Why do so many people have retractable leashes?
A lot of people have retractable leashes these days and I hate them. The leashes not the people. I have had dog walking clients with multiple dogs that pull and they use retractable leashes. Why is this? Is it because they look nifty? I understand that retractable leashes have their place (in a garbage can) but walking a dog through your neighborhood is not a good time to use a retractable leash. Never walk a dog that pulls, has a tendency to bolt or could pose a danger to other people, animals or themselves, with a retractable leash! A retractable leash is not designed for situations where you need to have direct control over your dog and when you’re walking your dog that need could arise at any moment. You may have to keep your dog away from nasty things on the ground that would make them sick. You may have to keep them away from people on bicycles, joggers, cars or mean dogs, cats, children, raccoons, etc. You need to be able to to control your dog. That is why there are leash laws. If you are at the beach or in a park and you want your dog to run free, but you still want them leashed so you don’t get a fine or have them take off, retractable leashes may be a safe alternative to letting a dog run loose but they are not good for walking through an urban neighborhood. I have decided to make a list of the reasons why I hate retractable leashes. Some of these reasons can be found on the warning label that came with your retractable leash.
- •If you take a normal leash and wrap it around your hand there is no way it can get away from you. A retractable leash is easy to drop especially if the dog (or heaven forbid..dogs) you are walking pull suddenly. This is even worse if its raining because the plastic becomes slippery or if it is cold and your hands go numb or are encumbered by warm gloves.
- •A normal leash will not break unless it is very old , worn or has been chewed. The locking mechanisms on retractable leaches jam and give out all the time. I have seen this myself. If you do use a retractable leash please make sure it is strong enough to hold the weight of your dog. This may be one of those situations where you want to spend more money and get a higher quality leash and not have to worry about a cheaper leash giving out when you are in a situation where you desperately need to maintain control of your dog.
- •Since the leash itself stretches there is a chance that if the metal clasp becomes detached from the collar it may snap back a hit you in the face. This usually happens if the clasp on the leash is defective, collar becomes detached due to a sudden pull or if the leash or collar have simply not been properly attatched. There have been numerous cases of people getting bopped in the face that can be found on the internet. Here is a link to an ABC news article about the end of a shoddy retractable leash flying off and impaling a little girl’s eye: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=7058784&page=1
- •If a normal leash is on the verge of wearing out you can look at it and say “Hey, this leash looks like it is on the verge of wearing out, I better not use it.” With a retractable leash you would actually need to disassemble the leash and look at the locking mechanism and possibly unroll the entire cord to know there is a problem, otherwise you might not realize until your dog is running ahead of you out into traffic or terrorizing your neighbor’s cat.
- •On the warning labels of most retractable leashes it tells you that there is a risk of being burned if the tiny cord slips through your hand very quickly. This has happened to me. It tells you only to hold the leash by the plastic handle. If you do this how are you supposed to have control over the dog? From time to time you need to pull your dog away from something quickly. It is rather awkward to do this with a retractable leash without grabbing the little cord.
- •I just found a link to a Consumer Report article about a woman who permanently lost her index finger due to a retractable leash http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/03/retractable-leashes-pose-problems-for-people-and-their-pets.html Even Consumer Report hates retractable leashes and they have never steered me wrong as far as vacuum cleaners go!
- •In the “Community Pet Section” of the Portland Craig’s List there used to be a lady who called herself the Pet Nanny. She was a pet sitter and dog trainer. She gave helpful advice in her posts. She said that if you drop a retractable leash and your dog starts to run away the sound of the plastic handle banging against the ground behind the dog could scare them and cause them to keep running (presumably until they reach an ocean). I don’t know if this is true but I hate retractable leashes anyway. Kudos to the Pet Nanny. If you are the Pet Nanny or know her then thank yourself or her for me.
- •There is always a the chance that your will accidentally disengage the locking mechanism yourself. If that where to happen some dogs can run the entire length of the leash before you can get the cord locked. There is obviously no chance of this happening with a regular leash.
- •You can become wrapped up in the leash if give your dog to much slack and they encircle you. You could trip and fall injuring yourself or losing control of your dog. You can also receive burns to your calves this way.
