, particularly when they are still developing.
Sometimes dogs can appear scared of the harness. This can be association of many things such as a bad experience, how we are putting it on or commonly how the harness fits and feels. This is more often the case than we realise.
The harnesses in these pictures are adjustable, strong, with a clip around the neck and two behind the shoulder to ensure the dog has full range of movement which is important. Some harnesses restrict shoulder movement without us realising, and that becomes uncomfortable.
We all want to do the right thing for our dogs because we love them, and with Christmas coming a new harness can be one of the gifts we buy for them. So let’s also make sure our friends are getting the right one for them.
One UK based company I go to is www.woofstokittys.com and their BARE range. It’s always a personal choice, but at least you can see there is another possible option for you to consider that has been well thought out.
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