Total Pageviews

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Expandable Leashes


I know what you are thinking, who would do a blog topic about expandable leashes. The short answer is me - I'd take the most innocuous topic and try to make it interesting. The ordinary and make it unique. So this topic is devoted to expandable leashes.

I believe with some dogs these may be okay, but my experience has been anything but pleasant over the years we have tried to make these type leashes work for us. The concept is good but the application is marginal. Where they do seem to work is with our almost 15 year old girl, Gypsy who is pictured above. When you have 20' of leash and the dog is near the end of that leash and sees something and lunges; all I can say is have a nice run or most likely fall. Or if you have your dog on leash and meet another dog on one of those leashes and they run up to each other to meet - just hope that they get along as two dogs fighting and tangled in leashes would not be much fun. That has never happened to us as our dogs are aloof when they meet other dogs and trained to stay by our side. They are also socialized and obey our commands. If I see an owner holding back their dog or the dog lunging on the leash or leaning forward pulling I tell the owner to hold the dog back as they have an excited dog or possibly aggressive dog. I do know others who have experienced tangling of expandable leashes and dogs fighting and I'm told it quickly becomes a nightmare. It is usually the other owner who is the problem and I have no hesitation in telling them in terms they understand to keep their dog under control and back until it can calm down. Much better to have two owners duke it out that let the dog pay for its owners mistake and lack of knowledge.

Which reminds me of a neighbors dog (regretfully a German Shepherd) when I was living in Tampa, Fla. I was walking our female wolf/Husky and she was trained just like our present dogs to stand still by my side. His dog Duke, being loose, ran out and up to her and I instructed him to keep his dog back. Says he - Duke has fought every dog in the neighborhood and beat them, don't worry about him he can take care of himself. I gave him a second warning which he laughed at. At that time I didn't know it but what I thought was a Husky was in reality about 75% wolf. She never moved an inch just like she had been trained but when old Duke came up to the front of her, her legs suddenly dropped down to the ground and she came straight up with Duke's windpipe in her powerful jaws. Duke was immobilized and and in seconds he was unconscious. I finally got her to release Duke who appeared totally dead, we had to preform CPR to revive him. It was nip and tuck for several minutes and Duke was very unstable on his feet when he did come to. My neighbor was stunned, and that is just how fast something can happen when you #1, do not train your dog, #2, fail to have your dog under control. As long as we lived there when we would walk down the street, Duke would see us coming and run and hide. Even if Duke had been on an expandable leash with an ignorant and irresponsible owner that situation probably would not have been avoided. Some owners just have to learn the hard way. Incidentally, even though Duke was quickly rendered unconscious and near dead, my well trained dog never moved one inch from my side. Training is key to keeping your dog protected and is the responsible thing to do.

Or the time you get caught off guard like when I was walking down the road enjoying the peace and quiet and heard a neighbor say "watch this". They had a metal pan and something to bang on it with and suddenly went to banging away. It was done maliciously and worked. I was instantly tangled in two expandable leashes and had two very frightened panicky dogs. Their laughter still rings in my ears. As rotten as that was - what if you were in a city where there was sudden horn or noise blasts and your dogs panicked like mine did and became suddenly frantic. All I had was skinned hands when my legs were wrapped and I fell on a gravel road tangled in panicked dogs, but what if in a city you fell into traffic or something equally as bad. Out here in the wilderness it seemed the thing to do in allowing our dogs to have some additional range on walks, but I quickly observed with jerks who have their fun at others expense that even here expandable leashes are not a good idea. Had our dogs been on a 4-6' leash that would not have happened and they would have just been another idiot making noise and looking foolish.

My inclination is to have our dogs on a 4-6' leash, have them walk on heel, and have them under control at all times. A dog on a short leash is not apt to jerk you off your feet or tangle you up and you have control because the dog/s lack leverage. You may have thumb control on expandable leashes but you don't have dog control.

In defense of these expandable leashes, I have to admit for older dogs and small dogs they work ideally and do give the dog some more ranging area. Our dogs get plenty of exercise and for me those expandable leashes have a small zone of functionality. I believe the 4-6' leash is more suitable for walks and control. While expandable leashes appear nice and practical, for us they have not worked well. There, who knew someone could make a subject like expandable leashes into so much rhetoric. So did I make expandable leashes interesting or not? I got as much mileage out of the topic as I possibly could...

16 comments:

Patricia said...

Oh boy... all I can say is kudos to you. We have two boxers that we totally enjoy. However, they are terrible on a leash and, if excited, are largely uncontrollable. I'm convinced WE all need more training - as soon as we find the time and the money.

Was the jerk with the tin pan an FP resident?

Pat said...

You didn’t know you wrote this for a purpose… Our leash for Shiloh has gone missing, so I am about to buy a new one. I wasn’t tempted to buy the expandable one as you’ve talked about this before, but now I know I really can’t be tempted even with a fancy, flash-n-dazzle leash at a good price. I’ll get a nice 4-6’ footer… Thanks….

(Can you not just see me torn up on the street if I had bought an expandable leash and Shiloh had seen a squirrel????)

Bruce said...

Yes Patricia, it was a FP resident. You don't have to go to obedience classes to gain control. A good website that sells DVD's that are easy to follow is www.leersburg.com. I think there are also training techniques listed there that should get you on the right track.

Pat, the one story I didn't tell was when our past GSD, Ben, was on an expandable leash. I was at the top of the steps with him when a rabbit ran out from and he went after it. Next thing I knew I was 20 feet through the air coming up against a deck support where I skidded to a prone stop. No I can't imagine you being dragged down the street, because once you are off your feet you can cover some distance out of control. The thing to do is let go of the leash, but it happens so fast you don't have time. The flight was fun but the landing rough.