- •Retractable leashes must never be used with choke collars, pronged collars or over-the-nose style gentle leaders. If a dog bolts to the end of the leash they could sustain severe injury. Some retractable leashes run out to 16 ft. If a dog bolts at full speed while wearing one of these collars and is then forced to a sudden stop they could sustain a life threatening neck injury.
- •It is difficult and unsafe to hold something in one hand while holding the retractable leash in the other. I know you sometimes like to talk on your cellphone when your walking your dog. Maybe you like to carry a cup of coffee a ciggarette or even a baby in your free hand when you take Fido out for his walk (he he). Since you cannot wrap the retractable leash around your hand, without suffering loss of circulation or possibly amputation, your dog is not as securely attached to you as they would be if you where using a regular leash.
I hope you have figured out that I do not like retractable leashes. That is why I always have my own sturdy assortment of leashes handy when I am walking dogs for customers. Retractable leashes may be ok for some dogs in some places but I still hate them. And as it says on the Flexi Leash USA website: ”
“This leash should only be used by responsible people who have read and can follow all of these precautions. Anyone who uses this leash must be able to control the dog and watch the dog closely at all times to keep it from running off or wrapping anyone in the cord/tape/belt. Keep out of reach of small children. Never let anyone play with this leash.”
Thank you for reading this. Please visit my pet sitting and dog walking website PDX Pets on the GO!. http://www.pdxpetsonthego.com
Written by Charles Sutton
I HATE retractable leashes. A retractable leash is to “leash” as a thong is to “panties” – NO PROTECTION, NO CONTROL. They make the classification by a mere technicality. Some areas require in their leash laws that the leash be no more than 6ft.
With a retractable leash, the dog does not feel like it is leashed – it feels like it is off leash and therefore. in charge.
I notice this particularly with small dogs – the owners let the dogs run all over claiming a circle 20ft to 30ft in diameter. Other dog owners must guess how far away to stay to avoid getting in the circle.
Retractable leashes put total responsibilty for that dog into the hands of the OTHER dog owner.
Mary Ellen-cant agree with you more
Our golden retriever has been attacked three times by small dogs on retractable leashes. Both my husband and I take our dog for runs through the neighborhood. The first time, two 10 lb yippie dogs came bolting out from a parking lot (on retractable leashes) while the owner screamed and yelled from them to come back. One of the dogs managed to bite my dog on the leg before we were able to sprint away. FYI – both my husband and I agree that running from a dog only reinforces bad behavior and choose to stop running whenever a dog runs at us. This time we ran into poorly socialized dogs…
A second time a small dog came flying down the stairs of an apartment as we ran by. Owner? at the top of the stairs. My dog had had enough and tried to bolt in the opposite direction of the attacker. Thankfully, I had (always do) him on a 6′ traditional, wrapped up in my hands.
The third time a neighborhood dog came running up the driveway. At first everyone thought she was going to be friendly, but instead, jumped out and bit my dog on his muzzle. I managed to seperate the two dogs and get away before the owner had time to “retract” the dog in.
My dog has two scars from little dogs who were illtrained and poorly controlled. His approach to small leashed dogs is to go between my legs and wait for me say its ok. A golden retriever is not bred to be like that and because of these dogs,he is. And it breaks my heart that he is so scared of small dogs that he has run into the street to get away from them. I am just happy he is still so enthusiastic when he meets larger dogs (best friend is a pitbull mix).
I have a retractable leash that I use for my Chiweenie when we are in my yard. Even though he is not excitable and never chases anything I still like to have him leashed so in this situation the retractable gives him the illusion of freedom. When we go for our walks, however, I always use a sturdy leash; common sense demands it. As for the Pet Nanny who says the sound of the plastic case bumping along behind the dog would scare him, I think most people don’t bother locking the mechanism so a greater fear would be the plastic handle whipping toward the dog, scary and potentially dangerous to the dog. I accidentally let go of Hals retractable once (a 10 footer) and it took after him like a small blue animal intent on, and succeeding in, latching itself to his neck. He gave me a look that said “Get this thing off of me!” Now when we are in the yard I slide the handle onto a metal stake and secure it; that way I don’t have to worry about poor Hal being attacked again because I wasn’t paying attention.