Best retractable dog lead

VanMan2007

My sister is about to adopt an 18-month old female Staffie dog. (Rescue: tied-up and abandoned, with a broken rib! :mad:)

Anyway, just wondered if there are any go-to leads for a dog of this breed?

(I say retractable lead as I've offered to help with some of the walks and don't want to let her off the lead!)

Thanks guys.

GBNI

I don't trust retractable leads at all to be honest, I've heard of too many breaking (even when bought for the correct weight etc).

VanMan2007

GBNI wrote: »

I don't trust retractable leads at all to be honest, I've heard of too many breaking (even when bought for the correct weight etc).

Okay, best alternative please? The last time we, as a family, had a dog, we had a "choker" chain. I assume they are not now the preferred choice?

tweets

VanMan2007 wrote: »

Okay, best alternative please? The last time we, as a family, had a dog, we had a "choker" chain. I assume they are not now the preferred choice?

I have a Staffy and i bought her one of these and its brilliant she wears it with an harness.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpets&field-keywords=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fs%2Fref%3Dnb_sb_noss%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dpets%26field-keywords%3DRok-Strap%2520Dog%2520Lead%25203-in-1%2520Stretch%2520Lead%252C%2520M%23%2Fref%3Dnb_sb_noss_1%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%253Dpets%26field-keywords%3DRok-Strap%2BDog%2BLead%2B3-in-1%2BStretch%2BLead%26rh%3Dn%253A340840031%252Ck%253ARok-Strap%2BDog%2BLead%2B3-in-1%2BStretch%2BLead

I have got the Medium lead. HTH

unholyangel

If the dog is bad for pulling, could try a head halter.

If you want to give the dog freedom to roam, you can get 30ft, 50ft and 100ft training leads from ebay. Think its about £9 inc P&P for 50ft and about £14 for the 100ft one.

Personally I dont like retractable leads because imo they're not very useful for controlling your dog - which you sometimes have to do with a rescue dog when they get scared which can trigger a flight/fight response.

I use a shorter control lead to start off with, I like it as its easy to pick up the excess in the hand that is holding the lead if i need more control (such as next to a busy road). Then once they are responding to my commands, are more confident both in themselves and in me etc....I'll put the training lead on once we get to the park. If they're scared around other dogs, i take them to a quieter area/park and take a toy with me to get them used to focusing on me/toys rather than other dogs.

manda1205

I use one of these;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flexi-Giant-Lead-Petrol-Blue/dp/B0057G10VU/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1366741083&sr=1-3&keywords=flexi+lead+giant
I have a 26kg labarador, and she has never broken a tape flexi lead, she did, however, brake a cord one when she was a puppy.
We live out in the sticks and the only reason we use one is for the slightly busier roads (by busier here I mean might see 2-3 cars on a walk), so she can still wander, otherwise she's off lead. She is trained so will recall straight back.
The training leads are only good if you are going to be in an area training them, for walking they're no good as they'll drag all over the floor and the dog and you will get tangled up.
Also you can lock a flexi lead so shorter, so they can walk to heal.

zaksmum

I had retractable leads for my last dog and the Flexi ones were the best, being all tape.

I use short leather leads now because it gives me much better control over the dogs. I learned the hard way that my younger dog, Jack, could still catch a squirrel while on the retractable lead...!

MrsAtobe

I'd agree about having a tape retractable lead rather than a cord one, other people can see the tape one more easily than the cord.

I have a long line and find it useless for day to day walking, it's a training aid for recall. I used to lunge horses, and even I couldn't spool it in or pay it out quickly enough.

getthemax

Cord ones should be banned! If you dog moves quickly around someone's legs it can cause a nasty burn or even worse cut them. Tape ones are much preferable IMHO. We got one from PetsAtHome, it's a Flexi and it's excellent for my old collie who needs to go on one because we walk near water and he can't see very well.

It has a lock on it so that you can 'fix' the length temporarily and use it like a regular lead. One other things that winds me up is seeing people walk along on pavements with their dog's retractable lead full out. Where's the control in that?

GBNI

VanMan2007 wrote: »

Okay, best alternative please? The last time we, as a family, had a dog, we had a "choker" chain. I assume they are not now the preferred choice?

I have no issue with check chains (being PC here lol!) as long as the person using them knows how to use it correctly. I use a lot of slip leads as well as I'm dealing with gundogs which don't wear collars.

I would just go for a decent quality collar and lead, Hunter ones are nice. Work with the dog and teach it to walk to heel so the walk is more enjoyable for both. To be honest, I've never had to use a chest harness or the likes as all my dogs walk to heel while on the lead so I don't need to worry about them choknig themselves Although, I do understand Staffs are a strong breed and if they take a pull you'd like more control.

Dovah_diva

I have a cord flexi lead and have had no problems with it. It has never snapped, I've never wrapped it around anyone's legs and I am quite capable of monitoring how much lead is given to my dog by the road.

I have one of these