Bruce said...

Patricia: I got that web site wrong: It is www.leerburg.com, I had an extra s in there.

Pat said...

Talk about just in the nick of time. I went to Tractor Supply because I needed bird feed and I like theirs. I also planned on buying the new leash for Shiloh…

In the front as a special was a retractable leash for $6.99, which, of course, I now passed by. Back In the dog area, the woven leashes were $17.99 – but I figured that was much better than a broken-whatever…

Had I not read your article, the cheap-O might have come out in me and I might have said, “Oh, well… for $6.99 versus $18…”

But I sprung for the big bucks, because I had been reminded not to buy the retractable… THANKS!

Bruce said...

Glad I published that when I did. You would have been ticked at me had you bought an expandable leash. Also glad it helped.

Jane said...

Fascinating subject and much appreciated!!!! And just an FYI, we had three wolf hybrids at one time (and a teacup toy poodle if you can imagine that picture!) and I can totally see yours taking down Duke, virtually effortlessly and quietly….they are incredible creatures and we miss them terribly – they never “barked” but howled whenever we left to go to work, and when we came home --- those were memorable times when we were blessed with them…..even our neighbors enjoyed their howling – that’s how we found out they howled, from the neighbors – obviously not too good for us if someone wanted to rob us, because they knew we were leaving….ha!ha! ours were mixed with Malamute and they were peaceful and loving and a delight to live with….. Jane

Bruce said...

Jane: I have never had such a wonderfully intelligent pet as the wolf. I'm guessing at the 75% wolf, but with the physical characteristics and traits it could have been higher. Her markings were more silver tipped timber wolf.
She was highly intelligent. I actually taught her to come, stay, sit and heel in less than an hour and she never forgot. Her strength was incredible. A friend who had a male German Shepherd Dog, import from Germany wanted to breed her before we had her spayed. She almost killed him also and would have nothing to do with him. The bonding was more difficult that the training but once done, it is a lifetime bond. I actually can't imagine they being around a tiny dog without looking at it as prey. How fortunate for you to have such unique pets. Wolves will always hold a special place in my heart.

Jane said...

Thanks for the heads up – I’ll check out your article at Mother Earth News J but whoa --- 50 degrees inside? I guess that’s better than 10 degrees, but brrrrrr….i’d have to set an alarm and get up and stoke the stove all night long, as it would be tough to get out of bed in the morning! Hopefully, you’re almost at 70 by now! Have a warm and wonderful day there J

Bruce said...

It is noon and we are up to 63 degrees at the moment. You move fast in the morning when it gets that cold, that is for sure.

Patricia said...

Bruce,

Thanks for the info on the website for training DVDs. I had been checking into some board and train options ... whoa! Very pricey except for one place that was dirt cheap - which made me very suspicious. Steve and I will just have to find the time and energy to do train our fur babies because right now they are so undisciplined and so strong that we are having trouble controlling them. Not a good situation!

Patricia said...

And as for your lovely FP neighbor...grrrr! Some retired people just shouldn't retire - they have nothing productive to do and just spend their golden years being a problem to others.

Bruce said...

Patricia: A word of caution on board and train. Usually classes where you do the training under a trainers supervision are better. The board and train will train your dog but if you are not an integral part of the training process your dogs will respond to the trainer and not particularly to you. They train and you get an hour or two before you go home learning commands which you promptly forget. Often there are subsequent follow up visits because the dogs only preform for the trainer and not the owner.
If you can afford the time using a good video and training the dog yourself is best. You do it together. Mostly it is the person who is in actual need of the training and the dog has not responded because it has no clue what the person is seeking. Having the dog trained by someone else and then when it comes home you still have bad techniques and the dog simply reverts to its prior state. Once you both get on the same wave length it is all downhill. Besides training helps the owner and dog bond with mutual respect for each other and both move forward at the same rate. Just a suggestion.

Patricia said...

And as for your lovely FP neighbor...grrrr! Some retired people just shouldn't retire - they have nothing productive to do and just spend their golden years being a problem to others.

Patricia said...

Bruce,

Thanks for the advice. I talked to a trainer on Friday about the board and train; I have mixed feelings about it, even though he guarantees the results. He said he uses only a choke chain and praise and that training takes 3-4 weeks ($600 per dog). My husband is all gung ho about the idea, but I'm not so sure - a bit worried actually about how the dogs would be treated. Our problem with training ourselves is the lack of time. However,they are so out of control that just walking them has become a real chore. So, I'm thinking about it. Guess we could try another class first.

Bruce said...

Everyone wants a well behaved dog. How you get there is up to the individual. 3-4 weeks? It usually only takes one or two good walks to teach proper leash techniques. I don't like to have our dogs out of sight let alone gone for that long. Sit, stay, down, off, etc is taught easily. Of course I'm teaching German Shepherd Dogs, that have the intelligence level of a 7 year old child and they learn fast and have a desire to please. If time is of importance and you can't take the time to train, I wonder how it will go when they come home trained as you still have to do your part. Like sending a child off to boarding school - they come home with manners, but will slip right back into old habits if not reinforced by continuous training. Dogs have a short retention span so 30 minutes a couple times a day is usually all that is required to train. Having a trainer come to your house and work with you and your dog seems a plausible option. A trainer can do in 30 minutes what you can do in an hour. The whole idea of training is to train the owner too. Just a thought. Hope you find a good solution so you will have well behaved dogs that will be fun for you.